SAN ANTONIO — The City says they are doing a critical flood control project, but people who live on Salado Creek near Southside Lions Park say the work is destroying far more than it is saving.
Until last week, the neighbors say the southeast area of the park was a lush paradise.
Now, they complain there is nothing but a mud bath, subject to erosion and more damage the first time flood waters come roaring through this area that has no protective vegetation left.
Salado Creek resident Charles Bartlett said, "It's a real shame to destroy a natural area like this."
Bartlett has been a passionate creek advocate for years.
"I've only been in the neighborhood for 44 years and I've never seen anything like this."
Bartlett says a contractor hired by the city brought heavy equipment into this sensitive area when it was too wet.
The city's Transportation and Capital Improvements division admits it was a mistake.
Nefi Garza, with TCI, said "We got a little bit too close to the creek's edge and consequently, that's what happened.
We pulled out that piece of equipment immediately after that and continued with our work."
But Barlett and others say the more important issue is the destruction of all the natural vegetation streamside.
The city spent $55,000 dollars back in 2008 to develop maintenance rules.
Bartlett said the study recommends protecting a 75-foot buffer zone on both sides of the creek.
That did not happen with this project, but Garza insists they are using Best Management Practices.
Bartlett said, "This doesn't look anything at all like a best management practice."
Garza counters "We want to take out the understory so that there is flood control. The document states that, for conveyance sake, you need to have that ability. The understory will come back."
Everyone agrees the vegetation will come back. Spring is ready to spring back to life, but the man who wrote the management document has looked at pictures of this area and he says he does not agree with what is going on here.
Dr. Kyle Murray, the lead author of the document writes:
“City staff and stakeholders developed the Technical and Field Guide: Management Practices for Natural Waterways in 2008 to balance the need for conveyance versus multiple other riparian ecosystem functions. The management document clearly states that a vegetative buffer of 75 feet must be maintained along waterways. Haphazardly operating heavy equipment within that buffer or to remove that buffer does little to improve conveyance and degrades the riparian zone in a multitude of ways. The use of heavy equipment in the manner illustrated by the photos not only violates accepted management practices but also destroys the function of the riparian zone and natural waterways.”