The pond will filter stormwater and improve water quality in Waller Creek.
“The next time it rains ... the biofiltration pond will clean the stormwater from 26.2 acres of downtown streets before it enters Waller Creek,” Waterloo Greenway CEO Colette Pierce Burnette said Oct. 24. “The pond will not only clean and filter the water, but it also prevents debris from entering our waterway.”
Sedimentation biofiltration ponds manage stormwater by using plants and other natural elements to filter pollutants from runoff before it enters waterways, according to a news release.
Austin’s biofiltration pond will treat 26.2 acres of urban stormwater along Waller Creek and downtown, according to the release.
The biofiltration pond’s completion is part of the second phase of an overall plan to create a 1.5-mile greenway stretching from Waterloo Park to Lady Bird Lake, according to Waterloo Greenway.
The second phase of the plan, The Confluence, is located at the southernmost point of Waterloo Greenway. This project includes improving ecological health of the area, restoring the creek, building nearly a mile of trails, and planting over 200,000 native plants and 1,500 trees, Burnette said.
The opening of The Confluence is anticipated in May 2026, Burnette said.
Waterloo Park and Moody Amphitheater’s opening in 2021 marked the first phase of Waterloo Greenway.
