Brazos River Authority board approves $9.8 million permitting contract for Allens Creek Reservoir

The Brazos River Authority Board of Directors voted to authorize the General Manager/CEO to negotiate a professional services contract with Gannett Fleming Inc. for permitting and preliminary design work on the Allens Creek Reservoir project and approved a fiscal-year 2025 budget amendment to increase the project budget from $500,000 to $7,230,000.

John King, chief strategic officer for the Brazos River Authority, told the board the project could produce “almost 100,000 acre-feet of water” and described Allens Creek as a “legacy project” for the agency and the basin. The board approved a contract amount not to exceed $9,803,826 for the scope of services presented by Gannett Fleming and its partners.

The approved scope covers four primary task areas: an accurate site survey and utility desktop study; a river geomorphology study to evaluate meander and sediment-transport risks near proposed pump-station locations; preliminary cultural and environmental investigations; and a geotechnical investigation including borings, cone-penetration tests and aquifer/pumping tests. Scott Birch, deputy director of the geotechnical dams and hydraulics practice at Gannett Fleming, told the board the bulk of the field work…