City of Llano looks to fix flooding problems

LLANO, Texas (KXAN) -- Recent heavy rains in the city of Llano have only highlighted an aging infrastructure used to move all that water. The city is now moving up that timeline to get things fixed.

"No one was expecting us to get six-and-a-half inches of rain in less than a three hour period. And when you're trying to plan for drainage and so forth like that, that's one of those events you really can't plan for," Mayor Marion Bishop said.

Those fast and furious rains on Sept. 3 traveled through the city's main drainage ditch that winds through backyards and under roads before eventually spilling into the nearby river. The mayor estimates some parts of it, including a section just east of downtown, are more than 80 years old.

"You do the best you can with normal conditions seeking to supply correct drainage for areas of the city that need it," he added.

Of course, that becomes unpredictable when the storms roll in.

"When [rain] events like that occur, you just got to roll with the punches, as best you can, because it's just impossible to predict when and where those will happen," he said.

The city is now working to help ease some of that water flow. It recently removed an old pecan tree that has caused problems for years in the main drainage canal.

"These things take long-term planning and we've been working as a city to try and come up with solutions on this, but we have to do it in a cost-effective manor," Marion said. "The city of Llano is not a huge population, so we don't have a lot of resources to draw from.

Some of the improvements are still being worked on.

"The people here are quite resilient. And either we're dealing with a drought or with a flood, it's one end or the other on the spectrum," he joked.

At least for now, one of the largest problems is being fixed first.

The one stretch of ditch is expected to cost close to $400,000 to repair. City council already approved the money during a meeting in August.