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Water Quality :: Education ::Watershed Fact Sheets :: Rattan

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map of Rattan Creek Watershed

Fast Facts
Environmental Creek Assessments

Fast Facts
Population	2000: 11,863 2030: 33,506
Creek Length	8 miles
Drainage Area	7 square miles
Drains To	Lake Creek near Round Rock.
Well Known Sites
Land Use	Residential Business Civic Parks Roadways Undeveloped	13% 3% 1% 1% 7% 75%

Watershed Facts

98% of Rattan Creek watershed passes through the environmentally sensitive Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone where water travels through caves and sinkholes to “recharge” the aquifer.
Rattan Creek is the largest tributary of the Lake Creek Watershed
Most of Rattan Creek watershed is in Williamson County
In response to citizen calls, investigators find an average of 5 spills each year; the most common spill type is petroleum, followed by sewage.

Creek Assessments
Environmental

Index	Score	Category	Notes
Overall Score	66	Good	Rattan ranks 16 out of 46 watersheds in overall quality
Water Chemistry	51	Fair	Water quality is average, orthophosphorus is high
Sediment Quality	90	Excellent	PAHs are very low, herbicides/pesticides are very low, metals are very low
Recreation	79	Very Good	During dry weather conditions, bacteria is not a threat
Aesthetics	73	Good	Litter is not a problem, no odor, algae covers 20-30% of creek, some of the creek bed is dry
Habitat	39	Marginal	Some sediment deposition, cover is insufficient, some channel alteration, bank vegetation is sparse, buffer zone is too small
Aquatic Life	64	Good	Benthic macroinvertebrate community is good, diatom community is good

Absence of pollution-intolerant diatom species suggests water quality may be impacting aquatic life.
Almost all of Rattan Creek lies over the Northern Edwards recharge zone, and the creek rarely maintains baseflow.
Channelization projects removed significant portion of riparian habitat.
Extensive channelization results in poor habitat scores.
New residential development in Rattan may impact future water quality conditions.

Learn More
How to Help

Rattan Creek water quality map

Environmental scores are based on a full range of chemical, biological, and physical assessments.

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