Grapevine officials are expecting millions of dollars in damages because of severe flooding caused by Mother Nature’s May havoc. The city’s parks and recreation department is also set to lose thousands of dollars. On May 31 Lake Grapevine  topped its spillway for the fourth time in the lake’s history, sending water into the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. Once the spillway is topped, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can no longer control the amount of water released, Corps spokesperson Clay Church said.

With a normal elevation level of 535 feet mean sea level, the lake rose more than 26 feet in May and crested at 561.55 feet,  2 feet below its historic level of 563.5 feet on Nov. 1, 1981.

Water covered roadways in all lake parks as well as a section of Dove Road in northwest Grapevine. Fairway Drive, the road next to the lake’s dam, was also closed along with the Grapevine Golf Course.

Boat ramps were under water, and all marinas except for Silver Lake Marina were closed because of inaccessible roads.

“We want to capitalize on all real estate in the floodplain for recreation, but when something like this happens we have to deal with the consequences,”  Grapevine Fire Chief Darrell Brown said.

Flood damage was almost exclusive to public property. Homes and private property were mostly spared because of the large land buffer around Corps lakes and protective improvements near the spillway made by the city after past floods.

Revenue loss

City officials said the financial toll of the flood is expected to be “significant” because of the loss of revenue from canceled reservations combined with the extensive cost of repairs of everything from asphalt damage on flooded roads to washed-away ground cover on the  playground at Oak Grove Park and other lake parks.

City officials told Grapevine City Council on June 2 that the amount of loss has yet to be finalized, but the city will seek insurance money for damages.

Tarrant County on June 3 received a disaster declaration from Gov. Greg Abbott. With the declaration, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials will come to Tarrant County to verify the damage. The Vineyards Campground, which features amenities such as bicycle and kayak rentals, a fishing pier and nature trails, was fully booked through June and was nearly full for the other summer months, said Chris Smith, Grapevine deputy director of parks  and recreation.

With fees for the 86 RV sites ranging from $49 to $69 per night and cabins ranging from $93 to $175 a night, the losses are expected to be high.

In 2014 the city earned $260,000 from campground rentals alone, Smith said.

An even bigger loss for the city will be revenue associated with summer youth soccer, baseball and softball tournaments that bring thousands of youth athletes and their families to Grapevine’s sports fields in the lake parks.

“We have already had to cancel some, but we’re hoping not to have to cancel everything,” Smith said.

Most of the fields are not submerged, but the roads that provide access to fields are under water. Travel Sports Baseball World Series, a significant moneymaker in fees and for local tourism, is scheduled for the end of June and July. A decision had yet to be made at press time on whether it would occur.

Receding floodwaters

Floodwater may take anywhere from days to weeks to subside, depending upon additional rainfall, and the lake could remain off-limits to most recreation this summer.

“The last time this happened—in 2007—it took 100 days for the lake to return to its normal level,” Smith said. “That would be all of June, July and August—pretty much the whole summer.”

The flooding in 2007 was less severe, with the lake reaching an elevation of 555.3 feet msl.

With lake parks and their boat ramps underwater, the only boats that will likely have lake access this summer are those docked on the water in the lake’s three marinas: Scott’s Landing, Twin Coves and Silver Lake Marina.

Silver Lake Marina remained open as of press time, and the marina was offering water taxi service to boat owners at Scott’s Landing, Brown said.

Although owners of boats docked at the marinas are permitted to use the lake, city officials are discouraging people from doing so.

“We want people to exercise extreme caution because there are so many underwater dangers, such as submerged pavilions and picnic tables that can’t be detected, and boats could run aground,” Brown said.