Fort Worth Spending More on Flood Control; Still Well Short of What’s Needed

Fort Worth could spend $136 million on stormwater infrastructure and flood control over the next five years. In all, the city needs more like $1 billion of investment.

1 minute read

August 23, 2022, 9:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


The trees, benches, and other landscape elements of a park are submerged in brown flood waters.

Trong Nguyen / Shutterstock

The city of Fort Worth stormwater management program is proposing an $8 million increase in flood control spending over the next five years, a total of  $136 million for the city’s storm drains, erosion control, and flood maps, according to a paywalled article by Harrison Mantas for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The big capital investment is still far less than the city needs to address flooding, according to the city’s own analysis. “The city estimated in 2020 it would cost $1 billion to fix 300 of Fort Worth’s most flood-prone areas. In 2020, the city added 35 cents to the stormwater fee to fix 80 of the worst spots,” writes Mantas.

Central to the increase spending on flood control are new flood control maps, under development by the city, which “could be used to guide future zoning decisions and help homeowners better protect themselves against flood risk,” according to the article. “The city has released initial maps that indicate areas where flash flooding is the worst. Those include the Cultural District, Meadowbrook in east Fort Worth, and the intersection of Cleburne Road and West Berry Street."

Monday, August 22, 2022 in Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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