HOUSTON – A Lake Livingston Dam is now being watched for a “potential failure.”
The Trinity River Authority, which oversees Lake Livingston, the dam and the Trinity River, shared the declaration on Friday.
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Crews discovered that the spillway has been “adversely impacted by the recent heavy rainfall and flooding,” according to a release shared with KPRC 2.
The Trinity River Authority has not provided additional information into the damage to the spillway or what prompted the declaration.
“Although there is no immediate danger of either failure or breach of the dam, the potential does exist however remote it might be,” the statement reads.
Although Lake Livingston are more than 80 miles away from downtown Houston, millions of people could be left dry if something were to happen to the lake’s supply of water.
The City of Houston relies on water that flows from Lake Livingston, over the dam and into the Trinity River for drinking water.
More than three million people use the water from the river every single day, according to the Houston Department of Public Works.
“The City of Houston draws raw water for the East and Southeast Water Purification plants from the Trinity River pump station, 35 miles downstream of the Lake Livingston dam,” a Public Works spokesperson told KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding on Saturday. “These two water purification plants serve more 3 million customers in the Greater Houston Metropolitan area with water.”
This isn’t a few drops of water being pulled from the Trinity River.
Every day roughly 806 million gallons of water is pumped from the Trinity River and used for drinking water, according to a 2020 presentation to Houston City Council.
That equates to roughly 70% of the city’s daily water supply.
Simply put—it’s a lot of water.
It’s so much that if for some reason the spillway were to fail or even be closed entirely for repair, we could be in big trouble.
The City of Houston Public Works provides water not only for city residents but people across Harris County as well as three surrounding counties.
“If the Lake Livingston Dam operations were compromised and storage was not available, the pump station would continue to draw water from the Trinity River,” a Public Works spokesperson said. “There may be potential disruption of water pressure and supply during times of peak water demand and low flow of the Trinty River. Additional water conservation measures may need to take place at that time.”
The City of Houston does get water from other sources to keep up with the demand of 172 billion gallons of water a year, according to statistics provided by Public Works. That’s enough to fill the Astrodome four times, every single day.
However, there’s one problem. They wouldn’t have enough water to make up for the potential loss if the Trinity River is not able to provide any water.
“The alternative water source from Lake Houston via the West Canal is not a sufficient supply of water to keep the entire service area supported the Trinty River free of potential disruptions,” a Public Works spokesperson said.
While the Lake Livingston Dam is under a “potential failure watch,” the Trinity River Authority says the risk for failure is “remote.”
KPRC 2 has asked for additional information regarding the damage to the spillway. The Trinity River Authority has not responded to our request.