Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
4
After the Flood: Retrofi tting Austin's Urban
Core to Accommodate Growth
On Memorial Day 1981, Austin was subjected to a dramatic Texas-sized
storm that produced ten inches of rain in a period of six hours. The
hundred-year storm resulted in widespread fl ooding throughout the city
and was particularly damaging to Shoal Creek on the original western
boundary. The fl ow rate of the creek increased by an order of fi ve mag-
nitudes, from ninety gallons per minute to more than six million gallons
per minute, creating a torrent of water and debris that scoured the creek
channel as it raced to the Colorado River. Thirteen people lost their lives
and property damage was estimated to exceed $35 million. The fl ood
continues to serve as a contemporary reminder of the threat that urban
water poses to the residents of Austin.
Austin's reputation as a progressive leader in environmental protec-
tion is largely founded on the municipality's activities to protect unde-
veloped land upstream of Barton Springs through strict water quality
ordinances and conservation land development practices, as described
in detail in the previous chapter. However, the municipality also has an
international reputation as a leader in urban stormwater management
that includes comprehensive monitoring activities, the early adoption
of BMPs for new urban development, and the retrofi t of previously
developed areas of the city with state-of-the-art water quality controls.
In this chapter, I head downstream from Barton Springs to examine the
stormwater management practices of the municipality in the inner core
of the city. Here, the challenges of urban runoff are markedly different
from those of the Hill Country and involve a diffi cult balance of pro-
tecting residents and property from fl ooding and erosion while meeting
water quality goals in a highly impervious landscape. The inner city
stormwater activities in Austin provide a corollary to the political and
administrative activities at the urban fringe, shifting the debate from
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