Petition to deepen Walter Long Boat Ramp

The ramp was closed by the City of Austin on October 1. The lake has been chronically low in the late-summer and fall the last 4-5 years although the City left the ramp open and it was launch at your own risk. City says it cannot pump water into the lake that time of year to raise the water level per a contract with LCRA. A long term solution would be to spend some money to deepen the ramp. Expert I talked to said it could be done for 20k max. Take a look at the petition and sign it if you agree.

https://chng.it/QBbkTpSQ97

Done & posted on my F/B page.

Thanks!

What is crazy is I launched a 21-foot bass boat four days before the City abruptly closed the ramp. No input from the public that actually use the ramp and pay to use that ramp. They just make an executive decision to close it in the interest of "public safety". The water level was at least a foot lower last year and I was still able to launch. Even when I wasn't able to launch smaller boats had no issues. Government overreach at its finest.

Done

I attended the virtual "community engagement" meeting regarding Phase 1 Walter E. Long Park improvements. I say "engagement" sarcastically as there were 19 attendees and most were City of Austin staff or their consultants. The meeting started with the Reynaldo Hernandez, the Phase 1 Project Manager saying they were not going to talk about the boat ramp closure, but there is a new ramp planned in Phase 1, so I was able to ask about that. Phase 1 construction for park improvements will begin in 2025. This will consist of a bathroom, playground, road improvements, new picnic tables and I think a nature trail to the east of the ramp. I believe the cost will be about 3 million dollars for these improvements and they thought this money came from a 2018 Bond. There are no plans for a new ramp in this round of improvements and no talk about improving the ramp that is already there. Based on what I saw in the presentation during the 2025 construction the current ramp should remain accessible. The new ramp that is planned in Phase 1 is to the west of the present ramp toward the back of the cove where the fishing pier currently is but it is unclear to me how much parking will be available, or if that ramp will even accommodate motorized boats. From the Park Final Vision Plan Document drawing it looks like the parking lot is about a quarter of the present lot. When I asked those questions the Phase 1 Project Manager Reynaldo Hernandez could/would not give me an answer even though he is the "Project Manager" and should know better than anyone. He just said no ramp is planned for this round of funding. As Phase 1 moves along the plan is for the present ramp and parking lot to go away as this area will be made into a large lawn and plaza for I guess concerts, so having a decent ramp with adequate parking is going to be important if we want to maintain access to the lake. I sent a follow up email directly after the meeting to Mr. Hernandez asking for a link to the presentation (it was recorded) and some other questions regarding the funding for Phase 1 improvements but have yet to receive a response (more than 2 weeks ago). I would hate to see the lake closed to motorized boats and it become another version of Lady Bird Lake which has an electric motors only restriction and caters mainly to canoes, kayaks and paddleboards, but given the lack of responses to questions I have asked of City staff I wonder if that is where it is headed. I also have to wonder why the City can spend 3 million dollars on park "improvements" but cannot spend anything to deepen the ramp they already have while waiting for funding for a new ramp. In any case the City needs to do a much better job of answering basic questions. In the absence of transparency, we are left to form our own opinions, right or wrong.

I also sent Assistant Parks Director Liana Kallivoka the results of the Change.org petition Petition · Deepening the boat ramp at Decker Lake · Change.org to deepen the ramp on 11/14 and got no response other than attend the meeting where I was told they didn't want to talk about it. There were 90 signatures on the petition. Thank you to all that signed.

Here are email addresses of the Austin PARD staff I have dealt with thus far if you want to personally ask them why they can't fix the ramp we have now, how they intend to manage water levels with pumping to keep the ramp open, and what they are doing to make sure you have access to the lake in the future. I am afraid unless people speak up now the future of access to Decker Lake for those of us that want to use motorized boats is not a good one.

Reynaldo Hernandez - Phase 1 Walter E. Long Park Project Manager - Reynaldo.Hernandez@austintexas.gov
Liana Kallivoka - Assistant Parks Director - Liana.Kallivoka@austintexas.gov

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbrDiepcGvM

What could be done at Decker to extend the present ramp.

Extending ramps is not hard on most ramps. A prefab concrete bridge section is pushed in with a bulldozer and it sets right on the end of the existing ramp. Not all ramps can be done this way but most can be. On the decker ramp, two bridge sections laid side by side and tied together and pushed by two dozers or large loaders. First time I saw this method was at Cassell Boykens park on Sam Rayburn.

Meh...by a yak. Problem solved.

Go buy an EV, gas cars banned.
Go buy an 8oz soda, big gulps not allowed
Go get a Sling Shot, no Firearms allowed
or
Go by a yak, "im from the government and im here to help" - Reason why these are the 9 scariest words.

*buy

You can see that intelligent discussion has gone to the wayside when someone starts out a meeting with "we're not going to talk about the ramp closure."

SO, IS THE RAMP OPEN OR NOT?

Enlighten me. There are 2 ramps at Walter E. Long?

"The City appreciates everyone’s patience and understanding. Lake Walter E. Long will be monitored weekly for water elevation and re-opening of boat ramps. The Parks Department will re-open the western ramp when the water level reaches 553.9’ and the eastern ramp at 554’. As of November 30, 2023, the water elevation was at 553.55’."

Ramps are both closed. They are side by side so really only one ramp.

Oh, I get it.

I don't think that would work for the Decker ramp. The problem with the ramp is that it was built for a constant level lake. When it gets low the further you back down your trailer actually comes up. It needs to be dredged out by the ramp also. It wouldn't be that hard to do.

Texas going the way of California, sheesh

Agree that the angle of the ramp would need to be regraded to a consistent slope before a concrete slab is pushed in. The ramp has always been a POS even when the lake is full.

