March will be one year since the gate at Lake Wood on the Guadalupe River failed and Lake Wood (H-5) was lost. Shortly after the failure CEO of GBRA, Bill West, held a public meeting at the dam and gave an estimate of thirteen months and $1.3 million as a plan to fix the gate and restore the lake. After his retirement, Kevin Patteson has become the CEO and one year later GBRA is still studying the problem and has no plan to fix the gate and restore the lake. GBRA says it has no money to replace the gate. The repair estimates being given by GBRA have risen to $2.4 million and repair time is estimated to be from 13 months to five years. In the meantime:
Ecological Damage to the Cyprus Trees - Hundreds of 90-year old Cyprus trees have had their root balls removed from the water. These wonderful trees are now perched on ledges ten feet above the water high and dry with half their root balls exposed.