Lake Wood today.

The dam broke!

Wow! We were just there a few weeks ago!

This will end fishing for the foreseeable future.

Wow

Terrible!

Got there today at 8 am to go fishing and was sick to my stomach when I seen the lake. Mark from GBRA told me the dam broke Thursday. Some sort of gate that was made from wood came out of its track and let the water out. Supposedly it will take months to fix the gate and the water will need to be released from other lakes to help fill lake wood. I am sure there will be plenty of drama to follow soon. Especially with livestock wandering into the mud trying to get to water, the horrible smell, the trash and junk, and landowners on the river.
My river fishing at H5 ended today and will need to hit H4, I have never put my boat in at Lake Gonzales (H4)but hear that the ramp is short and a lot of folks get hung up there. I wonder if I can get my 18 ft boat in and out of there?

Dang that looks horrible.

Update from GBRA. Dam will cost about 3 million to repair and there will be no lake for at least 6 months. I'm told GBRA will do some dredging around the boat ramp. Here is a link to a press conference from last Tuesday.

https://www.facebook.com/GBRAofTexas/?notif_t=notify_me_page

Sure is a mess!

Yeah, and everyone is wanting GBRA to dredge parts of the lake. But I don't think it will do any good, the first flood will silt it in again from areas they don't dredge. I would be nice if they could move some of the silt to get a better path from the ramp to the river channel. And it would be nice if they would let TP&W put some habitat reefs in the river channel to help fish reproduction.

And those fine lake residents AKA "Friends of Lake Wood" need to clean up their trash from the lake bed.

Has anyone got an update on the lake?

No! GBRA refuses to say anything other than they are consulting with outside engineers. Personally, I do not think they will fix it. They said it would take 6 months to repair, that was in April of last year.

I was out there a month ago and the lake looked bad but goodness its horrible now...chu chu I didn't know lake Gonzales was public thought it was all private around it .do you know someone who owns land around it or is there a secret access I lived in ottine for 12 years and never heard anyone mention fishing it

Sad, I was hoping it would be fixed up by the spring. Probably wont fix it, I really liked that little lake. I fished H4 a few times but that ramp sucks when the water is low.

There is a "public" ramp, it's hard to find if you are not familiar with 4-H. It is accessed off highway 90-A. You have to look between the houses to see it. The last time I talked to a county commissioner, he told me there was some disagreement as to whether it is public or private. Last time I drove out there, there is a gate that can be closed and a brand new lock on it. I know the guy that says he owns it, and he is liable to lock it for no reason. It is a poor ramp to begin with. TP&W says the ramp is private.

We would just like to know if they are going to fix it or not. There are some people that built high dollar homes that will lose any chance of ever selling and devaluation if they don't fix the dam.

I personally don't think they will fix it. It does not control any flooding, it does not supply any water system, and the generating plant doesn't make much electricity. It would take years to recover repair costs.

Been a long time with no action and your probably right. I would think those folks at Keifer slough and the ranches that border the river would be raising #$&^ over this by now. Maybe if the do dredge it and clean the lake they might find the "Come and Take It Cannon" from 1835 out there. I always heard the rumor that the cannon was never taken and the town folks hid it by the river

From November's GBRA meeting minutes:

he Chair called for Action Item 12 - Consideration of and possible action
authorizing the General Manager/CEO to negotiate and execute contract(s) with
the lowest responsible bidder for gate repairs in the Guadalupe Valley
Hydroelectric Division in accordance with the engineering feasibility study for the
gate replacement and rehabilitation program for the Guadalupe Valley
Hydroelectric Division. Charlie Hickman briefed the Board on the failure of the spill
gate at Lake Wood/H-5 Dam in March 2016. GBRA has been working on an
engineering feasibility study to determine the best option for replacement of the failed
gate and the remaining gates in the Guadalupe Valley Hydroelectric System (GVHS).
Staff has been investigating and identifying repairs that can be made to prolong the
service life of the existing gates. Staff recommended soliciting bids from contractors to
perform components of the rehabilitation work. While not complete, the engineering
feasibility study identified two potential options for gate replacement. One involves
replacement with the existing gate design and the other involves replacement with a
LXIV – 11/16/2016 118
modern gate design known as an Obermeyer gate. Upon motion by Director Patillo,
seconded by Director Hermes, the Board unanimously authorized the General
Manager/CEO to negotiate and execute contract(s) with the lowest responsible bidder
for gate repairs in the Guadalupe Valley Hydroelectric Division in accordance with the
engineering feasibility study for the gate replacement and rehabilitation program for the
Guadalupe Valley Hydroelectric Division.

http://www.gbra.org/board/meetingvideo.a...cussion=65m23s#


The dam portion is the last 20 or so minutes I think. GBRA says they don't have the money to pay for a new dam itself. Lake associations will have to help pony up cash for it.

I watched the last 15 minutes of the video. They have made a tremendous amount of money off those lakes and have not put any investments back into the maintenance of the dams. Now they sit on their pompous asses, drawing huge salaries and sitting in the finest office chairs in a high end meeting room then say "we aint got the money". That bearded fella down on the end is all hat, and sits there running his mouth saying "too bad". I bet you dont pay your electric bill and see what happens, that is one sorry outfit.
After I watched the video I just stared like a cow at a new gate and yes, your dang skippy I'm mad. Sorry for the rant

The cannon is in the Gonzales Museum.

I'm thinking some of the ranches have had to bulldoze cattle access to the river for water. The homeowners have been surprisingly silent. I have written our representative and senator and both told me I was the only person to complain.

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/gonzalescannon.htm
You might be right Chu Chu, but they has always been that other story about the cannon.

A little off topic but did they ever end up taking out the ottine dam on the San Marcos river above the park

Yes. The local newspaper had a series of photos of the destruction.

http://www.gonzalesinquirer.com/news/oh-dam/article_5807404a-c131-11e5-a104-effb9e5de56e.html

lotta good fish caught below that dam caught some big flatheads

All the dams on the Guadalupe are in bad shape. The city of Gonzales just had a council meeting to discuss the dam here in town. They estimate $1.7 million to repair the dam and fix the generators. The city manager estimates it will take 30 years to break even if the generators run full time with no breakdowns.

Release a dozen beavers. They'll have that thing stopped up in a week.

Keep the Gonzales city electric crews running it and it will be down in two days.

Somewhat of an update on Lake Wood.

http://www.gonzalesinquirer.com/news/gbr...e2abc82360.html