AUSTIN – (April 22, 2021) – The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) today approved financial assistance totaling $12,106,640 in grant funding from the Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF) for watershed flood protection planning studies.

• $217,350 to the City of Alice (Jim Wells County) to conduct a master drainage planning study
• $3,937,500 to the City of Houston (Harris County) to study and model the entire Sims Bayou watershed and develop a strategic plan for the City’s stormwater, water, and wastewater utilities under a One Water approach
• $191,250 to Hunt County to create hydrologic and hydraulic models, conduct the first countywide flood planning study to determine infrastructure needs, and perform a dam assessment of the Wolfe City Reservoir
• $180,000 to Kaufman County to conduct its first countywide drainage study
• $562,500 to the City of Lubbock (Lubbock County) to conduct a regional flood planning study to identify flood risk and flood protection measures
• $777,143 to the City of New Braunfels (Comal County) to support development of its new drainage area master plan through floodplain studies and mapping
• $1,500,000 to the Orange County Drainage District (Orange County) to conduct a regional flood planning study that includes hydrologic and hydraulic modeling of Cow Bayou, Adams Bayou, Little Cypress Bayou, and the Sabine River Relief Ditch watersheds; and preliminary engineering, project design, and feasibility assessments for the Sabine River Relief Ditch extension and expansion project
• $1,914,047 to the Sabine River Authority (Jasper, Newton, and Orange counties) to conduct a regional flood planning study of the Lower Sabine River Basin watersheds
• $1,773,750 to Travis County to help fund a master flood plan that, once complete, will provide mitigation alternatives and updated floodplain mapping for the county
• $1,053,000 to Trinity River Authority (Anderson, Freestone, Grimes, Houston, Leon, Madison, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Walker counties) to conduct a regional flood planning study of the Trinity River mid-basin watersheds and develop hydraulic modeling

The approved projects are eligible for FIF funding under category 1, flood protection planning for watersheds, of the 2020 Flood Intended Use Plan. This category of funding was designed to support studies that conduct planning of entire watersheds to better inform the development of structural and nonstructural strategies.

Passed by the 86th Texas Legislature and approved by voters through a constitutional amendment in 2019, FIF was created to provide funding for drainage, flood mitigation, and flood control projects.

The TWDB is the state agency charged with collecting and disseminating water-related data, assisting with regional water and flood planning, and preparing the state water and flood plans. The TWDB administers cost-effective financial assistance programs for the construction of water supply, wastewater treatment, flood control, and agricultural water conservation projects.