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County attorney warns outdated floodplain maps; court to await A&M modeling
Summary
Officials told the court that county floodplain maps and regulatory lines are outdated in many unstudied areas; the county will rely on funded A&M modeling and pursue letters of map revision rather than ad hoc local changes.
Coryell County commissioners discussed concerns that the county’s floodplain regulatory lines are based on old topographic maps and are inaccurate outside city limits.
The county attorney (speaker 1) said much of the county has not been re-studied and that the current overlays place floodplain lines in implausible locations, noting, "It's like there's no way the floodplain goes up the side of the hill." He recommended waiting for updated modeling being funded through Texas A&M and then using letters of map revision to correct FEMA lines rather than making piecemeal local changes.
Commission members acknowledged the tension between property rights and public safety. One commissioner said they lean "more toward letting people make their own decisions on their own properties until it affects somebody else," while others stressed the need for accurate maps to avoid costly rescues and infrastructure impacts. No ordinance vote was taken; the court agreed to schedule follow-up with engineers and the county attorney to plan next steps.
