City officials invite residents to attend the ceremony on the northwest corner of River Road and Cape Street to hear remarks from Mayor Jane Hughson and a presentation from city staff about the project’s improvements.
Major takeaways
The drainage improvements aim to reduce the impact of flooding in the Blanco Gardens neighborhood and surrounding areas by adding a new storm sewer system, inlets and concrete channels to more effectively respond to flooding events.
Some background
The Blanco Gardens drainage improvements began after the Memorial Day and All Saints floods of 2015.
The Memorial Day floods occurred on May 23 and 24, 2015, producing more than 12 inches of rain in less than six hours and causing the Blanco and San Marcos rivers to rise 20 to 40 feet. The All Saints flood occurred on Oct. 30, 2015, and further damaged property throughout San Marcos, delaying recovery efforts, according to the city of San Marcos website.
With federal support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city of San Marcos received $15 million in funding from Community Development Grant Disaster Recovery and Mitigation programs. This grant allowed the city to begin drainage improvements.
