Garland, TX — Every year, City staff uses strategic focus areas set by Council to align operations, including priorities, decision-making and resource allocation. With well-maintained infrastructure as one of the City’s 10 strategic focus areas, Garland’s Water Utilities Department has been actively inspecting, servicing and replacing water and wastewater lines.
Much of the City’s infrastructure is aging, and therefore some lines are decades old. In a recent attempt to maintain an older sewer line, Water Utilities cleared a significant portion of land in the Spring Creek Forest Preserve to provide access for the large equipment needed. The team was unaware they were in the Preserve.
Garland’s Parks and Recreation Department is now partnering with the Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest, along with landscape professionals, architects and more to mitigate potential ecosystem disruptions and the loss of trees or other growth, as well as to replace the nature trail which was widened. The City’s goal is to hopefully restore the Preserve as close as possible to its previous condition. And while restoration efforts are beginning now, please know that completion will take time.
The Spring Creek Forest Preserve, located near Holford Road and the George Bush Turnpike, is a special place not only for Garland residents but for the City as well. Its more than 200 acres offer some of the oldest and tallest trees in the county, as well as an intriguing variety of plants and wildlife. In 2024, the Preserve was inducted into the national Old-Growth Forest Network, a prestigious honor just one other site in Texas has received.
To learn more about the Preserve, visit the Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest website.
