Plan submitted to remove private dam on Llano River tributary
A photo of the dry side of the James River Dam shows the consequences of the dam’s impoundments. Photo courtesy of Lake Buchanan Communities Alliance
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is reviewing a draft restoration plan to remove an unauthorized dam on the James River, a tributary of the Llano River that ultimately feeds into Lake LBJ and the downstream Highland Lakes. Mason County landowner Bill Neusch submitted the plan to the TPWD on Dec. 20, 2023.
“When TPWD staff finishes their review of the plan, they will provide comments and will also set a new deadline by which the landowner/his consultants need to resubmit the restoration plan with modifications that address the comments,” said a TPWD spokesperson in an emailed reply to questions from DailyTrib.com. “Once the updated restoration plan is received, TPWD will determine the appropriate next steps.”
Neusch was issued a Notice of Violation letter from the TPWD on Sept. 21, 2023, that required he submit a plan by the Dec. 20 deadline to remove the structure from the river channel. According to the TPWD, the dam violated Parks and Wildlife Code Chapter 86 by “disturbing sand and gravel below the gradient boundary in a navigable waterway.”
The TPWD first received reports about the dam in August 2023. Staff visited the site on Aug. 25, 2023.
“Based on the information gathered during the visit, TPWD determined the unlawful disturbance of the bed and banks of the James River and issued a Notice of Violation,” the spokesperson said in the email to DailyTrib.com.
Neusch’s dam is one of several unpermitted structures built on private property that block water flow on navigable waters, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Another unpermitted dam was found in late 2022 on the Pedernales River in Gillespie County upstream from Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site. The TCEQ’s San Antonio Regional Office sent a Notice of Enforcement letter to property owner Josh Jones of R.L. Jones Co. of San Antonio in May 2023. Jones was cited for failure to obtain a permit to impound state water on a navigable stream.
The recommended corrective action is to obtain a state of Texas water rights permit or remove the impoundment.
A permit application to build a private dam across the South Llano River was withdrawn by landowner Gregory C. Garland on Oct. 20, 2023. Garland notified the TCEQ of his plan to build the dam in May 2022. He withdrew that plan after months of public opposition to the project.
A study by hydrologist Jordan Furnans in the Upper Colorado Basin for the Texas Water Development Board found 12,500 unregistered ponds holding an estimated 35,000 acre-feet of water — nearly four times the size of Lake Marble Falls. Most of these are built on private property.