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Blunn Creek Walkabout

May 21, 2004

3:30-6PM

The Walkabout started at 3:30PM at 709 East Monroe Street, and visited the creek from Monroe to Riverside, and West Live Oak to Mariposa. Lorrie Dehaas, Kenny Hilbig, Tim Mahoney, Karen Marks, Esther Matthews, Ted Siff, and David Todd attended. Adam Smith and Scott Whiteman of the City of Austin planning staff helped lead the discussion and walk.

GENERAL GOALS:

Restore Blunn Creek to a functioning ecosystem with adequate stream flows, good floodwater detention and erosion protection, safe water quality, robust aquatic life, native plants, intact banks, and stable canopy trees.

CONCERNS:

Erosion:

• Accelerated erosion of creek in past five years since expansion of Ben White / 71 bypass, construction of Home Depot store, and additions to Gardner-Betts Juvenile Justice Center without sufficient detention or other mitigation.

Water:

• Capping and loss of spring flows
• Disappearance and pollution of swimming holes
• Loss of aquatic life, including frogs, turtles, snakes, fish in Creek
• Diversion of Big Stacy pool return flows

Vegetation:

• Invasion of nonnative plants, including bamboo, nandina, ligustrum, etc.
• Loss of major canopy trees

Trails:

• Breaks in Blunn Creek hike and bike trail: disconnected from Town Lake trail and Blunn Nature Preserve

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Stormwater detention:

• Protect AISD tract at Payload Pass from development and additional impervious cover.
• Have City or TXDOT receive fee simple title to, or place conservation easement on all or floodplain portion of AISD tract
• Construct detention and infiltration structure on AISD tract.
• Include outdoor educational access and/or facility at AISD tract.
• Explore options for alternative drainage and infiltration for parking in Twin Oaks, Beall's and Bank of America parking lots

Stormwater drainage:

• Orient drainage pipe outlets more to direction of streamflow
• Install energy dissipators on drainline outlets
• Install cedar logs to slow flow down banks and hold soil
• Remove curbs and curb cuts along East Side road, ringing Little Stacy Park to reduce creek bank erosion

Baseflow improvement:

• Remove paving and install swale and trail along Little Stacy Park, and along Sunset, between Fairmount and Travis Heights Elementary School
• Uncap spring flows, especially spring at Big Stacy
• Explore legality and cost of using pool return flows, city treated water, or pumped groundwater to ensure minimal flow in Creek

Inventory:

• Use USGS/City of Austin website tracking flows: http://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/nwisman/?site_no=08157700&agency_cd=USGS

• Collect survey information indicating location and size of trees in park
• Create volunteer water quality testing program
• Find and index historical photos of creek and park to track changes
• Create City-wide birding location list, including recognition and protection of Blunn Creek as prime site

Construction:

• Improve design of bridges crossing Blunn Creek to ensure that they don't block flow and exacerbate eddying and erosion
• Ensure that bridge construction materials match local landscape, i.e., laid limestone rather than poured-in-place concrete
• Tap art-in-public-places funds to improve park tables, benches, waste cans

Vegetation:

• Plant native grasses and forbs in floodplain to slow flow and hold soil
• Remove nonnatives, e.g., ligustrum, bamboo, nandina

Transportation:

• Connect Blunn Creek trail from Little Stacy Park to Town Lake, and from Big Stacy to Blunn Creek preserve
• Reduce width of Little Stacy Park south access road
• Encourage parking along entirety of park, rather than concentrating in areas along Creek, especially near Little Stacy
• Install sidewalks running east-west, meeting at park, to take advantage of north-south park trail

Utilities:

• Divert wastewater flows to lines outside of creek bed

• Bury above-ground electrical utilities
• Install lower, smaller-scale, dark-sky compatible park lighting

Private lands:

• Identify, promote, and subsidize detention measures for private lots, including rainwater collection, berm and swale use, soil amendments, etc. (see Bull Creek study by Jeff Kessell and Matt Holland)

General:

• Use planning process to build community, promote youth projects, and avoid typical land use brawls

Next meetings

• April 23, 2004, 8:40AM - Planning Advisory Committee meeting at 1 Texas Center, 5^th Floor, 505 Barton Springs Drive
• May 15, 2004, 9AM-12noon- Community workshop for Greater South River City Planning Area, with SOC (Strengths, Opportunities, and Challenges) study, meeting at St. Edward's University Jones Auditorium

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