The city’s Flood Mitigation Task Force is working to come up with solutions for flooding in South Austin, as Austin City Council members explained during a Jan. 26 meeting of the South Austin Neighborhood Alliance at the Onion Creek Club.

SANA sent out a survey and received 233 responses from residents in the four Austin City Council districts in South Austin, SANA President Ken Jacob said.

“Following the recent floods, a large percentage of our respondents indicated they would be willing to spend more money to support more spending to improve our drainage problems and to help solve the flooding of our creeks, even if it requires a tax increase or bonds to be issued,” Jacob said.

He noted residents do not know if there is a viable option for the area, but the survey indicates public support to take action. Some residents feel buying out homes in the affected areas is a reasonable solution, and others would prefer the city examine other mitigation strategies, Jacob said.

An engineering study focused on finding potential engineering solutions for the Upper Onion Creek area is slated to go back to the Public Utilities Committee soon, said Council Member Ann Kitchen, who represents District 5 in Southwest Austin.

“The city’s consultants are on track for completing the first part of that engineering study by the end of February,” she said. “We are expecting that to come back to our committee in March, and so we can begin the steps at that point of identifying whether or not we can do something from an engineering perspective and whether or not we can start talking about buyouts for the Upper Onion Creek area.”

Mayor Steve Adler said flood mitigation has been a focus for the council.

“We have increased the standards with respect to new development so as to not repeat the same mistakes that we have made in the past,” he said.

The city considers development as part of mitigation plans, Kitchen said.

District 2 Council Member Delia Garza said mitigation will continue to be a controversial issue, and she looks forward to results from the Flood Mitigation Task Force, which began discussing plans in October and is working to present regional strategies to council this spring.

Jacob, who serves on the task force, said he welcomes input and questions from residents. Task force meetings are open to the public, with the next meeting scheduled for March 1.