Austin Water’s Wildland Conservation Division is beginning a wildfire mitigation project on Water Quality Protection Lands behind your home. Work is scheduled to begin this spring (per last communication, in April) and may take several weeks to complete once it has begun, depending on weather.
An Austin Water contractor will maintain an existing shaded fuel break along the perimeter of City of Austin property bordering homes. During this project:
- Crews will clear dead and down material and remove lower limbs from trees in a predetermined area along the property boundary shown in blue in the image below.
- Trimmings will be chipped and dispersed on site.
Please be aware that the contractors follow specific scope of work to address work identified during a site visit. Neighbors should not dump brush or other material over the fence at any time. Work crews are instructed not to pick up dumped materials, which could add to the public cost of this project. Within the City of Austin, residents may contact Austin Resource Recovery to schedule residential brush pick up.
Shaded fuel breaks are a management strategy used in woodlands to reduce the severity and rate of spread of a potential wildfire and allow for more effective wildfire suppression while contributing to the resilience of this natural system. They type of mitigation work is an important tool in the toolbox, but the most important thing homeowners can do it to take appropriate measures on their property using Firewise principles.
- For more information about how you can protect yourself and your home from wildfire, visit austintexas.gov/wildfire.
- To learn more about the Water Quality Protection Lands, visit austintexas.gov/WQPLstory.
- For more information about this project, call 512-972-1660 or email wildlands@austintexas.gov.