Record-breaking Floods
On Memorial Day weekend 2015, historic flash and river flooding struck parts of South-Central Texas. Extremely heavy rainfall caused  the Blanco River to rise from below flood stage to major flood stage in 45 minutes. Within hours, the river was at more than 40 feet and well above record level. Wimberley, Texas was one of the most severely impacted towns. The flooding left massive destruction in its wake.

The Devastation Left Behind
Jim Pierce is a second generation rancher in Wimberley. His property spans about 2,000 acres and was purchased by his father in the early 1960’s. Soon after, a lake was constructed on the ranch covering about 20 surface acres. Over the years, it’s been used by family and friends for swimming, skiing, and world-class bass fishing.

In 1971, a dam was built with a 24- inch polymer-coated, galvanized steel spillway pipe buried inside. About 15 to 20 years ago, Jim noticed the pipe had formed some slow leaks. “Going through long dry spells in Texas, you hate to see any water leaking out of your lake,” Jim explained. “We’d been fighting this issue for a while, including trying to re-coat the pipe, and hadn’t fixed the problem.”

After a series of flooding in 2015, including the massive Memorial Day weekend storms, Jim had to fix the problem once and for all. During one storm, the spillway pipe had been overwhelmed by floodwater flowing over it for more than four hours, eroding the grass and dirt, compromising its structural integrity. “We had to get in there and fix the pipe. However, we knew eventually we would have to abandon the existing spillway after years of leaking,” Jim said. “While we were in there, we decided to add an additional spillway that could take over. For this one, we wanted to use a pipe that would be more durable and last longer.”