Fort Worth updates floodplain regulations, improving protection for flood-risk areas

Fort Worth has updated its stormwater regulations to improve flood safety in different parts of Fort Worth and smaller developments.

Approved by Fort Worth City Council in June and implemented July 15, the city is now able to apply stormwater development regulations to properties that are less than 1 acre and in flood risk areas outside of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s floodplain zones. Previously, developers building on properties less than 1 acre were not required to conduct a review for how their development would affect flooding or stormwater.

“We’re not really permitting, we’re actually asking development to comply and acknowledge that there’s a flood risk here, and ask them how are they going to mitigate or address the flooding concern,” said Cannon Henry, the senior capital project officer in the city’s development services department. “We’re still trying to make our city a safer city and not have developers go out and build that one lot, sell it over to a property owner and now they’re dealing with that flood risk.”

A focal point for this change was areas outside of FEMA floodplain zones where reports of flooding and flood losses are more common, said stormwater management spokesperson Linda Sterne. In 2023, 689 flood insurance policy claims were reported outside of FEMA floodplains, while 657 were in FEMA floodplains, according to the city’s Transportation & Public Works Department.

Floodplains cover about 48.5 square miles of Fort Worth, Sterne said. Most of those locations are along natural creeks and channels across the city like along the Trinity River, Mary’s Creek and Sycamore Creek, she added.

“Historically FEMA floodplains were not mapped outside of riverine areas and therefore did not include the flood risk located within urban areas where streets and neighborhoods flood,” Sterne wrote in an email.

Areas that aren’t mapped within FEMA floodplains equate to 33 square miles, and can be found in the city’s Flood Risk Viewer, Sterne said.

For areas that are often prone to flooding, the city has to mitigate flood risk through capital projects, which cost as much as hundreds of millions of dollars. City officials are planning to raise the stormwater management fee by 5% in the 2025 budget year to stem flooding challenges.

Now, certificates will be required for developments smaller than 1 acre within city flood risk areas. Additional regulations will require property owners and developers of properties to provide a certificate of compliance to show that they are building with flood risk in mind. This will “better protect the new structures from flood risk and the adjacent property owners from increased flood risk,” Sterne said.

Sterne said the regulations do not address the cumulative impact of development on flood risk properties around Fort Worth. As more pavement, or impervious surface, covers open space, residents have complained that the city has not done enough to account for associated flooding issues.

Five stakeholder meetings have taken place since April 2023 to discuss the impact of development on flooding, with plans for city staff to discuss recommendations with an advisory committee of developers to gather feedback.

“For example, in some of our areas, we have these lots that have 50% to 60% impervious surface, but as you maximize an impervious surface such as by putting in a pool, a shed or adding additional concrete, you’re increasing impervious surface,” Henry said. “So that cumulative improvement is causing an impact to the actual drainage system.”

Regardless, the new regulations are a step in improving flood safety, Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens told council members.

“It’s going to make people safer,” Bivens said during a June 11 City Council meeting. “I am very pleased, very proud and downright excited about what I see as a positive change coming about.”

Kevin Vu is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and contributor to the Fort Worth Report.

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