Background

Nearly 2,000 floodwater retarding structures, or dams, have been built over the last 60 years within the State of Texas. The primary purpose of the structures is to protect lives and property by reducing the velocity of floodwaters, and thereby releasing flows at a safer rate. These are earthen dams that exist on private property, and were designed and constructed by the United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS). They were built with the understanding that the private property owner would provide the land, the federal government would provide the technical design expertise and the funding to construct them, and then units of local government would be responsible for maintaining them into the future.

Local sponsors of the dams were required before a federal project was begun. Local sponsors signed a watershed agreement which outlined the duties and responsibilities of the federal and local sponsors. In general, local sponsors are required to obtain and enforce easements, conduct operation and maintenance (O&M) inspections, maintain the structures, and implement land treatment measures in the watershed. Soil and water conservation districts (SWCD) are one of the local sponsors in all watershed projects. Other local sponsors include counties, cities, and Water Control and Improvement Districts (WCIDs).

Due to the passage of time and difficulty in raising adequate funds locally, many sponsors approached the Texas Legislature with their concerns over amount of needed O&M and repairs. In recognition that these dams will continue to serve as a critical protection for our state's infrastructure, private property, and lives, the Legislature appropriated $15 million dollars to the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) for grants to local SWCDs during the 2010-2011 biennium for O&M and structural repairs.

Program Development News

The TSSWCB is currently in the process of developing an (1) O&M Grant Program and a (2) Structural Repair Grant Program for the biennium.

O&M Grant Program 

Rules for the O&M Grant Program were developed by the TSSWCB staff and a representative stakeholder group during the Summer of 2009.  Those rules were published in the Texas Register on July 31, 2009 for a 30-day comment period. Based on comments received, minor changes were made to the rules prior to adoption, which occured on September 17, 2009.  The adopted rules have been submitted to the Texas Register, and a link will be placed on this page upon publication.

Structural Repair Grant Program 

The agency's goal is to have the rules for the Structural Repair Program published for public comment during November 2009.

Contact 

For more information on the development of the TSSWCB's grant programs, please contact:

John Foster  jfoster [at] tsswcb [dot] state [dot] tx [dot] us
TSSWCB Statewide Programs Officer
(254) 773-2250, ext. 235

or

Richard Egg  regg [at] tsswcb [dot] state [dot] tx [dot] us
TSSWCB Programs Engineer
(254) 773-2250, ext. 246

Resources 

For more information on flood control dams in Texas, please visit the USDA-NRCS Watershed Program webpage at http://www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov/Programs/watersheds/index.html.

For more information on dam safety in Texas, please visit the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality webpage at http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/compliance/field_ops/dam_safety/damsafetyprog.html.