Recent rainfall has bolstered Central Texas water reserves, but the rain has also caused ripples that are being felt by business owners in downtown San Marcos.

Kristan Alvarez, owner of KnD’s Resale N More, a boutique located at 312 N. LBJ Drive, San Marcos, said her store has been dealing with flooding because of the recent rains. The city recently completed a $10.6 million construction project in downtown that upgraded many roads and utilities and was also meant to improve drainage in the area.

The city is looking into the cause of the flooding, which has also affected Royal Cleaners next door to KnD’s.

“As soon as the water came up above the curb, within five seconds the water was gushing in,” Alvarez said.

The flooding could not be coming at a worse time, she said. The end of May, which typically includes Texas State University’s graduation ceremonies and San Marcos High School students preparing for prom, is the store’s busiest time of the year, she said. Her response to the flooding has been to line the outside of her store with sandbags.

“I just feel like the outside of our store is crazy,” Alvarez said. “It looks messy.”

Alvarez said she has been hearing from customers that navigating their way to her store has been a challenge. Parking spots have been coned off by crews looking for causes of the flooding, and portions of North LBJ have been closed.

“As soon as they see cones or caution signs, people do not want to come downtown," she said. "They automatically think ‘construction.’ I hate when people tell me, ‘I don’t want to go downtown. There’s construction everywhere.’ I’m just tired of it.”