Broken gate at Longhorn Dam causes Lady Bird Lake Levels to drop, showing trash | FOX 7 Austin

Broken gate at Longhorn Dam causes Lady Bird Lake Levels to drop, showing trash

There is an effort to clean up Lady Bird Lake after a recent drop in lake levels unearthed trash.

RELATED: Austin Water contractors temporarily fix broken gate at Longhorn Dam

What happened?

The backstory:

During scheduled work earlier on Tuesday, Jan. 28, one of nine gates at Longhorn Dam failed to close, causing the Lady Bird Lake level to begin dropping.

The cause of the failure is under investigation. 

"I got a text from somebody down in Bastrop that said that there was something going on with the dam and to expect about a ten-foot wall of water coming down," said Steve Box, an environmental stewardship executive director at the dam on Tuesday.

Crews temporarily stopped the flow of water, and Lady Bird Lake levels dropped by two feet.

What's next:

On Wednesday, Austin Water found a permanent fix and began slowly refilling the lake 3 to 4 inches per hour.

However, Wednesday's significant drop was still clearly marked by the water lines stained on concrete pillars lining the lake.

An effort to clean up the lake

What they're saying:

One spot near the Holiday Inn Boat Ramp unearthed muddied trash along the shoreline.

"We've definitely seen a fair amount," said Grady Reed, the vice president of park operation at the Trail Conservancy. "It's much easier to see with lake levels as low as they are currently."

He plans on using the low lake levels to do some good.

"I think no one notices anything about a landscape if there's trash there," said Reed. "Also, it's really hard to keep healthy plants and a healthy system if we do have trash, and so picking up trash is one of the most valuable things we do as an organization."

On Thursday, Jan. 30, and Saturday, Feb, 1, he'll organize a team of volunteers to help clean up the mess and pick up as much trash as they can before it's washed away.

"It's been a great opportunity to bring awareness to the help that we need helping clean up the hike and bike trail," said Reed.

On Thursday, volunteers will be meeting from noon-4 p.m. at International Shores.

On Saturday, the meetup spot is the Holiday Inn Boat Ramp from 9 a.m. - noon.

Volunteers can register ahead of time online.

The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Lauren Rangel

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