Nland Surf Park of Austin, TX has settled a lawsuit filed by local health authorities and plans to open for business Friday, October 7.
On October 4, the Travis County Commissioners Court approved a temporary injunction that will allow Nland Surf Park to operate as long as it maintains a specified water quality determined as safe by County staff.
Nland Surf Park is designed by Wavegarden, a Spanish firm that has developed similar parks in Europe. The centerpiece of the park is a wave pool measuring nine football fields. The project has been built near Austin by Doug Coors, a descendant of brewing legend Adolph Coors.
Travis County filed suit against Nland Surf Park in July 2016 to prevent the Park from opening its pool without meeting the minimum requirements of a public pool under state law. The temporary injunction, approved by the Commissioners Court, is scheduled for presentation to a district court judge today. After the district court judge enters the injunction, Nland could begin operations before the end of the week.
“State public pool laws exist to protect public health,” the Commissioners Court said in a statement released Monday. “The County enforces these minimum standards on behalf of the State. Travis County takes public health standards for man-made water parks very seriously and is working with Nland Surf Park and all parties involved to uphold public pool safety standards.”
Commissioners filed their lawsuit against Nland roughly three weeks after health investigators forced the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC to close its whitewater channel after concluding it harbored pathogens that were likely to lead to a fatal case of meningitis. The USNWC, which is an official training site for the U.S. Canoe & Kayak Team, reopened its whitewater channel in early August after implementing a new water management plan developed in coordination with local, state and federal health officials and scientists.
