American Whitewater Volunteers are continuing to try to reopen Texas’ Guadalupe River. The river was closed by Judge Scheel in July by an emergency order following record flooding. Now that the flood waters have receded, American Whitewater’s volunteers are advocating for a restoration of the public’s right to float on the Guadalupe. Our volunteers’ letter to the judge, which was sent last week, is attached below.
More information:
Texas’ Guadalupe Closed Following Flooding
County to Vote to Extend Closure on Guadalupe Tonight (TX)
Judge Danny Scheel, County Judge
Comal County Courthouse
150 N. Seguin
New Braunfels, TX 78130
RE: Comal County Emergency Management Plan of July 11, 2002
Dear Judge Scheel and Commissioners:
Several national and statewide boating organizations have expressed concernto me about the continued ban on all boating on the Lower Guadalupe River.It has been over a month since flood waters went over the spillway of CanyonDam. No more water is going over the spillway and all water now iscontrolled by releases through the dam. The Disaster Recovery Center in NewBraunfels has closed its office since the emergency has ended. The RiverRoad is now open to the public, and construction to repair and rebuild thestructures damaged or destroyed by the flood is underway. It is evident thatthe specific conditions set forth in the Emergency Order have abated. Thefact that the river is at a high controlled release does not constitute acondition that justifies the indefinite extension of an Emergency Orderunder the Texas Disaster Act of 1975. The purpose of the Act is to providebroad, sweeping powers to governing bodies only during imminent or actualemergency conditions. That emergency no longer exists. It is not the purposeof the Texas Disaster Act to allow Governing Bodies to implement broad,sweeping powers(that they would not otherwise have) to continue in effectindefinitely after the emergency has ended.
The boating community understands your interest in protecting the publicfrom possible obstructions in the river while the river flows at a highrate. The Guadalupe River has flooded a number of times in the past andmembers of the boating community have actively participated in the clean-upoperations. They will be glad to help again. But the river has never beforebeen closed to boating and we do not think it should be closed now. It is myunderstanding that members of the boating community have offered theirassistance in inspecting and identifying possible hazards in the river.Adequate warning to the public of those hazards should be the extent of thecounty’s participation and responsibility.
I hope this matter can be resolved promptly and without litigation. I wouldbe happy to discuss this matter further with you and the Commissioners buttime is of the essence.
Thank you.
Thomas B. Cowden
TBC/nds
August 17, 2002 Update from David Price, President of the Texas Whitewater Association
Many of you have been wondering what is going on with the situation in ComalCounty, in Central Texas, over the indefinite closure of a public river, bythe County Commissioner’s Court.
First, a bit of background, then the discussion of the lawsuit.
The Guadalupe River (and Medina River) watershed received high amounts ofrainfall in early July. These amounts were so large, and of such intensity,that the downstream areas incurred significant flooding. Canyon Dam, a floodstorage/recreation reservoir, experienced inflows into the lake whichoverwhelmed the flood storage capacities of the dam. The dam overflowed theemergency spillway, for the first time in the 50 year history of the dam.Canyon Lake experience related flooding, due to continuing inflows into thelake, and a phenomena know as a backwater curve (the water is the lakedoesn’t stay “level”). Much property loss resulted from the relatively staticlevel of the water in the lake. More significant was the property damagedownstream, below Canyon Lake.
There are several things that happened downstream of the Lake that aresignificant. First and foremost, the water overtopped the emergency spillwayto the west of the main spillway. For those of you not familiar with damconstruction, dams have a primary spillway and an emergency spillway. Theemergency spillway is at an overall lower elevation than the primaryspillway, to allow water to flow over it before it goes over the primaryspillway. Generally the emergency spillway is in native rock, in order thatsubstantial erosion will not occur should it overtop.
Okay, keeping that in mind, the emergency spillway had water going over it,at flows of more than 20000 cfs. This water then when down the West area ofthe hill to the west of the dam, then headed back toward the river channel.In it’s path, it took all of the dirt and fill material in it’s path,scouring a wide, deep channel. This material was deposited in it’s patharound Horseshoe Falls. You can see some good photos of this atwww.comalflood.com/floodpics/index.htm
As this water went downstream it took some smaller buildings and stuff withit. However, due to sustained rainfalls and flows from upstream, thevolumetric flowrate of the water stayed relatively high over a period ofabout 3 days. Unlike prior floods (e.g. 1998) in which there was a rapidincrease – and decrease – of volumetric flowrates, this flood originatedabove the dam and passed through Canyon Lake, prior to coming downstream. Dueto these sustained flowrates, a significant scouring took place the entirelength of the river, downstream of the dam (the upper river took the brunt ofthe high flowrates, at much higher flowrates).
