Oops, one of the levees sprung another leak

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

London Ave. canal, patched last week, is leaking.

[boutons]

Imagine if they have some serious t-storms / downpours of 1" - 2" like we had in SA this weekend. one step forward, two steps back.

[Vashner]

Those sandbags wont hold. They need to pour some real concrete on that shit.. not sand...

[hussker]

Imagine if they have some serious t-storms / downpours of 1" - 2" like we had in SA this weekend. one step forward, two steps back.

Isn't that a Paula Abdul song from the 80's? Most of the youngsters on these boards probably do not know that she had a life before American Idol...

[Useruser666]

Those sandbags wont hold. They need to pour some real concrete on that shit.. not sand...

They weren't concrete before Katrina. If I'm not mistaken, they are simply earth or clay with a steel plate at the top.

[MannyIsGod]

Imagine if they have some serious t-storms / downpours of 1" - 2" like we had in SA this weekend. one step forward, two steps back.
1-2 inches of rain won't do shit.

[tw05baller]

thas manny the meteorologist right there.

[hussker]

1-2 inches of rain won't do shit.

Disagree...water has to drain somewhere, and with the saturation the way it is there...could be mighty ugly indeed.

[hussker]

ugly like a nebraska girl at 9 the next morning!

Everything looks better when you roll it in cornsilks...(hint for tomorrow AM when you wake up with that ugly Nebraska Girl again!)

[MannyIsGod]

Disagree...water has to drain somewhere, and with the saturation the way it is there...could be mighty ugly indeed. 1-2 inches of rain wouldn't cause much more than light flash flooding here, and we are possibly the worst location in the United States for flash flooding. In New Orleans where it is flat the water isn't going to be funneled into a ravine or low lying area. At the most (and it would take more than 1-2 inches of rain to do this, but I'll humor you) you get a 1-2" rise in the water level.

Do you really think that is going to do much of anything at the moment?

[Vashner]

What saves San Antonio is the Almos dam and that underground river project from the Brack Golf Course under downtown.

There has been talk that the Almos dam could bust in a major rain event.

[TheWriter]

What saves San Antonio is the Almos dam and that underground river project from the Brack Golf Course under downtown.

There has been talk that the Almos dam could bust in a major rain event.

If the Olmos dam broke nothing major would happen. It would probably flood Olmos Park but not even a fraction of the flooding that happened in New Orleans.

Also, why would the Olmos dam break? I doubt the water pressure would break that thing down. I think you meant the dam at Medina lake and hell, the Canyon Lake dam as well.

[TheWriter]

Olmos Dam:

http://www.sara-tx.org/site/flood_control/Complete_Flood_Cont/Completed_flood_cont_images/olmos_images/olmosdam1929.JPG

http://www.sara-tx.org/site/flood_control/Complete_Flood_Cont/Completed_flood_cont_images/olmos_images/olmoscard16.jpg

http://www.sara-tx.org/site/flood_control/Complete_Flood_Cont/Completed_flood_cont_images/olmos_images/sar_olmos-dam2.jpg

http://www.sara-tx.org/site/flood_control/Complete_Flood_Cont/Completed_flood_cont_images/olmos_images/sar_olmos-dam1.JPG

http://www.sara-tx.org/site/flood_control/Complete_Flood_Cont/Completed_flood_cont_images/olmos_images/sar_olmos-dam-3.JPG

[T Park]

So THATS what that is off of 37 near Incarnate word......

Always wondered what that was.

[TheWriter]

So THATS what that is off of 37 near Incarnate word......

Always wondered what that was.

It's actually 281, not 37. But yeah, never knew what it was until 1998.

[TheWriter]

Olmos Dam during the "Floods of 1998":

http://www.robertlandrum.com/flood98/OlmosDam.jpg

[MannyIsGod]

If the Olmos dam broke nothing major would happen. It would probably flood Olmos Park but not even a fraction of the flooding that happened in New Orleans.

Also, why would the Olmos dam break? I doubt the water pressure would break that thing down. I think you meant the dam at Medina lake and hell, the Canyon Lake dam as well.
You need to stop pulling things out of your ass.

A quick glance at the map shows that Olmos Dam holds water IN Olmos Park. If it broke, the water would drain out of the park/basin into the San Antonio River and then right into downtown.

Now, I'm not engineer and I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night but I don't think there is a large danger of it ever breaking. There is usually zero pressure on the damn because it isn't holding back water the vast majority of the time. It has a small creek running through it (Olmos Creek) but the only time it is actually put to use as a dam is during a large flood event such as 2002 or 98.

In 98, I believe the water came very close to the top and very close to spilling over but I'm not sure that was as much of an issue in 2002. But had the water run over the top, it would have led to flooding downtown.

The tunnel Vashner mentioned above was also put into play and worked pretty damn well in both floods. It was finished in 96 (just in time) and probably helped save downtown from flooding during that flood.

http://floodsafety.com/texas/images/TunnelCutAway.jpg

Many people don't realize that Downtown San Antonio has quite the history of flooding because Olmos Dam has been in place for so long. I don't think there has been a major flood after the damn was put into place.

