LCRA donates trees for park

A little extra shade will be coming soon to the banks of Sulphur Creek.

Lower Colorado River Authority recently donated 10 bald cypress trees to the city Parks and Recreation Department for water conservation and erosion control.

Parks crews will plant the trees by the walkway along the lower dam in W.M. Brook Park, Parks and Recreation Director Monty Blackmon said.

"It's real good soil, and it's got a lot of moisture, so they're going to love it," he said.

The donation is a part of LCRA's Clean and Green Forestation Program.

LCRA Natural Resources Coordinator Mike Christy said the eight-foot-tall trees, native to Texas, will grow fairly fast. One of the state's largest bald cypresses, located in Real County, sports a 140-inch circumference.

Bald cypresses resist drought well, Christy added, but they usually do best along rivers or creek banks.

"They don't mind getting their feet wet," he said.