[Update: Since posting this story earlier today, we have learned via Caleb Pritchard of the Austin Monitor that the park plans to open under a temporary injunction the Travis County Commissioners Court approved October 4, which allows the park to operate as long as it maintains a specified water quality determined as safe by county staff.
As the story below refers to, the filed suit in July 2016 to prevent the park from opening its pool without meeting the minimum requirements of a public pool under state law. According to the county, the temporary injunction 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.
The county also issued a statement that it is working with the park and "all parties involved" to "uphold public pool safety standards."]
The long-delayed and debated NLand Surf Park will will finally open Friday, October 7, the company announced Tuesday.
The 160-acre wave park, North America’s first, was originally scheduled to open this spring. The development process became protracted, first due to epic rains last spring, then by a prolonged disagreement with county officials over whether or not the park’s wave lagoon constituted a s swimming pool and should be regulated as such. Lawsuits were either filed or threatened all around in July, but now, seemingly, "it’s all good" as surfers and county commissioners are wont to say (not really). NLand reached an agreement with local and state officials over how to regulate the 14-acre lagoon, it reported.
The facility, located on Highway 71 at Navarro Road in Del Valle, features a the lagoon that uses rainwater collected on the property, as well as lodging, food, retail, and a surf school.
According to company representatives, the lagoon will have waves for surfers of all levels: "from head-high, open-face waves with a 35-second ride for experts, challenging open-face waves for passionate travel surfers and gentle white water waves for kids and beginners."
The NLand Training Center will be a state-of-the-art surf school staffed by coaches from around the world, the statement added.
NLand was founded and developed by Doug Coors, an engineer, surfer, and scion of the beer-enriched family. The company holds that NLand will be the "only inland surfing destination of its kind in North America for surfers from novices to world-class competitors."