# Plano's creek erosion repair program: what homeowners should know

> Plano's creek erosion repair program: the drainage utility rate increase behind it, the 42 critical sites, the Willow Creek work and what it means for your lot.

URL: https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/blog/plano-creek-erosion-program/

Plano raised its drainage utility rate to pay for citywide erosion control, starting with the sites a city study rated critical. Here's what that covers, and what stays with you.

Last Updated: November 11, 2026

The short answer

In October 2025, Plano City Council approved a drainage utility rate increase to help pay for citywide erosion control projects, starting with 42 locations a city study rated critical. One project will stabilize creek banks along Willow Creek Drive and Ports O'Call Court. The program repairs eroding creek banks; drainage inside your own yard stays your responsibility.

Key takeaways

- Plano City Council approved a drainage utility rate increase in October 2025, in part to fund erosion control.
- The first projects target 42 locations a city study rated critical.
- One project will stabilize creek banks along Willow Creek Drive and Ports O'Call Court.
- Your yard's own drains, swales and ditches stay yours to keep clear.

If your back yard ends at a creek, you may have watched the bank creep toward the fence. Plano has a program aimed at exactly that. At [Clay Plano Drainage Company](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/) we build yard drainage on the lot side of the same water, so here is what the program does and what it leaves to you.

## What did Plano approve?

In October 2025, Plano City Council approved an increase in the city’s drainage utility rate. Part of the added money goes to citywide erosion control projects along creeks and channels.

The first round focuses on erosion sites that a city study rated critical: 42 locations in all. The projects move through design and construction over time, so check with the city for the current schedule.

## Where is work planned?

One of the projects in the program will stabilize creek banks along Willow Creek Drive and Ports O’Call Court in east Plano.

The other critical sites are elsewhere in the city. For which sites are in the program and where each one stands, ask the City of Plano directly.

## Why Plano’s creek banks erode

The banks along Plano’s creeks are soil that washes out when fast water hits it. Along the Rowlett Creek and Oak Point corridors, USDA soil maps show eroded Lewisville silty clay on 3 to 5% slopes.

Parts of southwest Plano map as eroded 2 to 4% slopes, while most of the city is nearly flat, at 0 to 3%. In a big storm, water from streets and yards gathers in the storm drains and reaches the creeks together, and fast, concentrated flow is what cuts banks made of soils like these.

| Where | What the soil maps show | Why it matters |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Rowlett Creek and Oak Point corridors | Lewisville silty clay, 3 to 5% slopes, eroded | Steeper banks lose soil when fast water hits them |
| Southwest Plano | Eroded soils on 2 to 4% slopes | Sloping lots move water toward low ground quickly |
| Central, east and north Plano | Houston Black clay, 0 to 3% slopes | Slow-draining clay sends more storm water across the surface |

## What stays your responsibility

The erosion program repairs creek banks at the sites the city has chosen. It doesn’t take over the drainage on your lot, and a few Plano rules apply whether or not a project is near you.

- **Ditches on your property.** Plano asks residents to keep drainage ditches on their own property free of debris and vegetation.
- **No dumping.** It is illegal to dump debris, yard waste included, into ditches and drainage channels.
- **Easements.** Before you build a fence, wall or deck, check your plat for drainage and floodplain easements through the Collin Central Appraisal District. Improvements in an easement or floodplain may be cited and removed.
- **Where water goes.** Plano’s Stormwater Design Manual, which also has house lots [drain toward the street](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/where-can-yard-drain-water-go/), says natural flow may not be diverted or impounded in a way that damages adjacent or downstream property.

### Who to ask about your lot

Questions about a creek bank, an easement or the program go to Plano’s stormwater staff at [Stormwater@Plano.gov](mailto:Stormwater@Plano.gov). The guide to [drainage easements in Plano](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/drainage-easements-plano/) explains how to read the plat, and [Plano drainage rules](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/plano-drainage-rules/) covers the rest of the city’s requirements.

## What we do on a creek-side lot

Streambank stabilization is engineered work, and it isn’t part of what we offer. What we do is the yard side: planning how the water leaving your lot reaches its outlet, so it doesn’t add to the erosion below it.

- **Outlets first.** Where the lot allows, we send yard and roof water to the street side, as Plano’s manual expects for house lots.
- **Keeping fast water off the bank.** Where water has to leave toward a creek, we look at where the outlet lets out and how to keep a pipe from discharging straight onto bare bank.
- **Silt control.** While a trench is open, silt controls keep loose soil out of the storm system and the creek.

A flooded back yard by a creek can be a drainage fault or creek flooding, and the fix is different for each. The guide on [floodplain or drainage problems](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/floodplain-or-drainage-problem/) shows how to tell them apart, and [yard regrading](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/yard-grading/) and [French drain installation](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/french-drain-installation/) cover the yard-side fixes.

## How to follow the program

The program runs on the city’s schedule, not a single date, and sites move through design and construction at different times. For the current list and timing, ask the City of Plano’s stormwater staff.

If your own yard is shedding water toward the creek, or a pipe outlet is cutting into the bank, call [(469) 551-8518](tel:+14695518518) or send photos through the form below. We’ll look at where the water comes from and where it can safely go.

## Questions about this post

### Will the city fix the creek bank behind my house?

Only if it is one of the sites in the city's program and the work there is approved. Who repairs a creek bank depends on who owns it and on the easements on your plat. Plano's stormwater staff can tell you how your lot is treated; you can reach them at Stormwater@Plano.gov.

### Can I build a retaining wall or fill along the creek myself?

Check first. Plano asks owners to look up drainage and floodplain easements on their plat through the Collin Central Appraisal District before building fences, walls or decks, and improvements in an easement or floodplain may be cited and removed. Talk to the city's stormwater staff before any work near the bank.

### Does my yard drain outlet make creek erosion worse?

It can, on a creek-side lot. A pipe that dumps fast water onto a bare, sloping bank cuts it away over time. We plan outlets so water reaches the street side of the lot where possible. Where it has to leave toward a creek, the visit looks at how to keep the outlet from discharging straight onto bare bank.

## Keep reading

- [Learn**Is it a floodplain problem or a yard drainage problem?** A flooded back yard by a creek and a flooded back yard on a flat lot look alike from the patio. Where the water came from decides who can fix it, and what a yard drain can and can't do.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/floodplain-or-drainage-problem/)
- [Learn**Drainage easement rules in Plano: what can you build in one?** The strip along your side or back line may be yours on paper and reserved for water in practice. How to find it, what tends to block it, and how to plan around it.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/drainage-easements-plano/)
- [Learn**What does Plano's drainage design manual mean for homeowners?** The city's Stormwater Design Manual is written for engineers, but a handful of its rules decide what you can do in your own yard. Here they are in plain words, with the numbers.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/plano-drainage-rules/)
- [Decision Guide**Where do you drain a French drain in Plano?** The outlet decides the design, so we choose it first. Every option a Plano yard has, what each one needs, and how to pick when the lot is flat.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/where-can-yard-drain-water-go/)
- [Learn**What does Texas law say about a neighbor's water runoff?** Natural runoff from a higher lot and water a neighbor has redirected are two different problems. How to tell them apart, write it down, and protect your yard without pushing water back.](https://clayplanodrainagecompany.com/guide/neighbor-water-runoff-texas/)

## Get an estimate for your yard

Tell us where the water stands and when. We walk the yard and send a written estimate.