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Running Head: DRAINAGE SYSTEM
Drainage System in El Paso, Texas: A Review of the Literature
Joshua Olivas
University of Texas at El Paso
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Abstract
A drainage system is a system that helps a city to not get flooded during rainy days; different systems
are used in different cities. This literature review provides information about the drainage system in El
Paso, Texas. It also provides different views with people’s opinions and historic events regarding the
drainage system. It also recognizes if the city is planning on doing anything with the drainage system and
if the population growth in the city affect the drainage system. It recognizes what engineers have to take
into consideration when planning a drainage system, the different types that can be used, and other
factors that they take into consideration.
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Drainage System in El Paso, Texas: A Review of the Literature
El Paso, Texas is not usually known for it being a rainy city, it is more known for its hot
dry weather. Once in a while the city does get heavy rains, and when that happens it causes a
problem for the drivers, the residences, and the roads. The streets flood and accidents happen
when the heavy rain passes through the city because the drains are not used to handling heavy
loads of rain in a short period of time and the streets get over flooded. To further understand
why the streets over flood when El Paso, TX gets heavy rain, one can take a closer look at the
drainage system by answering these questions:
1. What is the public view about the drain system?
2. What are the city’s plans for the drainage system?
3. How is the drainage system being considered as the city of El Paso grows?
4. What kind of factors do engineers take into consideration when planning the drainage
system?
The following review on literature will focus on these questions and will provide answers about
what the citizens think about the drainage and if any changes will be made to the current
drainage system.
What is the public view about the drain system?
A drainage system is a system that watercourses or drains for carrying off excess water
from when it rains, when people water their grass, or wash their cars. Most people do not share
their opinions unless a problem directly affects them, and with El Paso not being a rainy city
people do not think about the drainage system until it actually rains and all the streets get flooded
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and some houses too. When Ramon Arce was interviewed about the drainage system he simply
explained, “I do not have a problem with the drainage system because I am used to driving in the
rain and streets being flood because I used to live in Lake Jackson, TX, where it rained a lot. I
am more scared of other drivers that are inexperienced in driving in the rain.”
Another person interviewed was Jessica Theall who has made her home in Lafayette,
Louisiana. She was asked what differences she saw from the drainage system in El Paso, TX
compared to the one in Lafayette, LA? She stated:
The drainage system here in Lafayette is great because the streets are never flooded when
it rains, which is very often, and I also feel safe driving in the rain because the streets are
not all flooded and I can see the road I am driving on. Unlike in El Paso, when it rains I
hate driving or going out because the streets get so flooded that I cannot see the road, and
one time I hit a pot hole during the rain and got a flat tire, so since then I just try to avoid
going out when/if it rains when I go visit.
After people were interviewed, weather they live in or lived out of El Paso and
experienced the difference in the drainage system from El Paso to another place a survey was
conducted to see what the people in El Paso thought about the drainage system. The survey
created on surveymonkey.com asked if the people in El Paso would like to see the drainage
system changed, if they drive in the rain, if they go out of town and experience other drainage
system, and other questions similar to these. Over 83% of people drive and out of that 83% all of
them have driven in the rain. Around 63% of people that have been out during the rain have seen
an accident happen, which is a pretty high percentage for seeing an accident happen during the
rain; rain is the fourth highest cause of accidents (Westin, 2011). From the survey more than half
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of the people think that the east side gets flooded the most, while people who have traveled out
of town think that the other drainage systems are better than the one in El Paso. The survey
ended with the question, “Do you believed the drainage system should be changed?” and more
than 80% of the people said yes. There is still 20% that like the drainage system and are ok with
how it and see no problems with it. Now with that in mind one can next see if the city has any
plans on the drainage system.
What are the city’s plans for the drainage system?
The city of El Paso has recognized a problem when it rains and the drainage systems are
not able to control this problem. The city has located what they call “flood zones” in the whole
El Paso area where the water just sits because of the lack of drains in the area. In 2006 when the
El Paso region experienced severe rainstorm over a period of three days, some areas received
cumulative rainfall of excess of seven inches. The resulting storm runoff was of a volume and
intensity that exceeded the capacity of several segments of the city’s drainage systems (Civic
Center Plaza, 2011).
Even though the city has not done anything to help out the residence in these flood zone
areas because the proposal is still being looked at, they do provide residences with tips. For
example the article states to get flood insurance, gives them safety tips, and explains flood
proofing (Civic Center Plaza, 2011).
