NEW BRAUNFELS - A Comal County dam, first proposed more than 60 years ago, is set to be finished this month.
The dam near Krueger Canyon Road outside of New Braunfels was first discussed by the county along with five other dams after the devastating 1952 flood.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s five earthen dams were built, but not the sixth,
In 2000 when federal funding became available, planning finally began on that sixth dam.
Comal County engineer Tom Hornseth said the $23-million dam took another decade to complete because of environmental clearance issues and because the dam had to be redesigned halfway through construction.
"So we actually had to stop, design, and then rebid the project,” said Hornseth. “So there were various problems along the way."
However, Hornseth said it will be worth the wait.
Once complete, when the rain run-off comes down from the hills into the Dry Comal Creek, instead of hitting New Braunfels all at once, it will be released slowly through a five-foot-tall outlet at the bottom of the dam.
Meanwhile, the rest of the water will be held behind the 70-foot-tall concrete dam.
“Flooding is bad in this area, and it causes a lot of trouble,” said Hornseth. “In my opinion it's worthwhile to make these efforts to reduce those damages."
Comal County is currently looking at the possibility of building four more dams between New Braunfels and Canyon Lake Dam to slow down run-off into the Guadalupe River.
