Hidden Heartaches and a Dam Good Idea

Well, I gotta say, when good ol’ Ben bought that place on the little lake, it sure looked like a dream come true, I’m sure. You know, a nice piece of water, some peace and quiet, and maybe a few fish to catch now and then. But, man, did that dream come with some hidden heartaches. Turns out, buying a lake ain’t just about sittin’ on the porch and enjoyin’ the view. Ben and the community found out that this lake’s got its fair share of problems.

First off, I think the lakes dam came with some real maintenance issues that nobody seemed to mention to Ben and maybe he didn’t realize. No proper concrete spillway, no real discharge channel, and I don’t think an engineer ever told him what he was really getting into. Since it was built decades ago, there didn’t seem to be no problem. For a while, things seemed fine, and life was good for all around the lake. But then we had a couple of massive rain storms—over 20 inches of rain fell in no time flat, and it brought the lake up to floodin’ levels since the spillway was to small. Just couldn’t get the ol’ water out fast enough. It got so high, it flooded out some of the folks liv’en round it and widened the ol’ spillway and discharge channel on and below the dam, eroding it badley.

Now, the TCEQ’s got involved, and they ain’t messin’ around. They’re telling Ben he’s got to either fix the dam or tear it down, and neither option’s gonna be cheap or easy. The report they sent him pretty much lays out that he’s got a lot of work to do if he wants to keep that lake from being a danger to everyone downstream.

Here’s that letter:

I feel bad for Ben, but I can’t help but think there’s a silver lining in all this mess. If that dam’s gotta come down, there’s a real opportunity here for Ben and Camp Branch Acres. The fill material from the dam, which is right beside the road washout, could be used to fix the road that’s been givin’ us trouble for so long. My understand’en is that good fill ain’t cheap. Ben could donate or sell the fill to the community for the road repairs. Plus, whatever’s left over, he could sell to construction companies in the area by the truckload. Those companies would be pay’en Ben to remove the dam, load by load. Might not cost him a thing. It’d be quick, easy to move, and would really speed up get’en that community road back in shape too.

But let’s not forget about the folks living around the little lake. If that dam’s gotta go, they’re probably gonna lose their waterfront property, which ain’t no small thing. I feel bad for ’em, but I just don’t see how that lake can be maintained without it costing Ben a fortune. The TCEQ report makes it pretty clear that it’s either fix it right or let it go, and fixing it ain’t lookin’ too likely.

So, all in all, it’s a tough spot Ben’s in, but maybe something good can come out of it for the community and Ben.

PS: This ol’ thing about the dam causing the road washout don’t matter no more. Let’s move on and get the road fixed up. The POA Board and Ben should get together an work on this “Dam Good Idea”.