While the city is not doing much to try and better the drainage system the University of
Texas at El Paso has a naturally made arroyo passing through the campus that helps out the
drainage system when it rains. The arroyo connects the university campus, the city, and the
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regional landscape (UTEP, 2011). This plan is not only to help keep the natural preservation of
the arroyo but to also better help the transportation of El Paso.
The Master Plan proposes that walking and biking paths be constructed on the banks of
the Arroyo, linked to other campus pathways and to the city sidewalk and bike paths, with the
goal of creating a continuous path system linking the city’s Arroyo Park through the UTEP
campus to the bike paths in Sunset Heights, and on to the downtown area (UTEP, 2011). Even
though the Master Plan is more focused on the transportation aspect of it, they are also making
the Arroyo more presentable and more helpful to the drainage system.
UTEP is not the only one trying to help the city with the drainage system but also the El
Paso Water Service put in a stormwater drainage. They took in the 2006 rain damages into
consideration and created a stormwater drainage. The plan behind this is to reduce the flood risks
to city residents and their property by improving the drainage infrastructure ( Water Service of El
Paso, 2007). The URS, an engineering firm hired by the Public Service Board, created and
designed the stormwater project and will be doing so for the next ten years and beyond. The
public was also a big help because they came out and participated in the planning process. This
plan will reduce residential and commercial property damages due to floods by $1.1 billion.
The city has not done much about the drainage system not because they do not want to
but because the city is not big on rain. It has been six years since it experienced heavy rain that
damaged property and made damages to the city. The city does not put this issue on the top of
their list because they do not want to spend thousands of dollars trying to make it better when the
city does not get enough rain on a consistent basis to make a change. Now that one knows that
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the city is not looking to change the drainage system one can see if they will take into
consideration the population growth in the city to do something about it.
How is the drainage system being considered as the city of El Paso grows?
Since 2000 the city of El Paso has grown 6.97% to a total of 602,938 total population in
2010 (Status, 2010). With the creation of Fort Bliss as a military base, this dramatically
influenced the population growth in El Paso because all the soldiers are coming back from war
and making El Paso their new home. With the streets being more and more crowded people
would think that the city might be looking into changing or expanding the drainage system for
when it rains so the streets will not be as flooded and fewer accidents will occur.
This is not the case though; the city is more focused on the transportation situation and
created more roads because of the population growth in El Paso. With the city only getting 9.32
inches of rain in the whole year of 2010, and less than an inch in most of the months, the city is
not worried about the drainage system because the city has not had a lot of rain in last few years
(Status, 2010). El Paso has not had any major accidents to cause the city to take action and
change the system.
With the city growing, El Paso is looking more into maintaining the drainage system
more than fixing and trying to change it. The El Paso county stormwater drainage facilities have
a maintenance policy that helps keep the drainage system clean and ready to be used if there is
any storm passing over the city. The goal of maintaining the drainage system is to meet the
criteria of the El Paso County Engineering Criteria Manual (ECM) and the Drainage Criteria
Manual (DCM) (El Paso Co., 2012). All property owners are responsible to maintain any
drainage system that run through their property and also make any repairs to it if needed, unless
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the city of El Paso has accepted to maintain it and repair it but first have to proceed to the proper
documentation so that the city can look after the drainage system on the private property.
The city of El Paso has to clean, repair, and perform proper drainage maintenance to the
system. So adding more drainage systems or changing the one that is already in the city will just
mean more maintenance will be needed and more money to keep it maintained and repaired.
Now knowing what the city is going through regarding the drainage system and the population
growth in the city, the next question regarding the drainage system is what engineers think about
when they design a drainage system.
What kind of factors do engineers take into consideration when planning the
drainage system?
Engineers have to take in a lot of factors when designing a drainage system. First they
have to take into consideration the site conditions. Local climate is a factor that is looked at,
which will influence selection of controls. For example, in hotter dryer climates like El Paso,
pervious pavements may be better than controls. They also take into consideration storms that
occur in the area and how much runoff is occurring in the area; with this they need to know the
type of soil it is that is being run off. The soil conditions will determine whether a site is suitable
for infiltration, or if a detention/retention system is required (Bay Area Stormwater Management
Agencies Association, 2006). Some soils are easily being run off when it rains while others are
not and do not run off when it rains. The slope of an area is also looked at because biofilters and
infiltration basins cannot be used if the slope of the land is too steep.
