So in October 2024, the group began to plant a berm along that side of the forest to protect it from the future I-35 CapEx project. Mexican plum and silk tassel trees would grow tall into a shield wall, filtering out polluting particles. Mulberry bushes, roughleaf dogwood, and yaupon holly would create a lower thicket, while still providing edible plants for humans and birds.<\/p>\n
On Jan. 6, a TxDOT representative emailed the Festival Beach Food Forest leadership to notify them<\/a> that, beginning within weeks, the very area where the berm is planted would be excavated to relocate an Austin Water wastewater pipeline. Utilities along the freeway are being rerouted around the future CapEx project, Austin Water\u2019s Charles Celauro told the Chronicle in January.<\/p>\n Construction was planned to start on Feb. 16. \u201cWe do not consent to this extremely tight timeline we\u2019ve been given,\u201d FBFF volunteer Natalie Evans said during the Feb. 2 Austin Parks and Recreation Board meeting<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re supposed to get 30 days\u2019 notice, but it wasn\u2019t given to us in this case, and there isn\u2019t a repercussion for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Angelina Alanis, FBFF\u2019s communications coordinator<\/p>\n TxDOT agreed to delay until Wednesday, Feb. 18, at the city of Austin\u2019s request, giving the group more time to save the plants along the berm. Over 2,400 people signed FBFF\u2019s petition<\/a> to allow time for a better solution. Last week, FBFF core volunteer Aly Tharp sent out emails to city of Austin departments in a Hail Mary effort to pause the project, suggesting alternative locations for the pipeline.<\/p>\n With excavation growing near, the group raced to move at-risk plants out of the ground. On Thursday and Saturday, Feb. 5 and 7, volunteers unearthed still-young trees and bushes to pot them. As of Monday, volunteers had saved over 90 trees and shrubs, and a 40-year-old mountain laurel is being moved by the city with heavier machinery. \u201cPeople will try to keep them alive, try to prevent stunting and damage. It\u2019s inevitably damaging, what we\u2019ve done,\u201d Tharp said.<\/p>\n FBFF has gotten only verbal commitment from an Austin Water representative that they may be able to eventually replant those trees and bushes on top of the pipeline, once the months-long trenching and relocation process is done, but it would require specific soil and materials to be placed over the pipe. \u201cIf they keep their word \u2026 we\u2019ll be able to replant most of these plants. That\u2019s the goal,\u201d Tharp said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In November 2024, when TxDOT\u2019s construction firm first took the pipeline project to Austin\u2019s Parks and Recreation Board, they reassured the board it would not impact the food forest, according to FBFF. The pipe relocation was then approved by the city of Austin in January 2025, but the organization was never notified to be able to contest the decision within the given 30-day window.<\/p>\n Moreover, the FBFF meets quarterly with TxDOT representatives as required by the CapEx Environmental Impact Statement, which identifies the food forest as being affected by future construction, but the group claims that the pipeline relocation was never mentioned.<\/p>\n TxDOT\u2019s project approval also came after the city of Austin\u2019s 2022 approval<\/a> of Phase 2 of FBFF\u2019s expansion to 3 acres, ultimately creating conflicting commitments over the same land. The group reports their work thus far on the berm and impacted area to be worth $550,000.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/n.s2-food-forest2-SS.jpg\")
The kind of wastewater pipes to be installed underground within the Festival Beach Food Forest Credit: Sammie Seamon<\/p>\n