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County workshop spotlights GLO‑funded flood and groundwater modeling for Leon River and Cowhouse watersheds
Summary
Local officials and project scientists outlined a General Land Office‑funded pilot to develop high‑resolution flood forecasting, a gauge network and groundwater recharge modeling for the Leon River and Cowhouse watersheds; the team emphasized the project will provide tools, while release of public alerts remains a local policy decision.
A special meeting of the Coryell County Commission Court on the Blackland modeling project featured presentations from NRS, AgriLife Research and groundwater specialists about a General Land Office (GLO)‑funded effort to improve inland flood forecasting and groundwater planning.
Steve Manning, introduced as president of NRS, summarized the project history — MOUs with partners and a formal proposal submitted in April 2024 — and said the work is intended as a pilot the state can scale. "We're the 1st," Manning said, describing the project's attempt to deliver inland flood models and early‑warning approaches that differ from coastal efforts.
Project scientists described a combined modeling approach: SWAT (the Soil and Water Assessment Tool) to calculate runoff at HUC‑14 resolution, paired with a hydraulic routing model to translate runoff into channel depths and inundation forecasts. An AgriLife Research presenter said the coupled system will run regular simulations and produce hourly inundation and forecast products that can feed emergency response and public dashboards.
The team also outlined an implementation path that pairs technical outputs with a multi‑component flood risk management plan led by the American Conservation Foundation (ACF). That plan includes stakeholder assessments, standard operating procedures and public education so residents and first responders can act on model outputs. The presenters repeatedly stressed that decisions about when and how to release alerts to the public are policy choices for the county and its cities, not technical determinations.
The project team asked local officials and utilities to identify two or three priority questions they want the modeling team to address; the presenters said they will incorporate local pumping and well data to refine groundwater projections and recommended jurisdictions provide access to recent records to improve the model beyond its 2020 baseline.
The court received materials to post publicly and adjourned at the close of the presentations.
