Community Call to Action:

Pause Wastewater Pipeline Construction at Festival Beach Food Forest

Festival Beach Food Forest is facing imminent disruption from an unexpected and insufficiently communicated wastewater pipeline relocation associated with TxDOT’s I-35 project. We are calling on the community to help us secure an immediate pause so the City, TxDOT, and community stewards can work together on a permaculture-based approach that minimizes ecological damage and honors years of City-approved planning and public investment.

We won a two-day pause, but we are in this for the long haul. The I-35 TxDOT project will continue to impact the forest and the surrounding areas. Construction is set to last for up to a decade and the damage for many more decades to come. We must ensure the City is taking care of its public spaces and its people. To do this, we need your enduring support.

For more information, read our press release.

To get involved, sign our petition and please consider giving to our Mitigation Fund for those who want to contribute financially.

Sign the Petition

Donate to the Mitigation Fund

Note: This is a developing situation. This page will be updated as new information becomes available, plans evolve, and additional ways to support Festival Beach Food Forest are identified.

Get Involved

Ways to get involved will continue to grow as the situation develops. Please check back regularly and follow updates to stay engaged.

Sign the Petition

Add your name and a short comment about why this place matters to you or to Austin.

Sign Now

Donate

Your gift will directly support costs associated with critical efforts to mitigate ecological damage caused by the pipeline construction. If the pipeline goes through as planned, we will need tools and supplies to unplant these many trees and shrubs, to store and care for them, and then to replant once the pipeline has been completed.

Donate

Contact City Officials

We are asking the City of Austin to direct Chapter 26 funds passed to Parks and Recreation to be reinvested in the Festival Beach Food Forest, including reimbursement for documented damages, so volunteers are not left bearing the cost of this failure.

We are also requesting that the City of Austin elevate the Festival Beach Food Forest’s expansion plans to the City Manager and Council, as well as to City Department Directors.

Without real interdepartmental coordination, community-led food infrastructure will continue to be harmed even when it is City-approved and grant-funded.

We are calling for an item to be added to the next Parks & Recreation Board meeting agenda that allows for more discussion and collaboration on our above requests.

Please see the Support Letter Template and additional instructions below to contact your City Official and insert these requests.

Access the Guide

You can also text SIGN PSVWYP to 50409 to quickly email the petition to Mayor Kirk Watson.