Built as part of a mixed-use development in north Dallas, two ponds at Watercrest Park have experienced debilitating sedimentation in the last decade, which has degraded the water quality. Dallas Water Utilities (DWU) tasked Garver’s hydrology and hydraulics engineers to develop a plan to dredge areas to remove nearly 6,000 cubic yards of the accumulated silt and create shallow benches around the ponds where aquatic plants would be placed, improving the water quality.
The location of the ponds being “inline” with Jackson Branch means that over time, the ponds will slowly silt in again and begin a natural return to pre-dredging conditions. DWU worked with Garver’s landscape architects to develop a plan to return the ponds and portions of the park “back to nature” as that natural process progresses. The plan includes removal of large areas of manicured Bermuda grass turf in favor of wide, meandering riparian plantings and seeded Habiturf grass mix.
The combination of construction plans for immediate dredging of the pond as well as a long-term landscape maintenance plan provides the City of Dallas and the local citizens with confidence that the pond will serve the community as a valuable park resource for decades to come.
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