Is it true that Town Lake frequently breaches its bank and floods the current downtown animal shelter?
Not remotely. The pictures of “flooding” distributed by City bureaucrats to justify moving the shelter are so misleading that they should be considered “scare tactics.” The water shown in those pictures is the direct result of poorly designed drainage at the current sight, not actual flooding from the lake. According to everyone we know with knowledge of the shelter, it has never been flooded by waters from Town Lake. It is true that the parking lot of the current shelter lies in the 100-year flood plain. But the buildings and almost all of the road leading to the shelter are in the 500-year flood plain, like many other public buildings such as Austin High and City Hall. And the City’s own documents project that the entire site can be raised above the flood plain for a mere $440K, roughly the same cost that the shelter management intends to spend on art at the new shelter. You can review the City’s cost projections for rebuilding the shelter downtown by clicking here.
