Environmental Engineering Reference
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bottom out. One of the things that people don't have a sense for is the incredible
level of effort that it takes to protect the inner-city creeks. Some people look at
our regulations and see them as extravagant, but it is really hard to protect water
quality. And just dealing with the historical repercussions of what we didn't used
to know—it's mind-boggling, not only pollution control but volume control and
rate of fl ood fl ows to protect streams. It's huge. 77
The urban creeks continue to offer glimmers of hope for creating more
desirable relations between humans and their material surroundings (see
fi gure 4.8). Despite the eroded creek banks, the exposed sewer lines, the
illicit dumping, and all manner of neglect and abuse, walking along the
creeks—even in the lower reaches of highly urbanized watersheds—can
at times be an enlightening and encouraging experience. A Watershed
Department staff member notes:
It's amazing, walking these creeks you can see the ravaged conditions and then
you turn a corner and you fi nd an outcrop that has real beauty. There are places
like that all over Austin, even in our most damaged creeks. And the thing that
is encouraging for me is that people just love those creeks. They're bombed out,
they're urbanized to the max, they are a humongous challenge to restore (and
we're doing it slowly), but people love them and they'll fi ght to protect them. For
me, that's very satisfying that people still see the beauty and still connect to those
waterways. That makes our job worth it. It might be another 50 years before we
Figure 4.8
An inspirational spot on Blunn Creek in Central Austin.
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