DALLAS, Texas — 1.5 million gallons of raw sewage, which started making its way into White Rock Lake last week from Plano due to a pump malfunction, has suspended water activities on the lake until further notice, threatening several rowing races scheduled this weekend.
A rowing team from Oklahoma City arrived for those races on Wednesday, but they were told they couldn't practice or get their boats out on the water until testing showed the waters were safe.
Inside the White Rock Boathouse, high school rowing teams practiced on rowing machines and trained what they could as their racing boats sat in storage.
Chris Leonard, the Head Coach of White Rock Rowing, told WFAA that pivoting is not hard, but the sewage spill would ruin this weekend's competition for several teams from out of town if it doesn't get the green light.
'We're going to race all the local rowing teams on the lake, including the one that came down from Oklahoma City -- then we have the University of Texas and Oklahoma University scheduled to row against SMU, too," Leonard said. "I hope we don't have to tell everybody, 'Hey, you came up here and bought all your hotels and all this stuff, but we can't do anything.' I'm hopeful we're good to go for the kids' sake."
Right now, rowing, boating, fishing, kayaking, paddle-boarding, paddle-boating, or getting in the water (that's mostly for dogs; swimming isn't allowed anyway) isn't allowed.
Coach Sarah Gehrke from the OKC Riversport Women's Juniors Rowing team learned that as she and her team arrived on Wednesday for the weekend races.
Crews are currently dredging the Oklahoma River, so the team came to Dallas to get some races under their belt.
"We found out why we couldn't get in the water, and, understandably, that's not in our control," Gehrke said. "It's a perfect opportunity to teach our athletes to be flexible and adaptable. We're trying to take it with that mindset and be positive about it."
Gehrke and her crew got some work in on rowers after tugging their race boats down to Texas, and they are hoping their trip will not be for nothing.
WFAA also learned the Corinthian Sailing Club is moving its sailboat regatta from White Rock to Lake Ray Hubbard this weekend.
Crews are working to remedy the situation, but when the water will be safe has yet to be answered.