So the Upper Guadalupe gets hit with over 120,000 cfs, and the Lower Guadgets some peak flows in the 50,000-60,000 cfs range (source, US Army Corps ofEngineers). Much personal property on the Lower Guadalupe is saved, becauseCanyon Dam stored much of the floodwater and acted as a buffer – until thedam overflowed. So then, the property below the dam gets flooded. Houses areripped from their foundations, or off their stilts, and float away. Trees arebent and uprooted and wash away. The lake is at levels never before seen.The upper and lower river have seen high flowrates before. And there isproperty damage. Roads are washed out below the dam. There is about30,000-50,000 cubic yards (or more) of earth from the gorge the emergencyspillway has carved out and deposited in the bend of the river where theemergency spillway path rejoins the river coming from the outlet works ofCanyon Dam. This material causes the flow out of the outlet works to back upto the East, flooding more property. Quite a mess, especially considering noone thought the emergency spillway would have flows go over it. But thismaterial is mostly just dirt and rock.
Comal County and the State of Texas step in. A disaster declaration is made.The County invokes the special, temporary powers, of the Texas Disaster Act,citing a litany of reasons why the river should be closed, all centeredaround law enforcement and public safety and welfare. The situation isbrought under control, from the law enforcement sitde. So the Judge gets anemergency order drafted, and the river is closed.
The flood subsides, and leaves debris in it’s wake. A week goes by, and theCounty decides to indefinitely extend the ban on river and lake use, for allareas in Comal County, because water is still going over the spillway. Thecounty cites looting, bacteria levels, rescues, and a whole list of reasonswhy the river should remain closed. To the uneducated, all the reasons soundgood enough – until you look at the facts.
– Rivers, when flooding, have normally elevated levels of bacteria. But theselevels go down naturally.
– The County had taken no bacteria samples from the river after the flood, upto and including the date of the signing of Emergency Order 80. The City ofNew Braunfels had taken some samples below the flooded wastewater plant inGruene.
– The County could not (or would not) provide data on the “rescues” done.
– The County had not done an on-the-water debris survey in the river, yetbanned all river use.
– The County would not grant permission for experienced river runners andprofessionals to survey the river, from the water. The County Judge said itwas “dangerous”, yet had no basis for his statement. It is our understandingthe Judge has no experience on river related matters concerning whitewaterskills, river safety, river hydraulics, or hydrology.
– The County would provide no basis for the conditions that would be requiredto release the ban. Despite higher flow rates on the Upper Guadalupe, and thepossibility of more debris in that area as a result of these flows, the UpperGuadalupe had it’s ban released a couple of weeks ago.
As many of you know, the Corps of Engineers has started releases from CanyonDam during the past week. The area immediately below the outlet works hasbeen cleared, as well as the area that the emergency spillway gouged out.Water can flow relatively freely down the river once again. The spillway areais a site to see, as it scoured out an area about 20-25 feet deep, about 150feet wide, form the overflow spillway, downstream about 1/2 mile. HorseshoeFalls is buried under silt right now, and the river cut a new channel aroundit (actually the secondary channel that was there all along, it appears). But the river is flowing normally, for the flows now being released.
The County has not lifted the recreation ban on the river, and has not statedunder what conditions they will lift the ban. Keep in mind the EmergencyOrder drafted and signed was based on imminent flooding, on the looting, highbacteria, etc. On Wednesday I went down and surveyed the river with someother competent boaters. River Road was open, and no Sheriff’s Deputies wereseen. Our group did not see anything in the channel that you wouldn’tnormally see after a flood. If fact, due to the sustained high volumes ofwater from the recent flood, the channel appeared more clear than it normallywould after a flood. Basically, the river got a good scouring from the reallyhigh, sustained flows over three days. The County has opened up River Road totraffic, as there are no longer any Sheriff’s Deputies at each end of theroad. We also talked to some outfitters, to get their take on the riversituation. Their professional opinion was that they didn’t see anything thatprecluded opening the river to guided raft trips or experienced boaters. They were kind of dumbfounded as to why the river hadn’t been opened up. However, some of them, fearing retribution from the County in obtainingpermits to rebuild, have intentionally not asked the County to lift the ban,or otherwise “rocked the boat” – even though they think the ban no longerserves a purpose.
