The city of Round Rock and the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control & Improvement District have identified two areas to build two dams—101 and 102—upstream from homes in the flood plain. The goal of these dams is to mitigate flooding in west Round Rock and reduce the homes at risk in a flood, shown here in red.[/caption]A project aiming to relieve flooding in west Round Rock hit its first major milestone when City Council approved an engineering contract July 28 containing permitting and design work necessary to proceed.
The city, in partnership with the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control & Improvement District, is looking to build a dam labeled Dam 101 upstream from the flood plains in west Round Rock. Upper Brushy Creek WCID will also build another dam labeled Dam 102 that will work in conjuncture with Dam 101. The cost for the Dam 101 project is estimated to be more than $20 million.
The dams would work in unison to reduce the size of the 100-year flood plain, or the area with a 1 percent annual chance of flooding. If the dams are built, city officials expect to remove more than 60 homes from the risk of flooding that would happen in a 100-year storm, or a storm that has a 1 percent chance of happening. Furthermore, emergency personnel can experience difficulty accessing parts of west Round Rock in a major storm because of flooding in the area, and the dams would mitigate that flooding. City officials have said homeowners in the area have requested the city try to mitigate that flooding for years.
Alysha Girard, Round Rock stormwater programs manager, said the contract approved is the 30 percent design milestone for Dam 101, which the city is taking point on building.
“Up to this point we’ve been doing some preliminary engineering to tie down the location of the project and just get some basics set,” she said. “[The contract] is the first key milestone for us.”
Girard said the project is especially difficult because of the scale of the dams. Furthermore, she said the city has to work with several local, state and federal permitting agencies and receive a variety of environmental clearances for the project, which contributes to the multimillion dollar price tag.
The city has not fully funded Dam 101 yet, and it continues to look for grants or other means of funding the project. Girard said as the city looks for mechanisms to fund the dam those entities will want to know the cost, which the contract approved by council will help the city establish.
Girard said this contract is also the biggest commitment of funds the city has made to the project yet.
“This is basically a $1 million commitment to pushing this project forward,” she said. “I think it shows where the council and the district stand, that this is a priority, even though it’s not all figured out yet.”
Girard said she anticipates a 2019 or later start date.
Ruth Haberman, general manager of the Upper Brushy Creek WCID, said the district board approved a 30 percent design contract for Dam 102 Aug. 19.
She said dams 101 and 102 seem like more of a possibility now than ever before. She said since Dam 102 is a district project, she knows it will move forward, and she knows the city is committed to building Dam 101.
“I am confident both projects will happen,” she said. “The city has to find some additional funding mechanisms, but I have no doubt they will find that.”
She said if Dam 101 is not built for whatever reason, Dam 102 would mitigate some flooding.
Girard said many people she worked with previously did not believe a project of this scale could be accomplished.
“Now the question I get is, ‘When [will it happen]?’” she said.
