Shoal Creek Flood Response

On Monday, August 22, 2022, a record-breaking downpour dropping nearly five inches of rain in three hours caused Shoal Creek to flood, reaching its highest level since 2015. In the weeks since, many cleanup efforts and evaluations for larger repairs have been completed along Shoal Creek:

• Shoal Creek Conservancy and Pease Park Conservancy each hosted 3 flood-response cleanups (6 total) in the 2 weeks following the flood
• The Parks and Recreation Department's Forestry crews removed downed limbs and trees from the creek that could cause future blockage issues, increasing the risk of flooding during future storms
• The Watershed Protection Department's Field Operations team investigated the creek and removed large brush and trash from the red locations on the map below.
• WPD engineers are also planning repairs to 2 retaining walls in Shoal Creek to be completed in the near future, as seen in the map below, depicted as yellow lines.
• Austin Resource Recovery supported cleanup efforts with trash hauling and disposal.

Thank you to all the volunteers who joined us at the drop of a hat to clean up Shoal Creek, and thanks to our partners at PPC, PARD,  WPD and ARR for their quick actions after the storm. We look forward to working with our partners and YOU to continue making Shoal Creek cleaner, safer and more resilient moving forward.

To learn more about the August 22nd storm and see videos and photos, please visit SCC's blog post. 

J'Lynn Estorga is a second-year undergraduate studying Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Ultimately J'Lynn would like to design water management systems that allow access to clean water for all, while also sustaining our natural water resources and ensuring they are not harmed nor depleted in this process.  J'Lynn is looking forward to working with Shoal Creek Conservancy and the opportunity to better her community and environment.

Emma Dyson grew up in Katy, Texas, and moved to Austin in 2019 to attend the University of Texas at Austin. She is double-majoring in Geography and Sustainability Studies at UT and is passionate about fostering healthy human-environment connections. Emma has previously worked as a GIS intern in stormwater management, and also has experience assisting research in the UT Geography department and serving as a field manager at the UT Microfarm. In her free time, she loves to hike, play soccer, and go swimming at Barton Springs.

Please join us in giving both J'Lynn and Emma a warm welcome to our community! We feel very fortunate that we get to work alongside both of them this semester.

Shoal Creek Social thank you 

Thank you to for celebrating with us during the 2022 Shoal Creek Social! After 2 weeks, 3 Creekside Hangouts, and countless waves, smiles, and snacks along the trail, this year's Social was definitely a success! We hope you enjoyed testing out our new Shoal Creek Audio Walking Tour and spending some time creekside with us! Check out pics from the last two weeks here and we can't wait to celebrate with y'all again next year.

Supporter Spotlight 

Thank you to H-E-B for supporting SCC’s Volunteer Workdays and year-round programs! H-E-B grant funding makes our twice-monthly cleanups possible, and they have celebrated the Shoal Creek Social with us two years in a row. Thank you for spending the last 2 weekends on Shoal Creek with our team welcoming creek stewards with treats, prizes and smiles from H.E.Buddy!

Upcoming Creekside Opportunities

On Saturday, 10/1, from 8-10am we are cleaning up the Shoal Creek headwaters. We would love your help, so please register here! On Saturday, 10/14, we are hosting a riparian restoration workday along Shoal Creek, which will help to expand the riparian buffer zone. If you'd like to join us, you can register here.

We're also looking forward to our upcoming Birding Tour with Travis Audubon Society on Sunday, October 2nd. Spots are almost full, so register today! On November 3rd, we're getting froggy with Matthew Sato as we look for frogs and toads along Shoal Creek. Registration will open on October 13th, so check out our events page frequently for upcoming event announcements to make sure you don't miss out on all the fun.

Ongoing volunteer opportunity -- Do you have access to a truck/vehicle and want to help us haul trash to nearby dumpsters after our cleanup projects? If so, email us at info@shoalcreekconservancy.org. 

Please note, masks are optional at our volunteer events and tours. Thank you for your understanding.