After Deadly Floods, New Texas Camp Rules Threaten Summer Traditions
ABILENE, Texas — Running a youth camp in Texas has never been easy. And it’s getting harder, thanks in part to well-intended legislation passed in the wake of last year’s deadly floods.
Measures meant to make camps safer may instead cause some to close permanently.
On April 7, 19 Texas camps filed a lawsuit in Travis County against the Texas Department of State Health Services challenging the constitutionality of the proceeding statutes that require redundant internet service, including end-to-end fiber among other things.
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One of the plaintiffs, Texoma Youth Camp, was originally owned by Boles Home, a children’s home associated with Churches of Christ. Texoma is located on Lake Texoma on the Texas-Oklahoma border and leases its facilities to Churches of Christ and some other organizations to conduct camps each summer.
Cam Havens, president of the Texoma board of directors, said he was not at liberty to discuss the litigation. But he did explain the camp had been told by a major provider that they could get fiber to the camp entrance for $120,000 but work could not begin for six months.
Numerous other camps face similar dilemmas. Or worse.
Even in a normal summer, the whims of Texas weather, the emotional highs and lows of adolescence and the spiritual awakening many campers find when surrounded by nature and friends can drive the most stalwart director to his knees.
The summer of 2025 was anything but normal.
Most of the 700-plus camps operating in Texas lie many miles from the Guadalupe River, which brought record flooding to central Texas on the Fourth of July. At least 137 people — including 27 campers and staff from Camp Mystic, near Hunt — died.
‘Doing camp right’
In 2022, Riley Watkins moved his family to Camp Oak Haven, some 200 miles east of Camp Mystic, to fulfill a lifelong dream of “doing camp right.”
Watkins thought that dream had come true when Gulf Coast Christian Camp owners responded to an inquiry about selling their property. They offered to give it to a nonprofit foundation.
“We sold everything we owned, moved and changed the name to Camp Oak Haven,” Watkins said. He and his wife, Brynna, lived there with their two children in a travel trailer on the grounds.
Oak Haven is small by Texas standards. It’s set on a hill just off Interstate 10 outside Columbus on 112.5 acres with 118 beds and a grove of 200-year-old oak trees.
The Watkinses spent eight months getting the facility ready for inspection by the Texas Department of State Health Services. They fixed the air conditioning, fenced the pool and made the site operational.
Word spread.
“We passed with flying colors in 2023,” Riley Watkins said.
In addition to their own camp programs, Oak Haven also rented the facility to others. Bookings jumped from two that first year to 40 for 2026.
Watkins had big plans for 2026. Then on Sept. 3 last year, he heard about two bills moving through the Texas Legislature in response to the tragic losses at Camp Mystic.
‘We didn’t think they’d apply to all camps’
Search and rescue operations in Kerr County were still underway when Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session July 9. Flood-related issues topped his agenda. But political theatrics over more partisan issues led to Democrats leaving the state to prevent a quorum, and little lawmaking happened.
When the second special was called on Aug. 15, the House and Senate made camp safety their first priority with the introduction of House Bill 1, Senate Bill 1 and several other bills, all of which passed with substantial bipartisan majorities after emotional testimony by families of campers at Camp Mystic and elsewhere.
Many of the new requirements seemed reasonable to camp directors who talked to The Christian Chronicle. They said emergency and evacuation plans, enhanced training, public address systems and parental access to emergency information were attainable or already in place.
Regarding other rules, Watkins said, “We didn’t think they would apply to all camps — just camps in flood plains.”
But they did. Camps in flood plains do face additional regulations, but two of the most onerous changes affected everyone: increased license fees and redundant internet access, including at least one end-to-end, fiber-optic service — regardless of size, location, proximity to a body of water or a flood plain.
A preliminary study by the Christian Camps and Conference Association found that at least 173 camps in Texas do not have access to fiber.
Camp Deer Run near Winnsboro, about 40 to 50 miles north of Tyler, saw the cost of its license increase from $600 to $10,000. Martin Tucker has been a Deer Run board member for 25 years.
