Residents near Memorial Park cope with growing water leak for 2 months: 'It's getting a lot bigger'

Chaz Miller Image
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Cooler temperatures haven't slowed Houston water leaks
For two months, Houston residents near Memorial Park have been coping with a major water leak, causing a stream to gush into the street on T.C. Jester Boulevard.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Residents living near Memorial Park first reported a water leak to the City of Houston on Aug. 21, but the 5400 block of Nolda Street near T.C. Jester Boulevard still has water gushing into the street as of Tuesday afternoon.

Bryce Baker lives near the leak and said it's become the talk of his neighborhood.

"It definitely comes up in every conversation I have with the neighbors," he said.

Baker said he's seen homeless people bathing in the leak, as well as washing their clothes, and added that it's changed since forming more than two months ago.

"It's getting a lot bigger," he said. "It started way smaller."

The city said they'll have this leak repaired by the end of the week.

SEE MORE: 'I feel your frustration': Houston city officials address long wait times for water leak repairs

Eyewitness News asked why it's taken this long, and city officials said it's not a priority repair since it's not a geyser or near someplace like a school or medical facility.

A spokesperson from the department added that their own crews, in addition to outside contractors, have repaired more than 5,000 water leaks across Houston since June 1.

Officials have blamed the summer's hot temperatures for the rise in leaks throughout the city and said they're still averaging more than 500 active leaks per day as of Oct. 20.

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