Proposed Springfield extension aimed at Manadas Creek, old growth mesquites, & riparian habitat; ripping out creek bed & vegetation will increase flooding

By María Eugenia Guerra

It isn't just the usual environmental suspects who are looking askance at the route the City of Laredo has chosen to extend Springfield Avenue from Del Mar Boulevard to International Boulevard. It's also the residents along Candlewood Road whose flooding and mold problems have increased as densely wooded areas along two nearby branches of Manadas Creek were replaced by asphalt, concrete, and housetops. These solid surfaces -- upstream of the Candlewood residents -- shed rainwater, sending large quantities of floodwater toward the vulnerable homes downstream.

Long-time Candlewood residents note that flooding problems have become much worse in the past few years. The floodwaters enter through the back door of some homes and spill out onto Candlewood Road near Mary Help of Christians School , sometimes making the street look like a river.

The floodwaters damage floor coverings and soak the sheetrock and insulation of walls, creating conditions that foster the growth of molds. One Del Mar resident said that her children have experienced more frequent episodes of asthma since their recent move to one of the Candlewood houses.

Some nearby Candlewood homes at slightly higher elevations do not currently get water in their houses, yet they experience raw sewage backing up into their bathtubs and toilets during flooding events.

In addition to the apprehension experienced when heavy rain threatens, the anguish caused by being forced to leave their houses, the nuisance of the necessary clean-ups after each flood, and the cost of water damage to their possessions, the residents are also concerned about the effects of flooding on the value of their properties.

These Laredo citizens are fearful that the destruction of the last segment of intact stream near their homes to construct Springfield Avenue means that they will have to suffer further insult and injury as the severity of flooding increases. Other nearby Candlewood residents who have not yet had water in their houses fear that they, too, will begin to experience the problems already visited upon their neighbors. They want to see not only an alteration in the plans for the Springfield Avenue extension but relief from the increased water that is being directed their way by recent upstream development.

Candlewood residents are not the only area citizens concerned about the proposed path of Springfield Avenue . Many Dominion Del Mar homeowners want to keep this last segment of green space near their subdivision as natural parkland and habitat. They are concerned about the effects that lack of open space and recreational areas will have on the physical and emotional health of their families.

Dr. Alfonso Martinez, a physician and professor who resides in Dominion Del Mar, noted, “I am not against progress, but I think it should be done intelligently and for the good of the community in general, not favoring one entity. I, along with several of my neighbors, believe that an alternative route for Springfield should be chosen. The creation of much needed parks and green space for the children and citizens of Dominion Del Mar and other nearby subdivisions can enhance their health, respect for nature, and the natural laws that govern our earth.”

Echoing this sentiment was Dr. Rolando Guerra, a local dentist and board member of the Río Grande International Study Center (RGISC). “It would make better sense environmentally and from a quality of life perspective to save the proposed street right-of-way and to protect the presence of the water retention capacities of its 214 mature, deep-rooted mesquite trees,” he said.

“This wooded segment of Manadas creek could better serve the community as a public greenway and as a filter to remove storm water pollutants that otherwise make their way into the Río Grande,” said Guerra. “The natural assets of the creek, its filtration capacity, it potential for park space with hike/bike trails, and its habitat for birds and other wildlife, would, no doubt, help the City of Laredo acquire development funding from EPA, TxDOT, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Along this public greenway pedestrians and bikers could improve their physical, mental, and emotional health, save expensive gasoline, and purchase needed goods and services at the nearby North Creek Shopping Center .”

Should the City follow its current plan to construct the street on the 4.4-acre tract purchased from Gilbert and June Leyendecker, bulldozers would rip out a veritable forest of old growth mesquite trees -- some reaching diameters of two and a half feet at their base.

Along with the large mesquite trees will go numerous other types of vegetation that not only provide superior food and habitat for wildlife, but filter pollutants from stormwater runoff that eventually enters the Río Grande -- our public water supply.