I sent a letter to Commissioners Court on Thursday, requesting the ban bereleased. The reasons under which the ban was instituted (imminent flooding,looting, bacteria levels, etc.) simply no longer exist. While we allappreciate the County’s quick action during the flood, that was six weeksago, and it is time to move on. Without exception, all of the liveries wespoke to were ready to resume guided raft trips on the Guad at 5000 cfs.Without exception, none of them has seen anything on the river that wouldcause them to keep it closed. In my letter, I also asked the County to holda Public Hearing, if the ban would not be released, in order that publiccomments could be placed in the record, and the County could justify theircontinued closing of the River. Basically, the County has no facts to supportthe continued ban.
Thursday, I also contacted the offices of Senators Barrientos and Wentworth,asking them to check into the situation. Senator Barrientos, who sits on theNatural Resource Committee, has an aide which was quite helpful in thematter, and was amenable to changing State Law to limit the County powersunder the Texas Disaster Act (the powers are meant to be only temporary). Iwill be in touch with Senator Barrientos in the coming months to work onmaking this happen, so there will not be another situation of an indefiniteriver closure.
Senator Wentworth has a portion of Comal County in his district. TheSportsmen Conservationists of Texas named him their 1999 ConservationLegislator of the Year for his efforts to preserve Texas’ natural resources,his dedication to outdoor sporting activities and his staunch support ofyouth sporting organizations. Perhaps this staunch support will lendthemselves to boating activities, also.
I also contacted Texas Parks and Wildlife, and asked their attorney to lookinto the access issues surrounding the closing of the Guadalupe River. Sincethe Guadalupe is a public, navigable river, this falls under the purview ofTPWD. Please contact Boyd Kennedy at boyd.kennedy@tpwd.state.tx.us, or callhim at 512-389-4584.
I have received e-mails from many groups about the status of any lawsuitagainst Comal County, and if one is going to be filed, etc. The answer isyes, maybe, or no. It all depends on if the County is willing to rationallydiscuss the facts of the situation, and can justify why the river remainsclosed – six weeks after the flood event. Due to the length of time it takesto prepare, the pleading for the suit was started last week. So far, twonational organizations have said they would join in, as well as some of theliveries and local clubs. However, we are trying a last ditch effort to avoidthis situation entirely. The pleading is being prepared as a parallel courseof action, simply because it takes so long to properly prepare. However, ifsome reasonable dialogue cannot be established, with a course of action, thenthe suit will be filed as a last resort, to force the dialogue before aDistrict or Appellate Judge. Beyond that people need to talk to their electedofficials and people at Parks and Wildlife to look into the closing of theriver. However, if no one complains, the County is going to do NOTHING, andkeep the river closed. I, for one, could not fathom the river still beingclosed six weeks after a flood , when there are no obvious dangers notnormally part of the sport, beyond the swift waters (but many of us haveboated it at that level many times in the past 20+ years).
As I have stated since this started, this is a bad precedent for the peopleof the State of Texas, and river recreationists in particular. That water inthat river is public property, and we all have a right to use it forrecreation. No one has the right to take that away for an indefinite period.Furthermore, hiding behind one person’s idea of what is “dangerous” on ariver – when they have little or no experience with rivers – is nothing shortof ludicrous when they insist no one else can go on the river, either. If wedo not care about this issue, and what is truly now an issue over riverrights, what will keep other officials from trying to close the waterway onwhich you boat (be it flat water, a gentle stream, a bayou, coastal waters,or a flooded river). This issue is fundamentally flawed from any sense oflogic and reasonable thought. Just keep that in mind the next time you boat,or stare at your boat hanging in your garage – thinking about going to boat.
If any of you want to send donations (I’ve gotten requests for an address),send them to the Texas Whitewater Association, PO Box 5264, Austin, TX 78763.
Thanks, and let’s continue to work on this issue in a professional, rationalmanner. Let’s not give up on this and simply fade away.
David Price at DPaustex@aol.com
Texas Whitewater Assoc.
Austin, TX