AUSTIN – (August 15, 2024) – The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) today voted to adopt the 2024 State Flood Plan, providing the first-ever comprehensive statewide assessment of flood risk and solutions to mitigate that risk.

“Adopting the first-ever state flood plan is a monumental achievement for Texas,” said TWDB Chairwoman Brooke Paup, “and it would not have been possible without the collaboration and dedication of everyone who touched this extensive effort, including the 15 regional flood planning groups and their volunteer members, sponsors, technical consultants, other stakeholders, fellow state agencies, and TWDB staff.”

The plan incorporates the findings of 15 regional flood plans and includes legislative and floodplain management recommendations to guide state, regional, and local flood control policy to reduce the risk and impact of flooding.

According to the plan, approximately one in every six people in Texas lives or works in known flood hazard areas. While the extent and types of flood hazard vary by region due to differences in population, land development, topography, rainfall patterns, and proximity to rivers and the coast, the plan found there is significant risk of flooding within all 15 planning regions.

“One of the greatest successes of this first cycle of regional and state flood planning is that we now have some level of flood hazard information for the entire state,” said TWDB Board Member L’Oreal Stepney. “That is a tremendous accomplishment and an essential foundation for not only understanding flood risk but also working to mitigate it to keep people and property safe.”

The plan presents approximately 4,600 solutions—flood management evaluations (studies), flood mitigation projects, and flood management strategies—recommended by the regional flood planning groups with a total estimated implementation cost of more than $54.5 billion. Planning groups reported an estimated 843,339 people and 214,292 buildings would be removed from the 1 percent annual chance (100-year) floodplain if the state flood plan is implemented.

The inaugural regional and state flood planning process was created by Senate Bill 8 during the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019. The TWDB will produce a new state flood plan every five years based on the flood planning groups’ regional plans. The 2024 State Flood Plan is now available on the TWDB website and will be submitted to the governor, lieutenant governor, and the Texas Legislature by September 2024. A visually enhanced version of the plan will be available in the coming months.

Additionally, the Interactive State Flood Plan Viewer is available on the TWDB website and enables users to take an in-depth look at the 2024 State Flood Plan data. The viewer will display, summarize, and disseminate at varying geographic scales all data generated by the TWDB state flood planning process, including existing infrastructure, flood hazard areas and exposure, critical and other infrastructure at risk, recommended flood risk evaluations, flood mitigation project recommendations, and more.

The TWDB is the state agency charged with collecting and disseminating water-related data, assisting with regional water and flood planning, and preparing the state water and flood plans. The TWDB administers cost-effective financial assistance programs for the construction of water supply, wastewater treatment, flood mitigation, and agricultural water conservation projects.