Del Curto Storm Drain Improvements – West Bouldin Watershed

The City of Austin Watershed Protection Department held a public meeting on September 3rd to discuss the flooding and drainage issues in the West Bouldin Creek Watershed. This watershed is the area along West Bouldin Creek as it flows from the Zilker neighborhood through SLNA. The watershed department presented a detailed discussion of the problems, and a solution that would be implemented in two phases:

• Phase 1: Construct “small-scale” projects to improve drainage and reduce flooding
• Phase 2: A larger project to address flooding identified in the Preliminary Engineering Report.

Phase 1 is expected to begin in 2016.

The materials presented at the meeting are a very interesting read, and are available online at the links below. We encourage you to have a look. They discussed how projects get prioritized, how storm drain systems work, the history and scope of the problems seen in the Del Curto area, the Preliminary Engineering Report which identified the need for additional inlets, upgrades to existing pipe, additional pipe, and keeping the storm drains within the public Right-of-Way; as well as issues raised such as cost, South Lamar construction, and time-frame.

Twenty small projects were identified as possible enhancements to be made in Phase 1, which is expected to begin in 2016. One of the projects discussed was the “Green Streets” project on Iva and Delcrest, which would reduce the road-way widths and change the streets to be 1-way. The longer term, Phase 2 work would see some preliminary work happen concurrently with Phase 1, but the detailed design would not begin until after Phase 1, probably in 2018.

The Watershed Department staff identified ways that all of us in SLNA can help:

• Avoid building in drainage easements
• Clear easements of obstructions
• Report flooding and drainage concerns to 3-1-1. The “squeaky wheel gets the grease”.
• Email floodpro@austintexas.gov and request more information about flood-proofing

We encourage you to read the presentation materials that we have put on the website. You can find them at:

• September 3 Meeting Presentation
• Del Curto Project Area Phase 1A Study
• Del Curto Project Area Phase 1A Maps

It is very exciting to see these efforts to address the problems that we have seen in SLNA, problems which have gotten significantly worse with all of the infill development. Stay tuned!