Helena Montgomery bought her house in North Arlington for the backyard. It\u2019s where she and her husband, Calvin Montgomery, hosted birthday parties, cookouts and holiday celebrations.<\/p>\n
That was 25 years ago.<\/p>\n
Today, she\u2019s watching that backyard disappear. Their pool is tilting, so much so that the water level looks like it’s higher on the west side than the east. Her deck is uneven and there are cracks and gaps in the stonework. Calvin Montgomery can\u2019t even mow portions of the yard anymore \u2013 the ground feels like it\u2019s going to fall out from under him.<\/p>\n
Situated against Snider Creek, more and more of the Montgomery backyard, imbued with memories and sentiment, is being carried away by stormwater.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to be really proud of this house,\u201d Helena Montgomery said. \u201cNow it’s just, I don’t even know if I can afford to stay here any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019re not the only ones.<\/p>\n
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Stormwater in the creek behind the Montgomery house has caused a tree to collapse. Part of the fence has started to fall into the creek and a neighbor’s fence has collapsed after the ground was washed out from under it. (James Hartley | KERA News)<\/p>\n
Mauricio Galante<\/a>, who represents District 1 on the Arlington City Council, said there are close to 1,000 homeowners facing similar issues, some of them worse than what Helena Montgomery and Calvin Montgomery are experiencing.<\/p>\n He said the city is doing a good job in preventing flooding across Arlington.<\/p>\n “But the erosion? We could do a better job on erosion, that’s for sure,” Galante told KERA.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a situation\u00a0Adnan Rajib<\/a>\u00a0said needs to be addressed immediately, before it becomes a crisis.<\/p>\n Rajib is an engineer, hydrologist and director of the Hydrology & Hydroinformatics Innovation Lab at UT Arlington who lives in South Arlington. He’s seen the erosion in his neighborhood.<\/p>\n While the issues created by erosion are largely unseen by most who live and work in or visit the city, in many cases behind buildings and in backyards, Rajib warned that Arlington needs to address them immediately.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are reaching a point of no return where these streams and these creeks no longer exist unless we protect them and restore them,\u201d Rajib said. \u201cThere will be severe flooding and erosion in the near future, and the severity is such that even a less than exceptional storm can cause a lot of damage.”<\/p>\n Erosion and flooding<\/p>\n Amy Cannon, Arlington’s assistant director of public works, said in a written statement through a city spokesperson that Arlington has conducted watershed and localized drainage studies and prioritized flood mitigation projects through\u00a0Arlington\u2019s comprehensive stormwater plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe City is actively investing in flood mitigation,\u201d the statement read. \u201cCurrent stormwater funding supports approximately $20 million per year in capital improvements through FY2031, with funding prioritized for flood mitigation and improving public stormwater infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n The prioritization is based on several factors, she said. Among them are how often creeks flood or how much damage the flooding causes.<\/p>\n “The concern is not simply whether water gets high in a creek during a storm, but whether flooding is frequent enough or severe enough to affect homes and businesses, overtop roadways, restrict emergency access, or threaten critical infrastructure,” she wrote in the statement.<\/p>\n Bowie Hogg<\/a>, the city council member for District 7, agreed that the city is going in the right direction.<\/p>\n He praised the city, saying Arlington has skilled experts dedicated to the city\u2019s stormwater management and erosion and flood mitigation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve got a plan and it\u2019s working,\u201d Hogg said. \u201cIt’s a plan that it’s going [well], doesn’t mean plans can’t be reevaluated and redesigned and sometimes enhanced from what it’s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Bowie Hogg<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n While Hogg said he\u2019s open to reevaluating the city\u2019s plan, he also expressed doubt for Rajib\u2019s prognosis that Arlington is approaching a \u201cpoint of no return.\u201d<\/p>\n Referencing a presentation given to the city council in June, Hogg said he\u2019s going to rely on the city\u2019s experts over those from outside.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just had a presentation on June 23rd from our true water expert who understands city water, not someone who’s in hydrology and not actually working in the city\u2019s water projects,\u201d Hogg said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to address this, but I think we are addressing and we’re maintaining waterways.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement from Cannon also said flood mitigation is different than erosion.<\/p>\n \u201cErosion is a natural process along creeks, and the City does not have a program to stabilize every creek bank in Arlington,\u201d Cannon wrote in the statement. \u201cProperty owners are responsible for maintaining natural creeks on their private property and for construction retaining walls or other streambank stabilization needed to protect their property.\u201d<\/p>\n Rajib said that while erosion and flooding can be different topics, they aren\u2019t mutually exclusive. Soil carried off from creek banks has to end up somewhere. That erosion becomes sediment, and when it\u2019s deposited somewhere else it can build up and reduce the depth of a creek bed, pond or lake.<\/p>\n Because that leaves less room for water to fill, Rajib said the risk of flooding increases.<\/p>\n A breached dam<\/p>\n The residents of Prestonwood West in North Arlington have witnessed that happen.<\/p>\n That\u2019s where Robert Blake lives. A member of Arlington\u2019s planning and zoning commission, Blake created the Arlington Stormwater Alliance because of the damage he\u2019s seen in his neighborhood.<\/p>\n Blake\u2019s backyard used to look out over Prestonwood Lake, created by damming a creek that feeds into nearby, larger Village Creek. There were ducks and geese and other small wildlife. Closer to a large pond in terms of size, the lake was large enough to take out small rowboats and canoes.<\/p>\n He said residents didn\u2019t realize their lake needed to be dredged or that it was the HOA\u2019s responsibility to dredge it. Sediment built up and, in 2018, caused dangerous, damaging floods. The city breached the dam by removing the ground from one side, allowing the water to flow around it and alleviate flooding, according to residents and Galante.