Key things to know
- Erosion from recent severe weather has damaged the dam and spillway
- The lake level has to be lowered for repairs
- Crews are working around the clock to make sure the dam can still handle potential storm flow releases
- The damage and repairs are being monitored around the clock
- The TRA says there is no immediate danger of failure or a breach
- Day-to-day operation of the dam will continue as necessary
- The current declaration of a “potential failure watch” is still in place
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LAKE LIVINGSTON – The Trinity River Authority (TRA) issued a “potential failure watch” after recent rains and flooding caused erosion at the Lake Livingston Dam and Spillway late last month.
The TRA issued the declaration Friday with no explanation for what prompted it and no information to help people understand or gauge the true severity of damage or risk of failure.
On Tuesday, after relentless questioning by KPRC 2, the TRA, which owns and operates the dam, issued a late afternoon statement saying the dam was “undergoing repairs as safely and as quickly as possible to address areas of the dam that experienced erosion” caused by recent heavy rainfall and flooding.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT HERE:
The damage became more visible after the rains receded, according to the statement.
The Trinity River Authority says it is working closely with local emergency management to provide them with information to make decisions related to the communities that they serve, but did not elaborate on what that means.
“People should contact their local emergency management officials for any specific emergency actions in their community. Emergency management contact information can be found on TRA’s website,” the statement reads.
Although Lake Livingston is 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.”
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.
