River managers in Kerr County had the money to improve flood detection. Here's what they did with it instead.

AUSTIN, Texas — The Upper Guadalupe River Authority (UGLA), which runs on property taxes in Kerr County, has six river gauges on the Guadalupe River.

On July 4th, that river was hit with sudden and devastating flooding that claimed the lives of at least 108 people in Kerr County.

On Wednesday, state lawmakers on the Disaster Preparedness & Flooding select committee questioned river authority General Manager Tara Bushnoe on why the entity didn't move forward with a project that would have added more river gauges in commonly flooded areas. The Texas Tribune reported the system would have included detection systems at 10 low-water crossings in Kerr County that transmits information to local agencies.

The UGLA had saved a reserve fund of $3.4 million. They could have used that money