As heavy rains continue to fall on Austin, Texas, residents and officials have witnessed the effects of a worsening erosion problem along many area creeks and tributaries. These bodies of water have been swallowing a great deal of property--parts of backyards, trees, fences, clotheslines.

Tuan Nguyen bought a duplex two months ago, hoping to fix up the neglected property that abuts a tributary of Williamson Creek and turn it into a rental property by year's end. Nguyen's plan, however, was swallowed when the creek swallowed most of his backyard.

"The fence is gone. It slid into the creek, and it took everything else with it," Nguyen said. "I'll never be able to rent the property like this; it just keeps getting bigger."

Austin officials have declared Nguyen's property and two other areas "extremely critical" and have accelerated plans for erosion control projects.

"East of I-35 is where we are seeing the brunt of the erosion," said Mike Kelly, manager for the Austin Watershed Protection and Development Review Department's storm water treatment and stream restoration division. "There is not much bedrock, which is less erodible, but rather more Blackland Prairie soil and silt."

Fort Branch Creek is devouring the backyards of dozens of homes along Westminster and Wellington drives in East Austin. According to Kelly, the city had plans to purchase and demolish these properties in order to create a greenbelt buffer zone but scrapped the idea after estimating a cost of nearly $15 million.

Now the storm water treatment and stream restoration division is seeking city council approval to hire an independent contractor to shore up the more than 2,000-ft stretch of eroded creekbed using $3.5 million from voter-approved bond money. Kelly said he hopes work will begin on the Fort Branch project in September.

Erosion is also threatening to wash away parts of Lovell Drive at a bridge over the Tannehill Branch of Boggy Creek in East Austin. Kelly said that by early October city crews will begin placing large rocks along the stream bank, replace vegetation and regrade the bank to a more gradual slope.

As for Nguyen's property, crews will begin building a temporary 200-ft rock wall behind it on Monday. The project will cost approximately $50,000.

According to Kelly, his department has a list of 1,800 sites in the city that need erosion control. City crews typically manage to finish 15 sites off the list every year; the list is ranked by erosion problem severity.

"We're coming toward our wettest months of the season... not to mention hurricane season," said Kelly. "Citizens are scared... about this, and we're trying to fix it immediately."

Source: American-Statesman