Detention and retention pond construction that controls stormwater and meets site requirements.
Detention ponds across Spicewood, from Barton Creek Lakeside to Spicewood Trails and Briarcliff, do a job most people never think about until a basin stops draining. The single biggest factor here is the ground itself. Shallow soil sitting on granite and limestone does not absorb or drain the way engineers assume on flatter, deeper-soil sites, and that mismatch shows up in the basin over time.
On rugged Hill Country terrain, a detention pond built five or ten years ago often looks different than the plans show. We find slow drawdown after storms because the outlet structure is partially blocked or undersized for how fast rock sheds water. We find silted forebays where runoff off cleared ranch acreage dumps sediment faster than the basin was designed to handle. We find bare, eroding slopes where grass never took hold in thin soil, and volunteer trees rooting into embankments that were supposed to stay clear. None of it is unusual for this part of Burnet County. It just needs to get fixed before the next heavy rain finds the weak spot.
Working with Corral Bros on a Spicewood basin starts with a free on-site walk, usually set within 48 hours of your call. We look at the inlet, outlet, forebay, and slopes, talk through what the property engineer's plan calls for, and tell you plainly what we see and what it will take to bring the system back to spec. Whether you manage an HOA pond, a retail site, or a development you are handing over to an association, you get a straight assessment and a crew that has done this work on this kind of ground before.
We're a local, family-built company that treats your Spicewood property like our own, tidy crews, clear pricing, and detention ponds that holds up to Burnet 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 on-site visit, usually within 48 hours of your call, and walk the basin with whoever manages the property, whether that is an HOA board member, a community association manager, or a GC closing out a site. On granite and limestone ground like Barton Creek Lakeside or Briarcliff, we look at the inlet, the outlet structure, the forebay, and the slopes before we give you a number, because rock depth changes the excavation plan more than anything else on the site.
There is no fixed schedule, it depends on storm frequency, slope cover, and how much sediment your watershed carries. Properties on cleared ranch acreage or newer sections of Spicewood Trails tend to silt in the forebay faster than older, well-vegetated basins. A pond that is draining slower after storms, holding standing water past 48 hours, or showing bare, eroding slopes is telling you it is due.
We stage equipment and spoil piles away from parking fields, drive aisles, and building entrances, and we coordinate timing with property management so residents and tenants get notice before heavy equipment moves in. On lake and ranch properties with limited access roads, like those around Barton Creek Lakeside, we plan the route and staging area during the site walk, not on the first day of work.
Shallow granite and limestone under thin topsoil means excavation often hits rock sooner than the plan assumes, and that changes grading and shaping time. Hill Country storms here tend to come hard and fast rather than steady, which pushes more sediment into a basin at once and stresses outlet structures and riprap that were sized for gentler flow. Both factors show up as slower drawdown and worn spillways if left alone.
The biggest factors are how much rock we have to cut through, how much the basin has silted in, and the condition of the inlet and outlet structures. A pond needing only grading and slope stabilization costs less than one needing new riprap, a rebuilt outfall, or deeper excavation through granite. We price each job after the site walk, once we know what is actually under the water and the slopes.
Free, no-pressure estimate from a local crew. Call (737) 404-9343 or request a quote online.
