DALLAS — The cost to curtail damaging flooding across Texas over the next 10 years is more than $31.5 billion and state officials are urging lawmakers to adopt legislation meant to end a cycle of “repairing and rebuilding,” according to a series of recommendations released Thursday.
The Texas Water Development Board provided the recommendations to lawmakers ahead of the legislative session that begins next month. They’re part of an updated Texas Water Development Board flood assessment report that says coastal and river flooding alone is expected to cause more than $6.8 billion in property losses over the next five years.
The agency is seeking a three-pronged approach: update flood mapping and modeling, establish comprehensive planning rather than piecemeal efforts, and enact policies and procedures to aid mitigation.
Due to a combination of population growth and related development, Texas can be certain that without proper planning, flood events will impact more lives and cause more damage in the future,” the report said. “This statement is just as true on the High Plains near Post as it is along Dickinson Bayou near Galveston.”
Read more from the Austin American-Statesman.