[00:00:03]
IT IS 9:00 AM APRIL 24TH, 2025.
I'M GONNA CALL OUR WORKSHOP MEETING TO ORDER.
[1. PUBLIC FORUM]
IS THE PUBLIC FORUM.IT'S THE PUBLIC'S OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THE COMMISSION'S OF COURT ABOUT COUNTY MATTERS.
MR. JOHN THOMAS, PLEASE COME FORWARD.
SOUNDS LIKE IT'S PICKING ME UP.
UH, APPRECIATE Y'ALL LISTENING TO ME THIS MORNING.
SO I'M, THE FLOODING ISSUE CERTAINLY CAME TO, UH, UM, MY ATTENTION.
THERE'S A SOMERSET NEW ADDITION THAT'S BEING BUILT UP THE ROAD FROM, IT'S BEEN UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR THE LAST SEVEN OR EIGHT YEARS.
AND, UM, WE'VE BEEN ON THE PROPERTY FOR 12 YEARS.
SINCE THAT ADDITION WENT IN, WE NOTICED THAT WE HAD EXTREME, A LOT MORE WATER FLOWING ACROSS OUR PROPERTY.
UH, THIS IS THE OLD JOE LOFTUS LAND.
SO WHEN WE'RE ON THE, UH, WEST SIDE OF DOW ROAD, JOE BUILT A LARGE LEVEE ACROSS THE BACK, UH, WHICH, UH, BORDERS UP AGAINST BRUSHY CREEK WE'RE THE OVERFLOW.
WHEN JOE INITIALLY DID THAT, HE PUT IN A FOUR INCH CULVERT TO FLOW IN TO TAKE CARE OF THAT.
FOR THE FIRST FEW YEARS, THERE WAS NO ISSUE.
UM, IT REALLY DIDN'T DAWN ON ME WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
'CAUSE AS WE KNEW THE WATER WAS INCREASING, AS THEY CONTINUED TO BUILD THIS PROPERTY UP THERE.
AND SO WE'VE TALKED TO THE PROPERTY MANAGER, I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST THE WATER COMING OFF THE PROPERTY ITSELF.
AND THEN ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO, WITH THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT WAS COMING ACROSS, IT DAWNED ON ME WHEN THEY BUILT UP THE LOTS, THE NORTH SIDE OF THAT PROPERTY, THERE'S FOUR FOOT OF DIRT NOW WHERE, UH, SOL'S FARM.
THAT WATER WOULD JUST FLOW NICE AND, AND INTO THAT PROPERTY AND DISSIPATE NO ISSUES.
ONCE THAT DAM CREATED, ALL THAT WATER IS NOW TURNED, AND IT, IT AFFECTS MY, MY PROPERTY AND THE TWO HOUSES NORTH FOR ME.
DOW ROAD IS NOW FLOODED ACROSS THAT AREA.
IT'S GOT FOUR INCHES OF WATER WHEN IT RAINS HARD AND IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH.
IF WE GET A GOOD TWO INCHES OF RAIN TODAY, THAT ROAD WILL BE FLOODED AGAIN.
THE PROPERTY TO THE, UH, SOUTH OF ME IS ONE SOLID SHEET OF WATER.
MY DRIVEWAY NOW HAS FOUR OR FIVE INCHES OF WATER COMING DOWN IT.
AND LUCKILY, AND I'M ASSUMING THAT THESE OTHER PROPERTIES HAVEN'T HAD ANY PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO THEIR HOUSES, WE'VE BUILT UP HIGH ENOUGH, SO THEY'RE NOT FLOWING THROUGH THE HOUSE.
BUT WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW IS IT'S BREACHING THAT LEVY EVEN MORE.
SO, UH, FOUR, MAYBE FIVE YEARS AGO, UH, THAT PIPE BEGAN TO, THE WATER FOUND ITS WAY AROUND TO THE SIDE OF THE PIPE.
AND IT, 'CAUSE THE PIPE WENT THROUGH THE LEVEE.
NOW THE LEVEE WAS BREACHED AND, AND FELL IN.
I HAD A COMPANY COME IN AND KIND OF TRY TO, UH, CREATED A, A ALMOST A RETENTION POND IN FRONT OF IT.
UM, AND THEN THEY, THEY CREATED THE, WHATEVER THE, THE FLOW THROUGH, UM, AND THE AMOUNT OF WATER.
AND I'VE GOT VIDEOS OF, IT'S AMAZING.
THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT FLOWS THROUGH IS NOW BREACHING.
SO I KNOW THAT WHAT'S HAPPENING, WHAT USED TO BE A, A SLOW FLOW INTO BRUSHY CREEK, AS WE'VE SEEN ISSUES WITH, YOU KNOW, AND WE'VE TALKED ABOUT DOWN DOWNHILL, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT ISSUES DOWN FROM, UH, BRUSHY CREEK ALL ALONG WHERE LEVEES ARE BEING BREACHED.
UNDERSTAND THAT PART OF THAT THING'S IN THE COUNTY, WE'RE IN THE CITY, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO MONETARY VALUE, BUT THE, THE, THE LEVY, OBVIOUSLY THAT'S BEHIND US.
IT'S BREACHED, YOU KNOW, I GUESS, THANK GOODNESS THAT'S THERE.
OR, OR WE'D BE, WE'D EVEN HAVE MORE WATER PUSHING UP INTO OUR PROPERTY.
SO, BASICALLY, I UNDERSTAND, I DON'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF STANDING EXCEPT TO GET A LAWYER, AND I DON'T KNOW THAT WE'RE GONNA DO THAT, BUT, UH, JUST FELT LIKE IT'S AN ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED, THAT THESE PEOPLE COME IN AND THESE DEVELOPMENTS CAN SIT THERE AND PLOP WHATEVER THEY WANT DOWN.
WE'VE TALKED WITH P AND Z, THERE'S NO HELP THERE.
UH, THE, THE, THE PROPERTY OWNERS AND, AND THE SUPERVISOR, THERE'S NO HELP THERE.
HE GOES, YEP, THERE'S A PROBLEM.
HE GOES, BUT IT'S NOT COMING FROM ME.
I SAID, OKAY, WELL, IT'S NOT COMING FROM YOUR PROPERTY.
EXACTLY, BUT YOU STOPPED THE FLOW OF WATER COMING ACROSS.
SO AT LEAST I WANTED TO GET ON RECORD.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE CAN GO FROM HERE.
I HOPE YOU GUYS CAN SOMEHOW COME UP WITH SOME KIND OF PLAN FOR THE COUNTY THAT THESE, THESE DEVELOPERS THAT ARE COMING IN WITH ALL THE CONCRETE AND ALL THE STUFF THAT ARE CHANGING THE FLOW CAN DO WHATEVER BASICALLY THEY WANT.
AND THEN WE'RE LEFT HOLDING THE BAG.
SO, UM, I MEAN, THAT, THAT'S ALL I GOT.
I MEAN, I, I JUST WOULD APPRECIATE IF, IF Y'ALL CONTINUE TO, UH, TO KIND OF ADDRESS THAT ISSUE.
AND I'M, THAT'S WHY WITH WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE, ALL THE ADDITIONS, WE KNOW ALL THIS IS FLOWING DOWNSTREAM.
WE, I KNOW IN HIGHLAND OR IN, UH, HIGH POINT RANCH, ALL THE, THE, THE LEVY BREACHES THAT ARE DOWN THERE.
IS THERE ANYBODY ELSE THAT WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE COURT ON ANY COUNTY MATTERS? SEE YOU NO ONE.
[2. Presentation/Discussion of Countywide drainage/flood areas, and all related issues; (Judge New)]
ITEM NUMBER TWO, PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION OF COUNTYWIDE DRAINAGE SLASH FLOOD AREAS, AND ALL RELATED ISSUES.[00:05:01]
HERE, SO TAKE, TAKE IT AWAY.TELL US WHO YOU ARE AND, AND WHAT WE'RE ABOUT TO SEE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME THIS MORNING AND FOR ALLOWING US TO COME SPEAK.
WE BAUM, I'M A VICE PRESIDENT WITH P DAWSON ENGINEERS.
UM, AND, UH, I HAVE ABOUT 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE DOING, UH, CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECTS, MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS FOR CITIES AND COUNTIES, UH, IN THE DFW AREA.
THAT'S HAS BEEN MY FOCUS AREA.
UH, A LOT OF MY WORK HAS BEEN IN STORM WATER, UH, DESIGN CHANNELS, UH, BORROW DITCHES, CULVERTS, BRIDGE CROSSINGS, PIPE SYSTEMS. UM, AND ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO, I SAT IN HERE ON A SOIL WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT WORKSHOP.
