The Upper Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District is planning to develop a regional hazard-mitigation plan to identify vulnerabilities of flood-control structures in the area. The district, which includes portions of Austin, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Hutto, Leander, Round Rock and unincorporated areas in Williamson County, would also include possible mitigation strategies in the plan.
The WCID will develop the plan with grant funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which awarded the grant in February. The funds will be distributed through the Texas Water Development Board, said Ruth Haberman, the general manager of the WCID.
The grant covers up to $24,000, or 60 percent of the cost to create the regional plan. Haberman said the total cost is expected to be about $40,000, and the plan must be approved by FEMA by Sept. 30, 2017.
The plan will use data from existing studies that have been completed within the watershed. The WCID completed a watershed study, which also included grant funds distributed by the TWDB, in September 2014. The district used the analysis to create a flood-protection plan later in the year, which identified flood hazard areas throughout the region.
Haberman said the water development board next suggested preparing a hazard-mitigation plan.
“During the flood-protection plan [development] we identified potential flood-mitigation projects,” she said. “The hazard-mitigation plan will identify those projects and potential flood-mitigation actions that can be taken pre-emptively to mitigate flooding.”
Aside from identifying possible mitigation strategies, Haberman said the plan would be beneficial if the region experiences a natural disaster. Since the plan will need to be approved by FEMA, the projects listed will already be vetted by the agency, so the region could receive grant funding quicker.
“If you have shovel-ready projects, which this [plan] would have listed, it’s a whole lot easier [to receive grant funding],” she said. “Especially since FEMA has to approve this hazard-mitigation plan, so they would have already approved the concepts.”
The WCID is coordinating the hazard-mitigation plan for its region, and it is also reaching out to the jurisdictions within the district for input. Haberman said most of the cities and Williamson County have their own hazard-mitigation plans, but this regional plan will identify problems that do not fall within one city’s jurisdiction.
“We will be looking more at regional flood projects that one particular city would not be able to accomplish on their own,” she said.
One example is a project the WCID is partnering on with the city of Round Rock. The two are studying possible construction of two dams along Lake Creek that would alleviate flooding for at-risk homes and roadways. Haberman said the city would not be able to launch the project without the partnership with the WCID because the dam construction area falls outside of the city’s jurisdiction.
“It’s projects like that [that will be in the plan] that cities wouldn’t be able to accomplish on their own, but that could help mitigate flood damage in the future,” she said.
Representatives from the cities of Round Rock and Hutto said they would be active participants in the development of the plan. Alysha Girard, Round Rock storm water programs manager, said coordinating with the WCID on the hazard-mitigation plan will be beneficial for the city, and that the plan could provide additional opportunities for grant funding.
“Floodwaters do not honor jurisdictional boundaries, and thus we are often left to manage issues that are created upstream from our city,” she said. “WCID has jurisdiction over the upstream waterways and can assist with multi-jurisdictional issues and projects.”
Hutto City Engineer Emily Truman agreed, saying having a regional comprehensive plan will help identify projects that affect the city of Hutto but fall outside of its jurisdiction.
“This will help take into account projects, like, for example, projects in Round Rock that drain into Hutto that maybe [the city of] Round Rock wouldn’t be that interested in prioritizing,” she said. “Because of this regional Brushy Creek plan, we would actually be able to prioritize the plan having to do with the region, and not just the city.”
The WCID also is looking for residents to provide input on the plan. The district will hold an open house Aug. 30 at the Allen R. Baca Senior Center in Round Rock, at 301 W. Bagdad Ave., from 5:30-7:30 p.m., Haberman said.
