Texas could spend $55 billion to prevent flooding
GEORGETOWN, Texas - The State of Texas is looking to implement a new flood plan, one that could cost around $55 billion.
According to the Texas Water Development Board, one in six Texans live or work in areas at risk for flooding.
"We want to put out a state flood plan that does what it is tasked to do and that is again, save lives and save property," said chairwoman Brooke Paup.
Under the state’s newest flood plan, more than 800,000 residents and 214,000 structures could be spared from serious flooding in the next century.
It’s an issue Georgetown residents like Elizabeth Copley know well.
"It got fairly high," said Copley. "You could see a lot of water going out in that direction."
In 2018, she watched the San Gabriel River rise several feet from her backyard.
"We live on the side of a cliff so it didn’t come to where we were scared we’d have to leave our house or evacuate but it did come significantly high and knock a lot of trees down," said Copley.
"We are doing new studies in those areas where there were never floodplains or FEMA floodplains previously, so that’s kind of in part some of that major increase.," said Cindy Engelhardt, with Half Associates, which helped the county put together a new floodplain mapping study called Atlas 14.
"We want to continue raising the awareness and helping people better understand floods such that we save lives and property and all the other things and just be more resilient moving forward."
According to the Texas Water Development Board, another 6 million residents and 1.6 million structures across the state are at risk for flood damage. However, that $55 billion could fund more than 4600 protective projects.
"One of the greatest successes of this first round of regional and state flood planning is that now we have some level of flood hazard information for the entire state," said TWDB board member L'oreal Stepney.
Some of the solutions include more nature-based fixes like ditches, storm sewers and retention ponds. About half of the total costs, or around $24 billion, would go towards building a surge protection in Galveston.
The board said this plan would be funded on a federal, state, and local level.