The overview
Round Rock City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance amendment Aug. 10 requiring property owners to have detention ponds and water quality ponds inspected every three years and make any needed repairs. The change comes as the city is now required by the Texas Commissioner on Environmental Quality to implement a program for inspecting all stormwater control structures, due to the fact Round Rock’s population has reached over 100,000.
Explained
Round Rock currently has 473 privately owned stormwater structural controls, with an additional 57 owned by the city, including detention ponds, water quality ponds and stormwater separators. These are used for flood control as well as filtering out oils and other substances from getting into the Edwards Aquifer.
Over the years, Director of Utilities Michael Thane said many of these ponds have gone without maintenance or inspections. He and city staff evaluated 20 stormwater ponds throughout the city to see how they were being maintained and said some were not being mowed, allowing vegetation and sediment to build up. With the ordinance amendment, the city is establishing maintenance standards for all privately owned standards.
Put in perspective
With around 60% of the city situated over the Edwards Aquifer, Round Rock has a large amount of stormwater features compared to other cities with populations above 100,000:
- Round Rock: 473 stormwater structures
- Abilene: 91
- Carrollton: 58
- Mesquite: 100
- Killeen: 122
Thane said property owners will have three years to hire a licensed professional engineer to complete an inspection of their stormwater ponds. If they do not, the city will have the ability to hire an engineer and complete any required maintenance, the cost of which would be billed to the property owners.
Quote of note
“We are not here to issue fines,” Thane said. “That’s not our purpose. Our purpose here is to make sure the ponds are functioning as they’re intended so we protect flooding and water quality in our city.”
