Army Corps details progress, funding and timelines for Dallas Floodway levee program

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Dallas Water Utilities told the City of Dallas Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on June 9 that work on the Dallas Floodway levee system has advanced significantly but that several major elements will rely on future federal and local funding.

The update, led by Mark Herman, program manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Fort Worth District), and Sarah Standefer, director of Dallas Water Utilities, summarized recent completions, current construction and funding for future projects and noted that ecosystem restoration remains unfunded.

The committee heard that the supplemental program funding originates from the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and that, to date, the Dallas Floodway has received $457,000,000 in federal/local funding while the Dallas Floodway Extension has received $135,000,000 in federal funding. Herman said the Corps remains on track to deliver most components by the end of the decade with some elements extending into the early 2030s.

Herman described completed and ongoing pump-station and levee work: the I-277 levee raise and slope flattening was delivered and turned over to the city for operations; Charlie 2 pump station is under construction with a targeted commissioning in mid-2026 and will add about 100,000 gallons per minute of pumping capacity in its area; Noble Ranch Sump work was recently awarded and construction is expected to begin later this summer with delivery in late 2026; Delta Pump Station rehabilitation is under design with construction planned to start in 2026 and completion aimed for late 2027. Herman said the Hampton site will receive a new Hampton 3 pump station (about 700,000 gallons per minute capacity), followed by renovation of the adjacent Hampton station and demolition of the older facility. The Corps plans to reprocure the Trinity-Portland contract in fiscal 2027.

"We've had significant progress since the last time we spoke to you," Herman said, and outlined the sequence of work across pump stations, levee raises and channel stabilizations.

Standefer emphasized that ecosystem restoration is currently not funded. "The environmental or ecosystem restoration component within the Dallas Floodway in 2014 dollars was estimated at about $322,000,000; I would tell you, you can double that with today's dollars. The city would need to have no less than 35% of our cost share in order for us to kind of move forward with that," she said. Both she and Herman noted that ecosystem work would generally occur after flood-risk management items are completed and when assured federal funding becomes available.

Committee members pressed on who pays for ongoing operations and maintenance. Standefer said the City of Dallas is 100% responsible for operations and maintenance of constructed components, and the city budgets roughly $15,000,000 annually for floodway operations (mowing, electricians, mechanics, trash and debris removal, SCADA operations and pump station staffing). She said those budgets come from the city's stormwater fee and that regular Corps inspections maintain eligibility for federal assistance under the Stafford Act and Public Law 84-99.

The Corps overview also covered the Dallas Floodway Extension (authorized originally in 1965), where design is under way for the Lamar and Cadillac Heights reaches. The Corps said design updates in 2024 expanded scope to include utility relocation design and that the goal is to position both reaches for construction contract award by the end of 2026, pending real estate and environmental clearances and funding.

Committee members praised the progress and noted the projects' multi-generational scope, the protection they provide to neighborhoods across West Dallas, downtown and downstream communities, and the dependency on congressional appropriations for Corps work. Herman urged continued partnership between the Corps and the city on inspections, real-estate acquisition and contracting to maintain schedule.

The Corps provided a public website and a Fort Worth District public affairs contact for detailed environmental studies and project documentation.

Next steps cited in the briefing include upcoming routine and detailed Corps inspections to maintain accreditation and eligibility for federal funding, ongoing design and real-estate acquisition for the Dallas Floodway Extension, and continued coordination with the city on operations, maintenance budgeting and congressional funding requests for unfunded ecosystem restoration.