Walking Eagle, our weir isn't like what you describe at all. The creek is year-round, but it's small. And we simply walk across the top of it to pick up trash. When it's low the water tends to flow across on the other side of the creek (on the property of the guy who built the thing).

I also used to do search and rescue--in my case, Mountain Rescue, in Washington State, and as a member of the staff in various parks and forests where I worked. I had to wade through an area flooded by beaver dams one night in a search for a boy, and it was the creepiest thing I've ever had to do. My kids have been read the riot act about never getting near the creek on rainy days, and also not getting near the creek on days when they have any inkling that there is rain anywhere in the area. Flash floods are a problem in Texas, as in many other areas of the Southwest. (W.E.--emphasis on "River SAGE"!)

SRS