Government
Comal County accepts $1.25M grant for ood warning systems
already seen bene ts from cameras at downstream crossings during recent ooding, Boyd said. What’s next With grant funding, cameras at upstream loca- tions, including Spring Ranch Road and Nichol’s Landing, are also being proposed to provide real- time ood monitoring during high-water events, agenda documents state. The nal phase of the proposal, which could be completed within the next year, would expand the county’s automated low-water crossing system. Comal County has 16 automated crossings, with additional locations still requiring manual clo- sures. Automating those crossings would trigger warning lights when water reaches unsafe levels, Boyd said.
Comal County Commissioners approved a resolution accepting up to $1.25 million in funding from the Texas Water Development Board, or TWDB, to bolster ood water infrastructure and warning systems at a regular meeting Dec. 23. The action authorizes the county judge to execute a grant agreement for an initial $1 million in nancial assistance to enhance outdoor ood warning sirens, monitoring technology and low-water crossing safety measures, with the ability to accept an additional $250,000 if needed, according to agenda documents. The funding was allocated from Senate Bill 3, which passed during a special session of the state’s 89th legislature following severe ooding in July. SB 3 made $30 million available statewide to sup- port ood mitigation e orts in 30 eligible counties, including Comal County, agenda documents state. Some details Currently, Comal County operates 10 high-water warning systems—six downstream of Canyon Lake and four upstream—which were tested during the July 4 weekend ooding events. Following those tests, the county made adjustments and began upgrading the systems with AC power and ber-optic communication, replacing cellular connections to improve reliability, Comal County Engineer Robert Boyd said. Plans outlined improvements to warning lead times by installing weather stations in water- sheds that feed into the Guadalupe River, along with ow sensors where water enters the river. By combining rainfall and river ow data and analyzing the information through geographic information systems, the county hopes to extend
ood warning times, Boyd said. “The whole idea behind this is to increase warning time by having these weather stations and these nodes,” Boyd said. “We could increase our warning time from 30-45 minutes to hours.” County o cials identi ed the need for an additional high-water warning system in the Lazy L&L area downstream of Canyon Lake. The county plans to add lighting at key low-water crossings to improve visibility during nighttime ooding events, aiding rst responders and increasing public safety. Another component of the project includes installing additional cameras at critical locations. The county has budgeted funds in scal year 2025-26 for cameras at dams and has Zooming out Other counties receiving the opportunity to negotiate and execute grant agreements with TWDB include: 1 Bandera 2 Bexar 3 Burnet 4 Caldwell 5 Coke
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19 23 15 10
26 24 20 25 13 6
3 29 27 4
17 16 8
16 Llano 17 Mason 18 Maverick 19 McCulloch 20 Menard 21 Real 22 Reeves 23 San Saba 24 Schleicher 25 Sutton 26 Tom Green 27 Travis 28 Uvalde 29 Williamson
12 21 1
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14 28 18
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6 Concho 7 Edwards 8 Gillespie 9 Guadalupe 10 Hamilton 11 Kendall 12 Kerr 13 Kimble 14 Kinney 15 Lampasas
Comal
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SOURCE: TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD COMMUNITY IMPACT
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