WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING
October 2023 was an outstanding month of large and small victories for members of Save Lake LBJ. Large billboards were donated and placed along the major Texas thoroughfare Hwy 281 on both the south and north side of Marble Falls to increase awareness and inform our communities about proposed Sand Plants. A big thank you to Lamar Advertising for the billboards.
In October we received word that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department declared that the unpermitted dam on the James River, a tributary of the Llano River, was illegal and must be removed under their supervision. We appreciate TPWD for taking their responsibility for protecting Texas water and waterways seriously. In the face of much opposition, Gregory Garland, Rancher and oil company executive withdrew his application for a private dam on the South Llano River near Rocksprings on October 20. A special "thank you" to Save Lake LBJ members Fermin Ortiz, Larry Black, Karl Wolfe, and Rick Schmidt who participated in the town hall meeting in Rocksprings where much public pressure on Garland was evident. We also want to thank Mr. Garland for making the decision to protect our water resources. More unpermitted dams throughout Llano County are still being documented, reported and investigated.
On October 23, LCRA announced that Collier Materials had withdrawn applications for establishing two industrial dredge zones on Lake LBJ known as Kingsland I (near Comanche Rancherias neighborhood) and Kingsland II (near Bridgepoint neighborhood). This ended a long 3-year battle between Save Lake LBJ and Collier Materials. However, Collier Materials did indicate they plan to reapply at some point in the future. When and where remain unknown. This exchange of correspondence between Collier's permit application engineer and LCRA regarding the withdrawal is online at the LCRA website:
Collier Materials Withdraw Information-Dredge and Fill and Collier Materials Withdraw Information Watershed Ordinance
Save Lake LBJ hosted a Town Hall meeting at Sunrise Beach on October 28 to providecitizens an update on water issues related to industrialization and unpermitted dams. Fermin Ortiz and Taylor Delz presented an outstanding PowerPoint presentation with all the updates. As in all our Town Halls, there was much good dialogue among participants. We encourage your attendance in our future Town Halls so that you can get even better informed of the current status of our lake area’s concerns.
Where do we go from here while waiting for any possible future applications to be filed by Collier Materials? Save Lake LBJ has begun an open dialogue with LCRA, TPWD, other agencies, and waterfront homeowners to address needs related to safety and ease of navigation on Lake LBJ. Save Lake LBJ has never been opposed to the dredging of the accumulating sediment. However, we will always be opposed to the industrialization of our lakes through the permanent installation of commercial sand plants. Save Lake LBJ is committed to creating a strong network for future funding to address these needs. We welcome all questions, comments, and suggestions that will improve the quality of our environment.
Stay tuned. Stay involved.