City, WCID moving forward with Lake Creek flood mitigation plan

The city of Round Rock and the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control & Improvement District are performing preliminary work to construct two dams to remedy flooding issues in west Round Rock.

The city and WCID, which is responsible for the maintenance of flood control devices in the area, are looking to build the dams in the Austin extraterritorial jurisdiction, or county land outside the city limits. Officials say the dams, which will be built upstream of homes on Lake Creek, will reduce the size of the 100-year flood plain and reduce the risk of flooding for about 60 homes.

Round Rock Utilities Director Michael Thane said city and WCID staffers are doing environmental and geological work to ensure there are no karst features or endangered species in the study area.

“We have two to three studies going on [in the area] right now just to make sure we can place the dams where we need to place them,” Thane said.

The goal is to start preliminary design on the first dam and start final design on the second dam by the summer. Thane said the process can be slow because of the preliminary work that has to be done before the dams can be sited and built. He said the next steps are to meet with the city of Austin to see how the two cities can work together moving forward.

“All the entities we’ve talked to understand and agree with the project,” Thane said. “We just have to do the due diligence and the steps.”

The estimated cost for the project is more than $20 million. Thane said the city has secured about 75 percent of the necessary funding for the project so far, with most of it coming from the city and WCID. Thane said city staffers are looking for any funding opportunities.