Illegal dam reporting on the rise in Central TX, state agencies say
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Published 2024-05-03
After the demolition of a dam state agencies deemed illegal along the James River, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Equality (TCEQ) both say that the number of reports of illegal dams and impoundments is on the rise.
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All Comments (21)
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Is that a one time $5000 fine, and then that's the end of it? Some people will just factor that in as a fixed cost and continue building.
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Sounds like a good old-fashioned water range war! 😮
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Water flows downstream to the ocean, seems to me that you want to capture as much as possible upstream to recharge the aquifers and prevent flash flooding. You really need a bunch of beavers on the rivers. Texas gets plenty of rain, you just need to save it for the dry season and dry years. Smaller dams are better that big ones at storing water, creating green spaces and recharging the ground water over a larger area.
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Makes me wonder what do these state government agencies actually do and which politicians are taking bribes and where is the taxpayers money actually going to and who's pockets
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Employ beavers to build dams.. Beaver dams provide habitat for lots of other animals, clear the water downstream and are good for the environment.
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This isn't anything new. I've been noticing this for years. I'm a geography and nature nerd and I scan Google earth for hours. I constantly come across these. Everywhere there's a stream/creek somewhere along it a landowner built a dam. You ever wonder why all those creeks you used to go fishing at a decade or more ago are all bone dry now. I can get on Google earth right now and find 100 of these just like that.
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This is the whole dam problem.
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Have you seen Lake Travis ? Going on three years plus with the Lake down 30 ft +?
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Cartels do this in Northern Cali all the time.
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Those Damn beavers!
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You guys should look up Peter Andrews, who has done quite a bit of work on restoring a local aquifer in Australia.
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In Florida we call these retention ponds. Captures runoff. Waterways are not being dammed, they’re capturing runoff at a limited capacity. Noticed they didn’t mention that during droughts, there is no runoff.
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Do you see the Paper problem here? These Ranchers provide anti-drought solutions for wildlife!....
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There are ways to put swales and ponds on land to slow rain runoff and encourage plant and tree growth. There are videos on YouTube about how to do that. It is a more effective and more lasting solution than damming a stream illegally and seeing the government destroy it.
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Seems like with the drought we could use more dams. Perhaps we need some education to help people know how to build a proper and legal dam. But, considering the government is involved, it probably takes years, which is why desperate people do desperate things.
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Shouldn't conservation officers be monitoring this?
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The water problem is more an issue of too many people in areas with limited water resources…. Parts of Texas have the same problem as the desert Southwest. Does it make sense to have large cities and large agribusiness operations in areas that are either desert or prone to cyclical, seasonal drought?
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That was some dam good reporting.
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No they where not there 50 through the 80’s. It’s been done recently by people moving here that think they own the rivers that flow through the property.
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For 2 years the Austin water supply has been decreasing and only now the State has started paying attention. SMH