“In no way are we unsympathetic to the families or the victims at Camp Mystic,” Tucker said. “It’s an enormous task to try to legislate to protect against a natural disaster — something that is unforeseen.”
Although Deer Run was fortunate to have the required internet access in place, Tucker said he knew some camps would close, and the impact will be felt even by those that remain open.
“There are campers that are unable to go to camp because the ones that remain open will have a flood of clientele that they can’t serve,” he said. “For camps that feel the charge to spread the seeds of the Gospel, it’s devastating.”
‘A little overwhelmed’
Camp Bandina was also fortunate. Less than an hour south of Camp Mystic, the campsite is elevated above the flood plain despite its location near the Medina River.
Even last year’s record-setting floods did not reach the campgrounds.
End-to-end fiber was installed a couple years ago, according to Elaine Stotts, Bandina manager. Starlink service provides the required redundancy.
But, Stotts said, a newly mandated alarm system cost $6,000, and the license rose from $750 to over $10,000.
A new law authorized the Department of State Health Services to adjust fees “as necessary to recover the costs.”
The department declined a request for an interview for this story. In an email, senior press officer Lara Anton said, “Youth camps can renew their license at any time. However, they must pay a $250 late fee if they renew it after March 31.”
She added that licensure requirements would be reviewed prior to an inspection, and the process can take several weeks to complete for each camp.
As of the last week in March, Stotts still didn’t know when the state health services inspection would happen, even though the deadline for renewal was March 31.
“We’ve called,” she said, “but we were told, ‘We’re a little overwhelmed.’”
No camp this summer
The ironically named Lake Cisco Christian Camp isn’t on Lake Cisco, nor anywhere near a flood plain. About 45 miles east of Abilene, the facility was acquired by several Churches of Christ in 1958 — but records go back to 1921.
Jonothan Masters attended as a camper and has served as director for six and a half years.
“The lake is across the highway, but we don’t even have lake access,” Masters said. “We’re on top of the mountainside. I get asked all the time, ‘Do ya’ll have jet skis?’ No! We can’t afford jet skis!”
And they can’t afford fiber.
“We’re in a little better spot than camps in rural areas — we have fiber somewhat nearby,” Masters said. But even if fiber were brought to the camp, they can’t afford the monthly fee of about $600 a month.
So Lake Cisco won’t open for any camps this summer, though it can host some retreats, which by definition can only last three days and two nights.
Joe Howe, board president at Peach Valley Christian Youth Camp between Gonzalez and Shiner, began calling internet providers the moment he heard the news. The major provider costs were prohibitive, but the camp was able to secure a half-mile connection to the Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative for just 10 cents a foot and $130 per month.
“We have submitted our application and paid the fee that’s five times what it’s been in the past,” Howe said. “For a small camp, that’s a big deal.” Like other camp directors, he had hoped lawmakers would revisit the issues raised in committee testimony. But without a special session, that can’t happen until the legislature reconvenes in January 2027, too late for many camps that can’t afford an entire year with no income.
“I think it was a hastily written and poorly constructed bill,” Howe said. “It doesn’t mean I think there weren’t things needed in response to the tragedy at Camp Mystic.”
The Chronicle tried to reach sponsors of the legislation for this story. The office of Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, said he was not available for an interview. The office of Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, did not respond to interview requests.
Howe said some things are positive for Peach Valley. “We’re a mile-plus from any flood plain — and we’re getting to know the emergency management of our county — that’s good. Everyone’s for kids’ safety.”
‘A long road to the middle of nowhere’
Oak Haven was not that fortunate.
The camp is located “at the end of a long road to the middle of nowhere,” Riley Watkins explained. “We can’t get fiber.”
And so on March 30, the camp closed its gates for good. The property has been sold. Watkins has accepted a job as a maintenance tech with Camp Pine Cove, a multimillion dollar enterprise with camps in three states. After more than a decade as a youth minister and three more at Camp Oak Haven, he will have a job with benefits for the first time in his life.
“I’m looking forward to that. God is redeeming this situation for our family,” Watkins said. “We’re waiting to see how he’ll redeem it for our campers.”
This article was originally published by The Christian Chronicle.