Dam on Barton Creek (Austin, Earth: inspector, homeowner, office)

[thesonofgray]

Originally Posted by frank a bowers

It is of little interest to most near any and every body except a few idiots. The damn will not hold back all the water and when the hole is filled it will flow through. It is quit dry now and the las few years this might be some repair work and nothing more. Curious and jealous folks seem to get in the way to often. The damn will allow the water to flow over or through a spill way and the water will leave the sedment in the lake so the water will be cleaner. Frank Bowers

It's spelled "dam," by the way.

And I don't think anyone in this thread expressed their desire to have their own dam on Barton Creek.

[TexasHorseLady]

There are laws regarding damming streams - I'm familiar with them because Little Donahoe runs through our property, and we specifically CANNOT legally dam it without making provision for the water to pass on downstream (and approved provision, at that). That was made very clear to us when we purchased the property.

That has nothing to do with jealousy or envy and everything to do with water rights of those downstream as well as those whose property the water runs through. Now, some folks might do it, figuring either (a) they won't get caught (the folks downstream won't notice that the stream is suddenly flowing much less freely and figure it out) or (b) they have a bunch of money so the law doesn't apply to them (the "but I WANNA, so I should be able to, consequences be damned" school of thought).

[Trainwreck20]

The reality of the 'waters of the state' rules has more to do with ecology of the area (a dammed stream that use to be dry only 2 months of the year may be dry 4 or more) and safety. A home-made dams result in unpredictable water flow, especially if the dam breaks suddenly, and it can cause erosion problems, either on the owners property or a neighbors. There are a lot of other issues, mainly dealing with things the average dam builder never thinks to consider.

[TexasHorseLady]

Well, we were advised that there were limitations even if we had the stream dammed professionally, in that we could NOT halt the water flow downstream.

Not that we wanted to, but we were doing our due diligence.

[thesonofgray]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Well, we were advised that there were limitations even if we had the stream dammed professionally, in that we could NOT halt the water flow downstream.

Not that we wanted to, but we were doing our due diligence.

If someone has water rights downstream, and you're impeding that access/availability, that could create some major legal trouble.

One of our clients (a 6,000 strong city) is currently in a legal tango with LCRA on this very issue. Now this might not apply as much to smaller streams, but there's so many things affected downstream (environmental, legal, economic, recreational, etc) that most people don't think of when you impede water flow.

[CptnRn]

What I found offensive about this construction in the creek bed was the large area that was disturbed, with no indication of any kind of erosion controls in place. There is no doubt that it has resulted in large amounts of sediment being disturbed and washed downstream. I suspect there probably has been no attempt at revegetating the area to hold the disturbed soil in place. I also don't consider what has been done there to be an improvement over the natural landscape. It is an ugly manmade eyesore that smacks of a huge ego, someone wanting his own private Barton Springs Pool in his backyard and who thinks they are above the law.

The Travis County appraisal on that property is over $1,500,000. Travis County, Bee Cave and COA Watershed Protection all tell me that no permits have been issued for that kind of work at that location. They are looking into it further. I find it offensive that wealthy property owners, who could afford to do the job correctly and permitted, think the laws don't apply to them. I had to jump through hoops for permits recently to enclose an existing porch on my house and add a small 10x12 deck next to it, I don't see any reason wealthy land owners shouldn't be expected to abide by the same laws.

[love roses]

Well, I'm glad to hear you actually followed this up by asking all of those authorities about it. I'd be interested to know what those people were up to with that. Yes, I'm kinda nosy like that

[thesonofgray]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

The Travis County appraisal on that property is over $1,500,000. Travis County, Bee Cave and COA Watershed Protection all tell me that no permits have been issued for that kind of work at that location. They are looking into it further.

Thank you for taking this to the appropriate agencies. Please let us know if you find out anything else. It'd be wonderful to see the creek restored.

If this is in fact a selfish attempt to make a personal Creek pool, it worries me to think about these brash property owners possibly treating this 'swimming hole' with any of the typical pool chemicals. Hopefully they aren't that stupid.

Originally Posted by love roses

Well, I'm glad to hear you actually followed this up by asking all of those authorities about it. I'd be interested to know what those people were up to with that. Yes, I'm kinda nosy like that

I don't think it's "nosy" at all to be concerned about this. Barton Creek is no one person's feature to enjoy and modify as they please. And our natural resources aren't regulated and protected for kicks and giggles.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

One time we lived on a piece of property that had a little stream. One day my sister and I decided to walk up stream to see where it went. We discovered a HUGE beaver dam. Then I realized why the water was not flowing very well. Then someone blew up the beaver dam and the water flowed like crazy.

I need to get some sleep. That paragraph sounds like a children's story...once upon a time there was a stream...

But seriously, are there beavers in Texas? I honest to God am not trying to hijack, (I'll probably get in trouble anyways). It's an honest question in regards to the dammed up water.

If you want to read something funny though about dams you can do a search on the internet with beavers and dams and read the correspondence. It will make you laugh.

[TexasHorseLady]

Yes, there are beavers in Texas. Our old family farm in East Texas has a part that has been known, from time immemorial, as "The Beaver Ruin", where the beavers dammed the stream and it spread out and is really pretty but not much use for anything else.