<\/p>\n Today, it\u2019s a widening creek gradually consuming backyards of 31 homes on either side, eating away at the soil with each rainstorm. Stormwater has eroded underneath the dam. Fences hang down off the edge, the ground across which they stretched long gone.<\/p>\n There are measures residents can take to mitigate the risk of erosion \u2014 retaining walls being one of the easiest options. But they come with problems, too.<\/p>\n Blake said he and other residents have received quotes for putting in retaining walls. In many cases they were more than $100,000 and in some cases were about half the value of the home.<\/p>\n He said that\u2019s not doable, and the city needs to step in to help.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are you sticking 31 homes with a city size problem?\u201d Blake asked. \u201cAnd there’s Johnson Creek that does this. There’s Rush Creek that does this. All of these different people are all experiencing the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Robert Blake<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The HOA in his neighborhood\u00a0filed a lawsuit in 2020<\/a>\u00a0arguing the dam wouldn\u2019t need to be breached if the city properly managed its waterways and that Arlington should pay to fix the damage caused by stormwater erosion after the breach.<\/p>\n The city answered the suit with a motion to have it dismissed, its attorneys writing that the court did not have jurisdiction because it was an emergency measure and the city has immunity from the suit.<\/p>\n The suit was dismissed in 2021. Residents appealed the dismissal, and that appeal is still being processed in the courts.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s responsible?<\/p>\n Around 112 miles of natural creeks and waterways run through Arlington, but only 43 of those miles are on city-owned property, according to a\u00a0presentation city staff gave to council in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arlington officials say they\u2019re only responsible for maintaining those 43 miles owned by the city. As part of that, the city removes debris, shores up creek banks, dredges creeks when needed and monitors the health of the creeks.<\/p>\n Citing a combination of city policies, HOA agreements and deed requirements, the city says it isn\u2019t responsible for maintaining those creeks and mitigating damages caused by stormwater. That burden lies with the property owners whose land includes the creek.<\/p>\n Property owners said that whether or not their deed or homeowners associations have agreements with the city \u2014 some of them around a half-century old \u2014 Arlington should take at least some of the responsibility.<\/p>\n They say those agreements were made before Arlington reached its current level of development and suspect that development has contributed to the problem. More parking lots, roads and buildings mean stormwater can\u2019t soak into the ground and ends deposited in creeks.<\/p>\n Rajib, the hydrologist at UT Arlington, said development has very likely contributed.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not saying commercial development is bad,\u201d Rajib said. \u201cIt’s the need of society, but there has to be a balance between how much we can take away from nature and how much you need for our benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n Residents said that because developments approved by the city in recent decades likely contribute to the increased water and subsequent erosion, the city should be responsible for fixing it.<\/p>\n The statement Cannon sent did not address concerns about whether or not development in the city has contributed to the troubles faced by nearly 1,000 residents.<\/p>\n She wrote that property owners are responsible for maintaining the creeks on their own property.<\/p>\n But those residents said they can\u2019t afford the work to put in retaining walls.<\/p>\n Even if they could, Rajib said it likely wouldn\u2019t be a long term fix unless every property had them. Without coverage along entire creek banks, erosion would eat away at unprotected property until it got behind neighboring retaining walls.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s not enough\u2019<\/p>\n Galante said he’s visited more than three dozen of those homes and hears from at least one resident almost every week. He said he often goes out to those properties with city staff to look at the erosion, get an idea of the severity and see what the city might be able to do to help them.<\/p>\n But, he said, \u201cit’s not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n It comes down, in large part, to an issue of funding. Galante said the city estimates the cost of fixing the waterways at around $2.4 billion.<\/p>\n With current funding, Galante said the city can\u2019t even address a fraction of the work homeowners need done each year. But he thinks there are possible solutions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can tackle not even one or two per year,\u201d Galante said. \u201cI mean, we need to do more like other cities are doing, for sure.”<\/p>\n And other cities are dealing with similar issues as Arlington. Irving is one of them.<\/p>\n Dozens of homes in Irving currently face threats from flooding. City officials there have gone to the state for help,\u00a0receiving $35.6 million<\/a>\u00a0in funding from the Texas Water Development Board.<\/p>\n City engineer Walt Thomas said the North Delaware Creek project will help homeowners in the area worry less about heavy rainfall affecting their property.<\/p>\n \u201cAt West Irving Creek, it’s almost 240 homes we protected from a 100-year flood risk,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cNorth Delaware is just continuing this program of mitigating those concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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Robert Blake, a homeowner and planning and zoning commissioner, points to the Prestonwood Lake dam. The dam was damaged by stormwater erosion after the city breached it in 2018. (Yfat Yossifor | KERA News)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/download-12-1024x683.jpg\")
Stormwater in the Prestonwood neighborhood has eroded the ground out from under the Lamar Street bridge and damaged retaining walls installed by residents, including concrete bags taken from upstream and deposited on the other side of the bridge. (Yfat Yossifor | KERA News)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/download-11-1024x683.jpg\")
The deck is splitting at Michael O\u2019Shea\u2019s home due to stormwater erosion in the Prestonwood West neighborhood of Arlington. (Yfat Yossifor | KERA News)<\/p>\n