Posted: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 02:33 PM - 11,987 Readers

By: Jim Bergamo

It's been one week since the remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine hit Central Texas.  However, in some places the water has barely gone down.

Austin Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr went up in an Austin Police helicopter Wednesday to get a bird's-eye view of area waterways.  AFD extended the ban on Lake Austin and Lady Bird lake again Wednesday through at least noon Thursday.

Meanwhile, just outside Austin's city limits, one of the spots that is still flooded is in Cedar Park.  At the Brushy Creek Sports Park, just off Brushy Creek Road and Parmer Lane, the barricades remain down as the park remains closed for flood repair.

As you take a look at the high water that remains in Brushy Creek on both sides of the Parmer Lane Bridge, you don't need a scoreboard to know the water is still winning.

"I am very surprised," said Lisa Wilson, who was checking out the water levels near Brushy Creek Lake Park.  "I was even more surprised when I passed the bridge on Parmer, how high it is still over there."

Wilson had scheduled a group walk through the park this weekend.

"I am wondering why it has not gone down," she said.

For the answer, we went to the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District, which operates the 22 dams along Brushy Creek that stretch from Leander to Hutto.  Two of the dams, 6 and 7, are located near the Parmer/Brushy Creek area.  Each dam got more than 10 inches of rain, and compounding the problem, dam 6 feeds right into dam 7.

"So all the water from 6 has to go to 7 and then get released, and that is taking time," said Mike Erdmann, the General Manager of the Upper Brush Creek Water Control and Improvement District.

Erdmann says the dams worked perfectly, but each still has about 20-30 feet of water behind them.

"Dam 6 is dropping quicker, its dropping about 18-inches a day, but because that water is going to 7, 7 is only dropping about 8-inches a day," said Erdmann.

Meanwhile, Austin's police and fire departments partnered to evaluate the city's waterways by air, to better determine how long the bans on Lake Austin and Lady Bird Lake will remain in effect.

"When you can see it from the air, you get a much better perspective," said Austin Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr.  " I mean, my firefighters were saying there were acres of debris and flotsam, and it's actually true there are, it's all along the shorelines but it is not as bad as it was described and as it looked several days ago."

It will take several weeks for the water to recede along Brushy Creek.  Water control district officials say with the ground already saturated, another rain event of about 4-inches could raise the water level along Brushy Creek to where it was just a week ago.

*  Story Contributed by: Jim Bergamo