In 2019, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 8 which brought about the first-ever statewide flood planning process. The implementation of the bill would help after historical flooding that took place in Texas prior. A total of 15 designated flood planning areas were put into place by The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). Hays County is a part of Region 11 due to being located along the Guadalupe River Basin.
“The actual planning for the region is led by a committee of volunteer members, called the Guadalupe Regional Flood Planning Group,” according to the Guadalupe Regional Flood Planning Group (GRFP) website.
Pct. 3 Commissioner Lon Shell will represent Hays County at the Regional Flood Planning Group meeting on Wednesday, August 4 in Wimberley.
“Each self-governed regional flood planning group is responsible for identifying and assessing specific flood risks, as well as setting flood risk reduction goals, identifying and recommending flood management evaluations and strategies, and flood mitigation projects to reduce flood risk in their regions,” according to the GRFP website.
The discussion will be held among the planning group regarding topics such as reducing existing flood risks to life and property and on floodplain management, in general, to avoid increasing flood risk in the future.
Other counties within the Guadalupe RFPG include Bandera, Bastrop, Blanco, Caldwell, Calhoun, Comal, DeWitt, Fayette, Gillespie, Goliad, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Lavaca, Real, Refugio, Travis, Victoria and Wilson.
The GRFP website mentions that “the first regional flood plans are due in January 2023, which will culminate in the first statewide floodplain due September 1, 2024.”
The meeting will begin directly following a regularly scheduled RFPG meeting. The planning meeting will be open to the public and will take place at 4 p.m. at the Wimberley Community Center located at 14068 Ranch Road 12.
Those wishing to participate in written comments before the meeting can do so by emailing [email protected] or physically mailing them with the subject line “Region 11 Flood Planning Group Meeting” to the attention of Lauren Willis at Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, 933 East Court Street, Seguin, TX 78155.
Those unable to attend the meeting in person can watch the live stream at www.blantonassociates.com/GBRA_Pre-Planning_vpm/. To view the full meeting agenda and any additional information regarding the planning group or the scheduled meeting, visit http://www.guadaluperfpg.org/.
