Brazos River Authority approves $9.8 million contract to advance Allens Creek Reservoir permitting and design

The Brazos River Authority on [date not specified] authorized its general manager/CEO to negotiate and execute a professional services contract with Gannett Fleming Inc. not to exceed $9,803,826 to carry out permitting and preliminary design activities for the Allens Creek Reservoir project in Austin County.

Board members said the work is intended to move a long-term reservoir project into detailed site investigation and the Army Corps permitting process. The resolution also included a fiscal-year 2025 budget amendment increasing the project capital improvement budget from $500,000 to $7,230,000 to cover timing differences in project delivery.

Board members and Gannett Fleming staff described Allens Creek as a “legacy” regional water-supply project sited in Austin County just south of Sealy and roughly west of Houston. The authority owns about 9,500 acres of the project site and holds a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) water-right permit to impound up to 145,000 acre-feet, with an anticipated average yield “just under 100,000 acre-feet,” presenters said. The contract scope focuses on four parallel task groups: a comprehensive site survey and utility desktop study; a river geomorphology (sediment-transport) study; preliminary cultural and environmental studies; and a preliminary geotechnical investigation, including borings and laboratory testing.

Project manager John…