Perry introduces flood plan to Texas Legislature

Texas Sen. Charles Perry filed three bills Tuesday, Jan. 22, to begin the first steps in creating a statewide flood plan, which will allow a path to fund flood mitigation projects, according to a release from his office.

“We live in a big state, we’ve had big disasters and we need a big response to address flooding in Texas,” Perry stated in the release. “If the legislature passes the first ever statewide flood plan, it will positively affect every community across Texas and save lives.”

The three pieces of legislation centered around it, Senate Bill (SB) 396, SB 397 and Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 28, each serve a purpose in creating the plan, as well as setting up funding. SB 396, also known as the Statewide Flood Plan, is the main catalyst for creating and setting a timeline for the plan. It will also establish rules, hire staff needed and give the Texas Water Development Board certain direction in establishing the plan, according to the release. The plan is set to be completed by Sept. 1, 2024.

Some requirements for the plan include an evaluation of the conditions of current flood control infrastructure, a list of strategies, an analysis of projects from previous plans and other legislative recommendations. according to the release.

The other two bills are to help fund the plan. The SJR 28 is set up to be a voter-approved constitutional amendment that will transfer $1.2 billion from the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) to the plan, the release states. The State Flood Plan Fund (SFPF) will set up a fund within the state treasury, but exist outside of the general fund in order to ensure stable funding to the plan.

That $1.2 billion is broken up two ways. About half of the funds, $608 million, will go to projects developed by the TWDB, while the rest, about $592 billion will go to repair and maintenance of dams and other structures, according to Perry’s office.

Perry, along with Rep. Mike Lang, hosted a town hall in Breckenridge in October last year, where they discussed a variety of issues and goals heading into the 86th Legislative Session. Perry said a flood plan was a priority, saying he believed the state was adequately unprepared for water.

Dating back to 2000, Texas has seen more than 1,100 flood events, which have caused 1,175 direct or indirect deaths, causing $800 million worth of damage and $458 million in damage to crops, the release states. None of these numbers, however, account for damage from hurricanes or flash flood events. Some specific events Texas has seen in the last few years were severe flooding incidences in 2015, and Hurricane Harvey, which caused an estimated $125 billion in damage.