Erosion

According to FloodPro we had 2.72" of rain in the last 7 days and that was more than enough to sweep soil off the banks of Boggy Creek.  Earlier this week the restoration contractors finally sprayed the exposed banks with hydromulch.

photo taken May 23, 2013 looking upstream from Pleasant Valley overpass.  new hydromulching and some plants going in

However, the seeds in the hydromulch didn't have time to take root before the much  needed rain so here are some photos of the sad results.

 

some large debris and a dead tree that the contractors are waiting to plant

 

Johnson grass and erosion, photo taken from Rosewood Avenue looking downstream

 

 

photo taken from pedestrian bridge looking upstream towards Pleasant Valley overpass

 

National Trails Day, June 1

As part of National Trails Day, we were awarded a grant for 30 yards of mulch to help our trees through this ongoing drought.  Come help us spread it out on Saturday, June 1 from 9:00 - 11:30 AM.  Bring a water bottle, closed-toe shoes, and sunscreen.  We'll have water, gloves, and tools. Additional wheel barrows, rakes, and shovels are welcome too! 

Register via Austin Parks Foundation: http://www.austinparks.org/multi-project-list.html?eventid=651&linkid=202&action=selectproject. 

An after party at Barton Springs will provide volunteers with free lunch, local beer, and a chance for some prizes!

one step forward, 1/2 step back, but we're still ahead

Some days you win, some days you lose, and some days you learn a lesson.  We'll count today as a lesson learned day.  We've been working to establish a Grow Zone on the tributary that flows from Hargrave Street into Boggy Creek and today mowers visited our park. 

We've met with park staff on site, talked with several departments to ensure we could pull mowing back from the banks of the creek, and we put in posts to mark the Grow Zone.  We found old construction fencing and put that up between the posts but didn't have enough to cover the length of the area. 

Oddly enough, last night I felt strongly that I needed to go out and put rope between all of the posts but was feeling sick so convinced myself that it would be ok to put the rope up today.  Oooops!  Wrong decision!

Here's what I found today:

you can see that the area with orange fencing in front of it is still full of wildflowers

 

 

area that was not mowed

 

close-up of the area that's still growing

 

 

area that was mistakenly mowed  :-(  all of the area between the slope and the post was supposed to be allowed to grow

 

SOLUTION!

 

 

The evidence is clear that if there's a strong reminder that mowers should stay away then they will.  Let's hope that neon rope strung between the posts will send a message next time the park is mowed.

 

Onward toward wildflowers and eventually an urban creekside forest.  

 

 

 

 

Clean Sweep 2013

There's no better way to start a Saturday than with volunteers working to make the world a little bit better.  On April 13 we welcomed volunteers to the park for Keep Austin Beautiful's annual Clean Sweep.  We were one of 134 cleanup sites and we're biased but we think we had the happiest volunteers in town.  Thank you to everyone who came out to make a difference!

 

Photos of our Boggy Creek Clean Sweep

 

 

"before" shot of trash floating in the creek

 

See all the volunteers in our creek?

 

moving some mulch leftover from It's My Park Day

 

 

Victory!

 

Oh & did we mention that KAB throws a volunteer party?  We made a neighborhood bike gang and rode to the party to enjoy lunch, t-shirts, music, face painting, and cool exhibits like making a reusable bag out of old vinyl banners.