Background information: In summer 2024, District staff noticed Highland Horizon Pool had a crack in the plaster running from the floor up to the pool wall. Dirt was observed collecting in and around the crack, which is suggestive of a potential leak from an unknown origin.
The crack was repaired in early spring 2025 and has not returned, but other structural problems with the plaster that forms the surface of Highland Horizon Pool have since been discovered.
In conjunction with a consultant, the District created a plan to determine possible causes of the pool’s structural issues, which could have reportedly ranged from building techniques to unstable or cavernous ground beneath the facility.
Myriad potential paths forward were possible depending on the severity of the issue, from fixing the facility completely to repurposing the facility for other uses.
Because Brushy Creek MUD land contains numerous karst caves, an element of the investigation underway sought to determine if there was also a cave located directly under the pool.
On Dec. 13, 2025, the BCMUD Board of Directors approved a second phase of the investigation that involved hiring a geophysical consulting service to conduct noninvasive subsurface exploration using ground penetrating radar and a microgravity survey. This provided a clearer picture of what may have been causing Highland Horizon Pool’s surface to crack.
A Geophysical Exploration Report concludes that gravity data and ground penetrating radar did not detect any voids beneath the pool shells and indicate competent limestone below the structure. The report further states that karst topography does not extend beneath the pool shells and is not responsible for the cracking. The report also addresses the structural relationship between the two pool shells and the dividing wall, explaining that the wall likely bears directly on limestone while portions of the pool shells are supported on a sand subbase. This condition can create resistance-to-shrinkage (RTS) cracking without vertical displacement, rather than settlement caused by a poor foundation.
For the next step, District officials will work with aquatic engineers to identify a more permanent structural solution. The pool will likely need to be replastered for use this summer, and the District will implement a more permanent solution to fix the pool’s center wall during the off-season starting in fall 2026.
Timeframe: Work for this project is still in the discovery phase. As the investigation continues to pinpoint the scope and nature of the facility’s needs, District officials will be able to determine a timeframe for completion.
Description: Work for this project consists of an investigation that will determine the safest and most financially prudent path forward for the Highland Horizon Pool facility.
Impact to the community: There remains no plan at this time to keep the facility closed, and Highland Horizon Pool is scheduled to open again in summer 2026. However, the discovery of structural issues occurred while work was being planned on a project to replace the deck at Highland Horizon Pool. The deck-replacement project has been subsequently put on hold until District officials can determine an ideal repair strategy for the entire facility.