Bastrop State Park Restoration

The dam at Bastrop State Park Lake breached during the Memorial Day floods of 2015, emptying the century-old impoundment. Subsequent to this event, multiple slope failures along the banks occurred near historic cabins. This project was implemented in two phases: 1) bank slope emergency repair, and 2) dam reconstruction.

Halff conducted a waters of the United States delineation and prepared a biological assessment to evaluate impacts to the Houston toad. Halff coordinated Section 404 of the Clean Water Act authorization with the USACE Fort Worth District. Project phases were permitted under Nationwide Permit 37 (Emergency Watershed Protection and Rehabilitation) for the bank slope repair, and Letter of Permission 1 (Activities at Certain Reservoirs and Federal and State Sponsored Projects) for the dam reconstruction.

Both phases required extensive coordination with agencies, including Section 7 Endangered Species Act consultation that encompassed avoidance and exclusion measures for critical habitat for the Houston toad, and Section 106 coordination between TPWD and THC regarding historic structures and archaeological sites.