Over a week after heavy rain and flooding, trash continues to clog Austin's waterways

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Austin’s Watershed Protection Department said when it rains, things get dragged off people’s balconies and front yards, ending up in our creeks and later our lakes.

AUSTIN, Texas — With all the recent rain and flooding, an increased amount of trash has been pushed into Austin’s creeks.

“The large flood events do bring things off the landscape,” said Andrew Clamann, City of Austin Watershed Protection Department environmental scientist, “from everybody’s parking lots, front yards and balconies that are unsecured. All of this washes into storm drains and then into creeks.”

Clamann said the problem worsens when the trash in the creeks is emptied into our lakes. If these things aren’t cleaned up, it could lead to disruptions in our ecosystem.

“The effects to us immediately is going to be obstruction of flow,” said Clamann. “If we have a large flood event and this trash clogs a culvert, that could cause localized flooding. But as these things decay … it affects the bottom of the community.”

A recent study by the City of Austin’s Watershed Protection Department (WPD) studied the trash intensity in our creeks and rivers. The team analyzed over 100 miles of streams in Austin between November and April.

And even before the recent flood events, WPD found these waterways are heavily contaminated with single-use plastics, even scooters.

“We found 21 scooters,” added Clamann. “That’s .1% of the area. So, it’s not a very large problem.”

Huge thanks to our volunteers from our first flood response cleanup this past Friday! Thanks to your dedication and stewardship, we were able to remove over 260lbs of trash and recyclables from Shoal Creek!Visit https://t.co/6tQTblcBmL to sign up and join us on 8/30 and 9/2. pic.twitter.com/G9XizBM7Y5

— Shoal Creek Conservancy (@shoalcc) August 29, 2022

When conducting the study, Clamann said the most commonly encountered items were single-use plastics, beverage containers and styrofoam containers. They also found all kinds of clothing, hoses, cables and even lawnmowers.

“The city itself has been working on this problem and is ramping up efforts to work on this problem,” he said.

A couple of local groups also host cleanups to get our creeks looking good. Volunteers will be heading out to Shoal Creek on Friday to remove more litter.

Clamann said every time someone sees a scooter or large accumulations of trash, they can report it on the 311 app. Once reported, it’ll get removed within 24 to 48 hours.

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