I received a response from Reynaldo Hernandez (Austin PARD Phase 1 Project Manager) to my follow up questions on 11/30 after attending the Community Engagement meeting. The current Phase 1 implementation construction budget is $3.7m and they are exploring opportunities for supplemental funding. He provided no plans/consideration for doing any renovations to the current ramp and to quote him, "Currently PARD does not have a timeline or funding in place for implementing a new marina.", so no new ramp will be built any time soon. Despite the public outcry over the ramp closure I have had no indication from any Austin PARD staff that the ramp will be improved to account for the low water conditions the lake has experienced the last 4-5 years in the late summer and fall. What gets me is 3.7 million dollars for park improvements yet not a penny to be spent on making changes to a ramp that was poorly designed from the get-go and now has now been closed for over two months, and will likely be closed regularly again in the future given the water elevation criteria set by Austin PARD. To me this is like paying for interior improvements to your house when your roof is leaking.

If you want to watch a recording of the virtual Community Engagement meeting I attended you can see it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6MAH-0Z8RA It is about an hour long.

A PDF of the meeting presentation is here: https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/d...1%20Community%20Meeting%202023-11-15.pdf

Mr. Hernandez did confirm "The currently proposed phase 1 improvements will allow for continued use of the existing boat ramp and parking area. The existing boat ramp and parking areas will not be impacted by the proposed phase 1 improvements."

According to Mr. Hernandez Charles Vaclavik (Charles.vaclavik@austintexas.gov) (Austin PARD Operations and Maintenance Manager) is now the main contact for boat ramp comments/complaints. All the email addresses to PARD staff are the same format if you want to email someone higher up. Here is the Austin PARD Organization Chart https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Parks/Homepage/orgchart2023_12.pdf

Kimberly McNeeley is the Director of Austin PARD Kimberly.mcneeley@austintexas.gov

On page 19 of the meeting presentation https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/d...1%20Community%20Meeting%202023-11-15.pdf you can see the plan to eliminate the current parking area and ramp to make it into a "Central Lawn and Plaza" when funding becomes available. On that same slide you will see a new "marina" is planned just to the west of the Lawn and Plaza area but when asked about what kind of parking (i.e., how many parking spaces) would be available, and if the ramp could be used for motorized boats, it seems no one with PARD knows the answer. From drawings I have seen there appears to be only a few spaces.

"Marina?" What kind of marina would the District of Austin be building?

I have no idea and I don't think they have any idea either.

I wrote Ms. Kallivoka and Mr. Hernandez. She responded as follows:


Kallivoka, Liana [PARD]
Sun, Dec 10, 3:08 PM (3 days ago)
to me, Reynaldo

Good afternoon,

I appreciate you reaching out.

Please know that the decision to close the boat ramps was not easy, and we truly regret the disappointment and impact on the park visitors and fishermen. Unfortunately, the City cannot resume pumping water, and without any significant rain events and the persistent drought in Central Texas, the water levels at Decker Lake continue to drop (currently at 553.49'). The Parks and Recreation Department, in coordination with Austin Water and Austin Energy, will continue to monitor the water elevation.

Please visit https://www.austintexas.gov/page/pard-facilities-closures for weekly updates that include the current water elevation levels at Decker Lake, as well as the target levels for the re-opening of the boat ramps.

Thank you for your understanding.

Regards,
Liana

Liana Kallivoka, PhD, PE, LEED Fellow

Assistant Director | Austin Parks and Recreation Department

My work hours may look different than yours.

Please do not feel obligated to respond outside your normal work hours.

I received a similar response and seems to be an easy out for them. They can't pump so the ramp is closed.

Here is what has really happened. The City has a water right permit to pump water into the lake from the Colorado River for maintaining recreational use but with the ongoing drought LCRA has asked them not to do so. Sure, that makes perfect sense and I agree with it. Trouble is the City has never pumped into the lake in late-summer and early fall just for recreational use. That is the driest time of the year and flows in the Colorado River are almost always lowest then and the lake is also at its lowest level then. They will likely never be able to pump that time of year to maintain the lake level as pumping for recreational use is the lowest priority and therefore the first to be cut off. Municipal (drinking water) and industrial (power production) pumping take precedence. I think any reasonable person would agree with that criteria.

The last time they did pump at that time of year was in 2011 when we were in a serious drought (worst one year drought in Texas history) but I am sure that was for maintaining the water level for power production. It was also one of the hottest summers on record and the power was needed and could be sold for a profit. My understanding is the power plant is now barely being used so no money is being generated from power production. The pumping data is all available from the TCEQ web site here: https://tceq.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=44adc80d90b749cb85cf39e04027dbdc . Just click on the point on the map near the outfall of Decker Lake and all the pumping data is there. I am sure we will be in the same low water situation almost every year at the end of the summer and the ramp will be closed. Based on my experience fishing the lake in late summer and early fall, and the water level criteria the City has now set for closure, the ramp would have been closed every year the last 4 or 5 years. There is no publicly available water elevation data for Decker Lake so there is no way for me to look at that history to see how often the ramp would have been actually closed. I do know for a fact that last year we were still launching at a water elevation much lower than when they closed the ramp this year.

After four months of closure the water came up after 5 inches of rain and the ramp is back open as of Thursday. I fished the lake Friday and they are biting. The fish and habitat are in great condition.

Austin PARD is supposedly working to come up with a solution for keeping the ramp open. We will see what solution they have when the lake drops again this summer.

Thanks to all that signed the petition. As of this morning there were 186 signatures on the petition to deepen the ramp. 200 is the next goal. Good to see anglers come together and advocate for a much-needed change in the access situation at this popular fishery.

what the regular folks dont understand is the lake folks that run them could care less if folks come or not they still get paid .