![New Lessons in Flood Mitigation](https://cole-mswmag.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mswmag.com%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2Fwatershed-10.jpg?crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=620&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=75&w=1024&s=cb1cb0aaeb64ceefa70bad256fe47881)
Heavy equipment operator lead John Edwards (right) moves a vacuum boom into place while drainage maintenance supervisor John Hayes oversees the work.
Austin, Texas, is blessed — and sometimes cursed — by the water that runs through it, under it and, unfortunately, over it.
As the one-time frontier settlement has evolved into the political, musical and intellectual hub of Texas, it has relied on water carried through...