Another degradation of Manadas Creek;
EPA cites landowner

Pictured above is the 17-acre tract of land in North Laredo on which Manadas Creek has been re-routed and diverted in right angles (red arrows) by owner Robert Marshall. The original meander of the creek, as it once flowed from the Blackstone Dilworth retention pond, is marked by green arrows. The largely defoliated17 acres have been denuded of grasses and built up with earthen pads that have raised the level of the flood plain.
Marshall was cited June 25, 2001 by the City's Environmental Services Department for not submitting a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, a violation of City Ordinance 99-0-186, Chapter 24.
The Environmental Protection Agency, claiming the waters of Manadas Creek as "waters of the U.S.," cited him for discharging dredged and/or fill material into the waters of the U.S. According to the EPA's findings of violation, "The surface drainage features are waters of the U.S. adjacent to Manadas Creek and, by definition, to the RÌo Grande."
According to Dr. Jim Earhart of the RÌo Grande International Study Center, "Water seeks its lowest level. When you fill in an area where water normally flows, it will still seek to tear out what was filled. It does not flow in straight lines. It finds the path of least resistance. Gravity pulls it to the lowest point. In a rain, the lowest point was the home of Klara Luz Velasco in the Highland Subdivision. With all the soil denuded, the water level was rising higher. A part of Ms. Velasco's yard is now in the flood plain."