“If only all Laredoans and especially those who make decisions about where roads go could visualize what really is at stake here -- a potential natural recreational green space of immense value to the health and well-being of the many Laredo citizens living in these highly compacted residential subdivisions, a forest of valuable old growth mesquite trees, a riparian habitat that is home to many species of wildlife -- they might make better choices,” said George J. Altgelt, attorney of counsel to the RGISC.

Dr. Martinez has other concerns about the proposed extension of Springfield Avenue . “As a citizen living in the Dominion Del Mar neighborhood, I am most concerned about the impact that the continuation of Springfield Avenue to Amador Salinas Drive and then to International Boulevard will have on the life style that we sought when we bought our homes,” he said. “If Springfield goes through as planned, a commercial district will be located along the avenue just west of where it intersects with Amador Salinas Drive . The last thing that I want next to my home is a convenience store, restaurant, bank, pawnshop, bar, etc. This helps to depreciate the value of our homes and the quality of our family life.”

Dr. Martinez is also concerned about traffic. Thinking about the Springfield entrance to Mary Help of Christians School, the very sharp curves with limited visibility, and the heavy traffic at the beginning and ending of school days, he said, “If I remember my growing up this will become a raceway, increasing chances of producing ‘road kill' of the children leaving the elementary school. So opening Springfield Avenue as proposed would increase the flow of traffic within the Dominion Del Mar neighborhood, back up traffic to behind Target, blocking Michigan Avenue , and also backing traffic up to and beyond the Regency neighborhood. This will add stress to the already heavy traffic in that area, increasing the possibilities of accidents.”

Retired USAF First Sgt/MSgt and RGISC board member Luis Antonio Zapata said, “The land is prime and better suited for building a recreational park with walking and bike trails rather than using it as a stretch of land to extend Springfield Avenue and creating another environmental and traffic backlog nightmare for Laredo . The reasons are obvious to the layman and can be confirmed by experienced civil engineers familiar with this area.”

Danny Gunn, master naturalist and RGISC board member, thinks that destruction of the large trees and other vegetation on the Leyendecker property can result, not only in more flooding on Candlewood Road, but also at the North Creek Shopping Center. He recalls driving west on Del Mar last September 7 during heavy rainfall conditions and seeing flood waters -- too voluminous to pass through the box culverts under the freeway -- backed up into the parking lots at the shopping center.

Police were turning traffic back, but allowed Mr. Gunn to continue since his truck was high enough from the pavement to safely go through the floodwater on Del Mar. “It was night, but with all the lighting I could see that water was backed way up into the shopping center parking lots. I remember a car stranded in a low spot on the access road by McDonald's. The water was almost up to its windows and police were rescuing a lady who had been trapped inside,” said Gunn.

“There's a lot of erosion on the creek that passes through the Leyendecker property,” he said. “I saw an old tree growing in an erosion channel with some of it roots showing. This says to me that the tree was there decades before the stream channel formed around it. Seems to me like there's a lot more water coming onto the property now than in the past. And it's causing a lot of erosion. The roots of the big trees along the creek absorb an awful lot of rainwater. If they're taken out, a lot more water is going to be flowing downstream toward the shopping center. I think the flooding is going to get a lot worse.”

When too much water comes down too fast, it can't go through the two box culverts under IH 35 fast enough, making the Interstate Highway a barrier and causing water to pool on the east side of the freeway.

“Although the access road by the shopping center was flooded, I had no problem on the west side of the freeway as I drove on my way to the Mines Road,” Gunn said. “So it seems to me that the interstate was acting like a dam. It was holding the water back and causing the east side of the freeway to flood.”

Gunn emphasized, “If the trees are bulldozed to build Springfield Avenue, I believe that the flooding at the shopping center will get a whole lot worse.”

Dr. Rolando Guerra has requested that he be placed on the City Council agenda to give a PowerPoint presentation that could help clarify the issue for Council members and staff. The presentation outlines reasons why serious questions should be asked and answered about the proposed Springfield Avenue extension.

We encourage the City Council to hear Dr. Guerra's presentation soon and to give careful consideration to this issue.