Another thing that engineers take into consideration when planning a drainage system are
the pollutants in the area, for example organic compounds often attack to soil particles and the
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only way to separate the two is by filtration. Engineers also look at the amount of nutrients in the
area because too many nutrients can be harmful to creeks, lakes, and other water supply sources
by promoting excessive growth of algae and/or vegetation. Metals are very harmful to the
drinking water supply if too much is in the water, so to remove the metals from the sediment in
the runoffs is done via sedimentation and surface infiltration. Bacteria and viruses are also taken
into consideration because when it rains all the waste from dumpsters and areas where pets are
walked can contaminate the water supplies. These pollutants are what engineers think about
when designing the drainage system and the harmfulness of each and how they can separate
contaminates with the soil.
There are three forms that drainage systems use to achieve their stormwater management
goals. The first one is infiltration, which is the process where water enters the ground and moves
downward through the unsaturated soil zone. It filters pollutants through the soil and restores
natural flows to groundwater and downstream water bodies. Like the image below shows, the
water from the rain is being used to irrigate farm land or grass, this is an example of an
infiltration system:
The other forms are retention or detention, which are designed to store runoff for later release.
The detention system stores runoff for one to two days and are dry until the next storm while a
retention system holds the water in a pool until the next storm. Finally the last system is a
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biofilter, which are also known as vegetated swales, because they are vegetated slopes and
channels designed to transport runoff slowly over vegetation. Now that the three different types
of systems are presented, engineers have to make a decision on which system to use in the city
they are designing the drainage system for.
Finally another thing that engineers take into consideration are the different system
design techniques that can be used. The different techniques are available to design stormwater
management systems for water quality protection so that safety and aesthetics are maximized
while minimizing maintenance (BASMAA, 2006). One of the key elements to the drainage
system designs is to provide a means for managing the runoff from large storms. Most systems
are comprised of individual elements interconnected together. Some of the techniques to
integrate the individual elements together into a plan and improve their functionality are: twostage design, basin side slopes, forebay, low flow channel, vegetation, maintenance access,
multiple uses, and aesthetics. Engineers all over the country take these things into consideration
but the engineers in El Paso take in most of the soil factor into consideration because the city is a
dessert and has a lot of runoff soil and which drainage system is more suitable to the conditions
of El Paso.
Conclusion
With the primary research that was done most people want to change the drainage system
in El Paso, Texas but not a lot have done anything to make it happen. The one in El Paso, Texas
is not built for heavy rain or for rain over a long period of time because the city is mostly dry and
hot. With primary and secondary research done there are different opinions on what the public
thinks about the drainage system, and also that the city of El Paso is not looking on making
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major changes to the drainage system. Engineers take a lot of factors into consideration when
building a drainage system and have different types also that can be joined together to make the
drainage system better. The drainage system also needs to be maintained, repaired, and kept
clean in case of another heavy rain storm like the one that happens. In El Paso there is not much
rain but it is helpful to know what to do when there is a heavy rainstorm. Now that people know
what is going on with the drainage system and if they want to change it, they will.
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References
Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association. (2006). Drainage systems. Retrieved from:
http://strawberrycreek.berkeley.edu/pdfs/Start@Source/sats5drainagesystems.pdf
Civic Center Plaza. (2012). Flood zones. Retrieved from
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/engineering/floodzones.asp
El Paso Stormwater Drainage Facilities Maintenance Policy.(2012). El Paso Co. Retrieved from
http://adm.elpasoco.com/transportation/Documents/StormwaterDrainageMaintPolicyReso.pdf
Status, M. (2010). El paso population growth and population statistics. Retrieved from:
http://www.clrsearch.com/El_Paso_Demographics/TX/Population-Growth-and-PopulationStatistics
Status, M.(2010). El paso weather, forecast, temperature and precipitation. Retrieved from:
http://www.clrsearch.com/El_Paso_Demographics/TX/Weather-Forecast-TemperaturePrecipitation
The University of Texas at El Paso. (2011). Campus master plan. Retrieved from
http://masterplan.utep.edu/arroyo.asp
Water Service of El Paso.(2007). Questions and answers about stormwater. Retrieved from
http://www.epwu.org/stormwater/stormwater_faq.html
Westin, D. (March 16, 2011). Leading causes of traffic accidents. Retrieved from:
http://www.ehow.com/info_8070582_leading-causes-traffic-accidents.html