- Padre Island Property Owners Association meeting on Dec. 12
- Many unhappy residents
- Community wants the canal systems all interconnected to help water flow
Connecting the canal systems on Padre Island has been a topic of conversation for almost two decades.
Last week, the new Don Patricio bridge on Park Road 22 officially opened, and Padre Island residents want answers from the Padre Island Property Owners Association (PIPOA) about when the canals under the bridge will be connected to the canals in the Whitecap community.
Residents who live on that side of the bridge said that the current state of the canal water is stagnant, dirty, and has an unpleasant smell. The movement of the water throughout the canal system would help fix this problem.
“The POA and the Whitecap Development people are discussing and negotiating the particulars of how the existing bulkhead is going to be attached to the new bulkhead that will allow the water to go through," Padre Island resident and former PIPOA President Marvin Jones said. "That’s for the engineers and technicians to figure out. Once that’s done and they have it in writing, I’m told, then maybe the water can flow.”
At Tuesday night’s meeting, representatives from LJA Engineering presented the results of a study they conducted on the Padre Island canals.
The engineers said that their study showed there would be a high risk for scouring, or erosion, of sand in the canals.
After the presentation, some residents publicly spoke about how they are not happy with the PIPOA's decisions regarding the water exchange canal breakthrough project and want to see the canals connected as soon as possible.
A final decision was not made at the meeting on Tuesday evening. The PIPOA said they expect a decision about to be made in union with LJA Engineering about a plan to connect the canal system in a week to ten days based on more details to be provided about the project.
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