CREEKSIDE
Before the process of urbanization, the ground plane in this area of Texas was wrinkled and rolling along significant contours as water from rainfall bubbled along the surface to join with perennial creeks and rivers. A great deal of the water simply percolated into the subsoil, as the ground was more like a sponge with little voids, pots and basins to catch and slow the flow. This saved-up water in the ground is later reissued to the surface from countless springs.
ECOLOGY NOTEBOOK: CREEKSIDE
regional associations
While creeks + rivers exist in all the eco-regions of Texas, the most relevant natural equivalents for Austin projects occur in the Edwards Plateau, Cross Timbers, Blackland Prairie + the Chihuahuan Desert regions.
a.k.a.
Creeks go by a variety of names, so here are a few of our favorites:
- arroyo
- spring
- gully
- wetland
- draw
- crick
DESIGN SUPPORT
Design treatments that acknowledging the value of surface water flow for creekside zones include sculpted contours to convey stormwater atop natural river gravel, among occasional boulder outcroppings, supported by vegetation that simultaneously metabolizes stormwater while protecting the material transitions along this ecological seam.
AUSTIN AREA CREEKS
