Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
both sides of the city? It's traditionally been a concern. And in the past,
there may have been some divergent approaches but I haven't seen any of
that since I started working for the City.”
74
An example of the new commitment to environmental quality in East
Austin is the 2006 municipal purchase of a fi fty-nine-acre lot that encom-
passes a natural spring. A city council member notes, “Our commitment
to the environment is not just in one area of the city. Considering how
much we'll spend west of I-35 and even outside of Travis County, this is a
small request.”
75
Refl ecting on the project, a PODER representative states,
“We're really pleased because we've always said we haven't gotten our
fair share for protecting the environment and wetlands and green space
in East Austin.”
76
The rise of such constructive projects in East Austin
suggests that the historic inequitable distribution of infrastructure service
is slowly being erased.
Conclusions
Urban runoff activities in the inner core of Austin are strikingly different
than in the Hill Country. There is no dominant citizen push to protect
natural resources and no hope for achieving nondegradation of the heav-
ily modifi ed waterways in the inner city. Rather, the urban core dialog
is about how much degradation is acceptable and how much the city's
residents are willing to spend to make their creeks nonthreatening and at
least somewhat healthy and aesthetically acceptable. This dialog is one
of administrative rationality that focuses on directing municipal funds
as effi ciently as possible to solve fl ooding and erosion problems and—to
a lesser extent—water quality. These activities are done on a piecemeal
basis and tend to focus on areas in crisis, due to limited funds available
for water quality activities and the enormity of urban water problems.
The imbroglio of nature and society is readily apparent in the inner
city, as demonstrated by confl icts within the Watershed Department and
among municipal departments, the condition of the creeks, and the politi-
cal battles over the SGI in East Austin. As a whole, these activities reveal a
lack of administrative capacity to resolve the tension between nature and
humans. However, Watershed Department staff members are surprisingly
optimistic and see their work as gradually improving the physical condi-
tions of the inner core both socially and environmentally. A Watershed
Department staff member states:
It may be 15 or 20 years before we see the fruits of our labor. And we may just
be tamping down the rate of degradation and holding the line so things don't
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