Hardin County OKs participation in countywide flood-management evaluation funded by state

The Hardin County Commissioners Court authorized the county judge to execute a community-interest affirmation and participate with the regional flood-planning group in a flood-management evaluation funded by the Texas Water Development Board.

Commissioner Young said the study will compile existing studies and grants into a master drainage plan for parts of the county, though the project is not a complete countywide drainage study. "It's going to come in, very handy for Hardin County, and it's not going to be a complete drainage plan," Commissioner Young said, adding that the work will combine prior studies and provide shelf-ready projects for future grant applications.

Commissioners confirmed the scope would include identified creeks — Boggy Creek, Black Creek and Mill Creek — and that the study will draw on GLO and other existing hydraulic studies and incorporate LIDAR and other modern survey techniques. A committee member asked whether private landowner access issues that blocked earlier work would be resolved; commissioners said the evaluation would mainly aggregate prior data and rely on engineers and surveyors already engaged on specific projects.

The court approved the community-interest affirmation on a motion and second; commissioners said the evaluation will have no direct cost to the county because it is funded by the Texas Water Development Board.