Alliance for Lake LBJ Meeting Summary 6/6/2019

A meeting to address sand and sediment build-up in Lake LBJ including the Llano River and Sandy Creek was held June 6, 2019 at the Horseshoe Bay POA building at Quail Point.

Llano County Commissioner Precinct 1 Peter Jones facilitated the meeting and opened with a moment of silence to commemorate fallen military on the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Multiple lake communities were represented among the 65 attendees including the Cities of Horseshoe Bay with the Trails, Sunrise Beach Village and Granite Shoals, and the communities of Kingsland, Bridgepoint, Sandy Harbor, Oak Ridge Estates, Blue Lake, the Cold Spring business on Lake Marble Falls and Burnet County Commissioner Joe Don Dockery and Llano County Commissioner Mike Sandoval. All acknowledged the need to address this problem.,

Fermin Ortiz and Larry Black, Llano County residents, were presenters who have spent considerable time meeting with government agencies, hydrologists and environmental engineers.

Their findings are that the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is not mandated nor funded to provide for the dredging of Lake LBJ but could be supportive in this endeavor. Fermin and Larry had contacted Texas A & M Institute of Dredging, University of Texas School of Engineering and dredging companies as well as a retired director of the Port of Corpus Cristy who had the responsibility of dredging the Port for 40 years.

In November 2018 a seminar was held by experts on Riparian restoration. Riparian is the bank of rivers and creeks which can be restored over time by planting appropriate plants along the riparian areas, that when taken root, hold back sand to create a well-defined river flow which would slow down the amount of sand flowing into the lake in future flooding events. Experimental planting took place early this year by volunteers on Sandy Creek

Research has also been conducted on the many grants that may be available.

It was proposed that Lake LBJ communities form and participate in a community alliance and create a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization called Alliance for Lake LBJ with the acronym of ALL.

ALL would establish a board comprised of members of the various Lake LBJ communities who determine the mission statement, by-laws, and determine action to be taken.

It was proposed that the ALL board would target raising $1 million to pay dredging companies to dredge identified parts of Lake LBJ. It is expected that ALL would raise $250,000 from donations and the balance from grants.

After support and funding is secured, ALL shall request bids from reputable dredging companies for the removal of sand. The contracted company would extract the sand and sell it to an existing sand processing plant currently in operation. After a negotiated timeline, a percentage of the net profits shall be paid to ALL. Those proceeds would then be held for future flood mitigation, emergency support in a flooding event or other Lake LBJ related expenses. The contracted company shall secure all necessary permits with the support of ALL.

The first step was to determine the interest in this approach by the Lake LBJ communities. This was voted on by a show on hands by those in attendance, which passed unanimously by all that voted with not a single vote against expressed.

The meeting concluded with Fermin Ortiz and Larry Black agreeing to move forward with the creation of a 501(3) and encourage participation by Lake LBJ communities on the ALL board and in the organization.