AMARILLO – An estimated 990 million gallons have been pumped from the playa lakes and is estimated to continue for the next few months until all lakes reach shut-off elevations.
The city council is now considering keeping those pumps for a cost of over half a million dollars.
Both permanent pumps at Lawrence Lake failed at the end of last year. However, earlier this year the city had temporary pumps installed.
Lawrence Lake is 85 percent full, McDonald Lake is back at 100 percent full, and pumping at T-Anchor and Martin is complete. The only lake still considered over capacity is Greenway’s playa.
Moving forward, the city says it will look for better ways of handling flooding, perhaps ways that don’t include pumps.