The city of San Antonio received some much-needed rain Wednesday, but sometimes too much of a good thing can be bad.
“It’s a good thing we got rain, much needed, however a little too much of it is a little too much of it,” TXDOT spokesperson Laura Lopez said.
An example of a little too much was simple to find Wednesday as numerous roadways were flooded, especially the lower level of I-35.
Built-in pumps are supposed to help alleviate that flooding, but that’s difficult when the pumps aren’t working properly. Lopez said that was the case for some of the city’s 10 pumps Wednesday.
Officials said when it doesn’t rain, trash and debris builds up, so when it finally rains, it contributes to clogging the pumps.
“Unfortunately, the pump stations, they do get clogged up with debris, and sometimes it’s out of hand and we have to wait for the water to go down before we can do anything,” Lopez said.
Because water continued to back up Wednesday, TXDOT crews had to rent additional pumps. All traffic had to be diverted to the upper level of I-35 for most of the day, causing headaches for drivers.
As far as a long-term solution to the ongoing problem, that remains to be seen.
“That’s something our staff will have to look into,” Lopez said.
Some relief could be in sight after a multi-million dollar bond project was approved by voters in May.
