Detention and retention pond construction that controls stormwater and meets site requirements.
Cedar Park sits on shallow soil over limestone, and that bedrock is the reason so many detention ponds around Buttercup Creek, Cypress Mill and the Ranch at Brushy Creek stop performing the way the site plan intended. Water does not soak into rock the way it soaks into deeper topsoil, so a basin built to hold and release a storm event gradually ends up doing all the work on the surface, through the inlet, the forebay and the outlet structure. When any one of those parts is off, the whole system is off.
In practice that shows up as a forebay half full of silt washed down from a slope that never got stabilized, or a drawdown that takes days longer than it should because the outlet is partly blocked with sediment and leaf litter. Hill Country cloudbursts drop a lot of water fast, then nothing for weeks, so basins here cycle between flash flows and long dry stretches that bake bare slopes hard and crack any thin erosion cover. On older sections of these developments we also find volunteer trees and brush rooted into the embankment itself, which is one of the first things an inspector or a property's engineer will flag.
Working with Corral Bros starts with a site walk, not a sales pitch. We look at the basin the way we would if we owned the property: where the water enters, where it is slow, where the bank is bare or cracking, what the outlet structure actually looks like underneath the growth. From there we scope the grading, riprap, liner or structure work needed to bring the pond back to what the plan calls for, and we do it alongside your engineer when the project requires their sign-off.
We're a local, family-built company that treats your Cedar Park property like our own, tidy crews, clear pricing, and detention ponds that holds up to Williamson County conditions. Available as a one-time project or part of an ongoing plan.
A detention pond temporarily holds stormwater runoff and releases it slowly, so a developed site doesn't flood downstream neighbors or overwhelm storm drains. Most Central Texas commercial sites, subdivisions and larger developments are required to have detention as part of their drainage permit.
A detention pond drains down to empty between storms and is dry most of the time, while a retention pond holds a permanent pool of water. We build and maintain both, choosing the right one based on your site's soils, drainage requirements and available space.
We schedule a free, no-obligation site visit, usually within 48 hours of your call, and walk the basin with you or your maintenance contact. We check the inlet, forebay, outlet and side slopes, note where sediment or vegetation has changed how the pond performs, and give you a clear scope before any excavation or grading starts.
It depends on the basin's age and how much sediment-producing ground drains into it, but most ponds in developments like Buttercup Creek or Cypress Mill need forebay cleanout and slope attention every few years, sooner if a construction project upstream has been feeding extra sediment into the system. A slow drawdown after a normal rain is usually the first sign it is time to look.
Detention basins are usually set off to the side of a property, so most of this work happens away from units, leasing offices and main parking areas. We coordinate access and equipment staging with your property manager or association board ahead of time so residents and tenants see minimal disruption to daily parking and traffic.
Shallow soil over limestone means excavation and grading often hit rock sooner than on a site with deeper topsoil, which affects how a basin is shaped and how its slopes are stabilized. It also means water moves across the surface fast during a storm, so outlet structures, riprap and erosion control have to be sized and placed correctly rather than left to generic specs.
The main factors are how much sediment has to come out of the forebay or basin floor, how much of the slope needs new riprap or liner versus a repair, how deep we have to excavate before hitting limestone, and whether the outlet or outfall structure needs rebuilding rather than clearing. We lay out these cost drivers during the site walk so there are no surprises in the scope.
Free, no-pressure estimate from a local crew. Call (737) 404-9343 or request a quote online.
