AUSTIN (KXAN) — Neighbors of a new surf park outside Austin say the park is making waves next door, spilling water into their neighborhood. On Monday, the park said they were closing for a week after finding damage under the lagoon. The park, which opened Oct. 7, said they would drain the lagoon and then make repairs.
The Austin Watershed Protection Department confirmed a release of water from the park spread onto nearby property.
“The Watershed Protection Department Spills Team investigated the site and found a discharge of clear water from the park, but they did not find any indication that the water was polluted or chlorinated,” wrote Scott Prinsen, a spokesperson for the watershed protection department. “The department can only enforce water quality issues at the site.”
“It was full of water, I couldn’t even walk through here,” said Patricia Garcia, referring to her driveway.
Garcia wants to make sure this doesn’t happened again and says it has happened before. NLand Surf Park also confirmed that it drained its lagoon Monday and the water ran off of its property.
“[The city] let us know about this and we immediately addressed the issue. We take every opportunity to be good neighbors,” wrote NLand spokesperson Chris Jones in an email to KXAN News.
Travis County’s floodplain administrator Stacey Scheffel says the park was built to modern drainage standards. She says the county also examined the issue Wednesday and may work with the property in the future. Complicating the matter, Scheffel says the neighborhood was improperly subdivided and is in a floodplain.