St. Mary's Church downtown (Near the CPS building I think) during a flood in 1921
http://floodsafety.com/texas/USGSdemo/photos/NWS_1.jpg

The SA River downtown at Crockett Street during the same flood

http://floodsafety.com/texas/USGSdemo/photos/NWS_2.jpg

[SWC Bonfire]

I understand that the biggest biergarten in the new world was in downtown SA before a flood wiped it out around the turn of the century.

[Useruser666]

The tunnel project did save downtown. If it weren't for the tunnel, downtown SA would have been under 5-8 feet of water in '98.

The Olmos Damn does hold the water away from downtown (North of it).

Good website:

http://www.edwardsaquifer.net/sariver.html


Today the world-famous San Antonio River Walk is the crown jewel of Texas and a major tourist attraction. Beautifully landscaped along its winding course through downtown, it is still most beloved by residents of the city. For decades, the entire dry weather flow was derived from wells in Brackenridge Park. But in June 2000 the San Antonio Water System began augmenting the River's flow with recycled water, allowing the wells to be cut off and reducing potable Edwards Aquifer water use (see Newsflash). Today the River flows stronger and cleaner than it has in decades. Even so, the River we stroll along now hardly resembles the tremendous flow of crystal pure spring water that used to be here instead. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and others have identified high fecal coliform bacteria counts as a water quality concern, so contact recreation is not supported in the San Antonio River (see TNRCC, 1996). This could be caused by leaks from sewer collection systems, but it seems more likely it is related to human activities along the River such as sidewalk washing and people feeding ducks and fish from River Walk restaurants.

Many tourists and even most local San Antonians are unaware of the River Walk's complete extent through downtown. Most think of the River Walk as just the "Great Bend" area where the floodgates have allowed hotels and restaurants to develop right along the River's banks. But the River Walk actually extends much farther. If you are visiting San Antonio or you are a local going downtown, you owe it to yourself to wander past the floodgates and see the rest of the River Walk. The north section extends past the floodgate up to the Municipal Auditorium at Lexington Street, past office towers and attractions like the Southwest Craft Center. The southern portion winds through the historic King William district where you can stroll past many graceful 19th century mansions. When the River Tunnel was completed in 1997, it was thought the main channel outside the Great Bend area would be afforded enough protection from flooding that development could begin at River level. However, 100 year rains in October '98 caused major flooding along the main channel and many had to re-think ideas about new development at River level along these stretches of the river.

In 2001 a long-standing property dispute between the City and River Walk tenants appeared to be headed for a very interesting court battle. A portion of the funds the City uses to maintain the River Walk comes from rents charged to restaurants and bars who place tables along the walkways and kiosks near the water's edge. Several businesses, claiming that rates were too high and inequitable and that funds were not used for River Walk maintenance, had not been paying rent for as long as 12 years. Moreover, the businesses claimed they owned the land in question and they had deeds dating back to Spanish colonial times to prove it. The City claimed the businesses only owned land up to the edge of their buildings, since the walkways and kiosks weren't created until the River Walk was built in 1939. There did not appear to be any way for the businesses to win, even if they won in court, because in any event the City could simply condemn and take any land that a jury decided belonged to the restaurants. And any money the businesses might receive as compensation could be recovered by the City through even higher rents. In August 2001, just before the trial was to begin, the parties reached a deal in which the City obtained clear title to the lands, and tenants got more equitable rents, long-term leases, and seats on an advisory panel that would have a say in how revenues would be spent.

While it is likely the San Antonio River will never again resemble the crystal torrent that early explorers found, significant water quality improvements have been documented recently. In June of 2002 scientists from the San Antonio River Authority discovered a log perch, a darter that is highly sensitive to pollution, in the San Antonio River below Loop 410. In this area the River is almost completely water that started as raw sewage and was cleaned up at SAWS' Salado Creek Water Recycling Center. Up until the late 1980s poor treatment plant operations, poor stormwater quality, and influxes of dumped toxic materials resulted in a "dead zone" here that extended for many miles downstream. Officials said that finding a sensitive fish species such as the log perch indicates SAWS' treatment plant operations have been vastly improved and stabilized, the City's stormwater control program has been effective, and residents have done their part by ending their dumping of anti-freeze, oil, and household chemicals that kill fish. In recent years, in addition to the log perch, biologists have found other sensitive species such as stonerollers and long-eared sunfish. The River is now rated relatively highly on a scientific index that measures biotic integrity, and biologists expect the sensitive species to continue migrating toward the downtown area.

[spurster]

The dam and the tunnel have to be considered major accomplishments by our city government.

[Vashner]

Nice pics.. Ok the talk about it busting was just some speculation I heard on TV. Maybe it was during on of the last 2 floods.

[boutons]

Wasn't it the Medina Lake dam that had all the attention in the last couple years as unreliable?

The Olmos dam is one hell of a structure, just sitting there, no stress, kinda hard to imagine it failing.