Lake Dunlap spillgate collapse causes problems for city of Kyle's water supply

KYLE, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - A spillgate failure at Lake Dunlap is impacting the water supply of the city of Kyle, which sits 30 miles north of the lake.

Video from the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority captured the moments a spillgate failed at Lake Dunlap on Tuesday morning. According to officials with the GBRA, it dropped water levels in the process.

“We are asking the people downstream to secure their recreational items such as boats,” said Patty Gonzales, the GBRA’s communications manager. “We are also asking people to exercise caution in the water because currents can be strong.”

People nearby watched as the lake drained foot by foot. 

“Little sad. The holidays are right around the corner everyone was going to enjoy the park and the lake and so forth and now it's not going to happen,” said Kelly Salinas who lives along the lake.

The spillgate failure, in turn, is impacting the city of Kyle’s water supply. The GBRA, one of the city’s water service providers, uses water from Lake Dunlap. Now the city is asking people and businesses to watch their water use.

This isn't the first time the city of Kyle has had to go without one of their water service providers. With no estimated date on when the problem will be fixed, they're asking people to monitor their use.

“We're just asking folks to watch out on irrigation, filling pools, and things that would use large values of water that isn't really necessary right now,” said assistant city manager James Earp.

The city’s other two sources are having to pick up the slack from the GBRA. 

“The issue now is that we have to pump the water as fast as the people are using it,” said Earp.

Earp said he doesn't want people to panic, because the city has had water-supply issues in the past. 

“I don't want people to feel it's not important, it's important to watch their usages but it's no reason to panic. We are not going to run out of water tomorrow or anything like that,” said Earp. 

While there is no estimated date on when they will receive water again from the GBRA, Earp said the city already has plans to potentially add another water supplier in the future.

The city of Kyle does have an agreement with San Marcos to use some of their water if issues do become severe.