AUSTIN, Texas — More dirt, debris and sediment have fallen into Shoal Creek and the Shoal Creek trail.
This is causing a flood risk, because water on the creek could get stopped up due to heavy storms.
Last May, a 300-foot landslide in the same area took out a few people's yards and closed the Shoal Creek Trail after heavy rain.
It still has not been fixed despite the fact the city has spent more than a million dollars on surveys and studies.
Shoal Creek and Austin, sit near the Balcones Fault.
Charles Woodruff is a consulting geologist in Austin who said limestone is typically stable, but it becomes a problem when it sits on clay, which can shift with rain.
"The clay, when it dries, it shrinks and cracks,” said Woodruff. “You've probably seen ground that cracks in the summertime. Well, when it gets wet, those cracks fill in again, and the ground actually heaves some, it changes - it swells."
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Shoal Creek, he said, sits near limestone and clay, which can erode.
He said the danger is always heightened when homes are built on steep hills.
"Again and again, these developments wind up being put on terrain such as the Shoal Creek area,” said Woodruff.
At the Shoal Creek landslide, the city said it is too dangerous right now for crews to clear debris.
The city is monitoring flood risk to Lamar.
"We have determined how much water we need to be concerned about,” said Kevin Shunk, with the city’s watershed department. “When it gets up to those levels, that's when we'll talk to the emergency managers and AFD, APD to address the issues along Shoal Creek.”
City staff is considering putting up walls, two large ones with anchors that tie into the slope.
They plan to go to city council on June 20. It is expected to cost up to $16 million.
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