Guadalupe County could receive up to $1.25M for flood warning sirens

Guadalupe County is expected to submit a project plan with projects in flash flood-prone areas where TWDB has found a history of consistent or severe flooding for which the installation, maintenance and operation of one or more outdoor warning sirens is warranted, according to the grant agreement.

Following project plan submission, the executive administrator will provide a letter of approval or request changes to the plan submitted. The executive administrator is that of the TWDB or a designated representative, the grant agreement states.

Upon project plan approval, TWDB will provide Guadalupe County with a 25% advance of the approved project plan budget. The county will be expected to submit project reports and documentation of grant fund expenditures monthly to the board, according to the grant agreement.

Guadalupe County must submit a final report to TWDB that includes:

• Communities or entities involved in formulating the project
• Types of equipment installed
• Location(s) of equipment placement
• Summary of how the project satisfies the requirements laid out by TWDB

The agreement comes after the 89th Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 3 in response to the July 2025 flooding in Texas. The bill requires the governor’s office to establish and administer a grant program to assist municipalities, counties and other governmental entities with the cost of installing outdoor warning signs.

The legislature also passed Senate Bill 5, which appropriated funding from the state’s economic stabilization fund to assist communities within the counties identified by Gov. Greg Abbott’s disaster declaration to implement a system of flood warning signs, flood gauges and other related equipment.

Other counties receiving the opportunity to negotiate and execute grant agreements with TWDB include:

• Bandera
• Bexar
• Burnet
• Caldwell
• Coke
• Comal
• Concho
• Edwards
• Gillespie
• Hamilton
• Kendall
• Kerr
• Kimble
• Kinney
• Lampasas
• Llano
• Mason
• Maverick
• McCulloch
• Menard
• Real
• Reeves
• San Saba
• Schleicher
• Sutton
• Tom Green
• Travis
• Uvalde
• Williamson

Upon grant acceptance, the county will receive up to $1 million of the first allocation and then an additional $250,000 to go toward the projects, Patrick Pinder, Guadalupe County Emergency Management Coordinator and Fire Marshal, said.

Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher said these funds are probably one of the most important sets of state dollars that have been pushed out due to the flooding that occurred over the summer.

“We could utilize these dollars to help keep people safe,” Kutscher said.