AND AFTER THAT MEETING, I VISITED WITH, WITH JUDGE NEW ABOUT SOME OF THE COUNTY ISSUES THAT HE HAD BROUGHT UP DURING THAT MEETING.
UM, AND SOME OF THE FLOOD RISKS THAT ARE OCCURRING BECAUSE OF CITIES THAT ARE OPERATING AS LITTLE ISLANDS IN THE COUNTY DEVELOPMENT COMING IN.
THINGS LIKE JOHN HAD HAS JUST TALKED TO YOU ABOUT, UM, SOME OF THE FLOODING ISSUES.
AND WE TALKED ABOUT HOW DO YOU, HOW DO YOU ASSESS THAT HOLISTICALLY ON A COUNTYWIDE, UM, UM, METHODOLOGY.
AND ONCE YOU'VE ASSESSED IT, WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT IT? HOW DO YOU ADDRESS IT? IS IT THROUGH, UH, RESOLUTIONS OR DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS, GUIDANCE FOR, FOR DEVELOPERS AND HOMEOWNERS? UM, COULD BE WORKING WITH CITIES ON, UH, PARTNERING.
THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF WAYS TO ADDRESS IT ONCE WE KNOW WHAT IT IS.
BUT THE POINT OF THIS IS TO TALK ABOUT FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT.
WHAT TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE AND, AND HOW CAN WE DO THAT IN AN ECONOMIC, UH, FASHION? AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE HERE TO TALK ABOUT.
UM, AND SO BY, WE PATE DAWSON ENGINEERS IS WHO WE ARE.
WE ARE A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES ENGINEERING FIRM.
ACTUALLY, THIS IS OUR 60TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR.
SO WE'VE BEEN AROUND FOR A LITTLE WHILE IN NORTH TEXAS.
WE HAVE A LITTLE OVER 220, UH, ENGINEERS, UH, PROFESSIONALS, UH, THAT SERVE THIS AREA COMPANY-WIDE.
YOU CAN SEE ON THE, ON THE MAP, WE ARE ACROSS TEXAS, THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.
WE HAVE ABOUT 2000, APPROACHING 2000, UH, TOTAL, UH, EMPLOYEES ACROSS, UH, ACROSS THE, UH, SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.
UM, OUR, WE'VE ALWAYS STRIVED TO BE A STABLE, UH, CONSISTENT AND RELIABLE FIRM IN THE WAY THAT WE APPROACH OUR ENGINEERING SERVICES AND THE SERVICES WE PROVIDE.
WE ALSO HAVE A MISSION STATEMENT THAT'S PRETTY SIMPLE.
UH, WE WANT TO BE THE MOST RESPECTED ENGINEERING AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM IN OUR GEOGRAPHIC AND TECHNICAL AREAS OF PRACTICE.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT WE DO EVERY DAY.
AND THAT'S THE REASON WHY THE, UH, ENGINEERING NEWS RECORD IS CONSISTENTLY RATING US AS ONE OF THE TOP FIRMS IN TEXAS.
WE HAVE A, A GREAT LEGACY AND A GREAT HISTORY, UM, OVER OUR 60 YEARS.
UM, THE SERVICES THAT WE PROVIDE ARE PRETTY BROAD.
THIS IS A, A LIST OF SOME OF THE SERVICES THAT WE, THAT WE CAN PROVIDE HERE, MOST NOTABLY IS THE DRAINAGE AND HYDROLOGY PORTION.
THAT'S WHAT WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT TODAY.
UH, BUT WE DO A BROAD RANGE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECTS, WATER WASTE, WATER, TRANSPORTATION, AVIATION.
YOU SEE A, A LIST THERE OF QUITE A FEW TOPICS.
WE ALSO DO THAT WORK AS A COMPANY FOR MANY OF THE CITIES AND COUNTIES IN THIS GEOGRAPHIC AREA.
OUR PERSONAL RES RE RESUMES ARE BROADER EVEN THAN THIS.
WE'VE, WE'VE SPENT OUR CAREERS IN THIS AREA, UH, AND WE UNDERSTAND THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH METROPLEX AREA.
THIS IS THE NORTH TEXAS DRAINAGE TEAM.
WE USED TO HAVE EVERYBODY IN THE COMPANY ON THIS ONE SLIDE, BUT THERE'S TOO MANY NOW.
WE HAVE 75, OVER 75, UH, DRAINAGE PROFESSIONALS, UH, ACROSS THE COMPANY.
UM, AND TWO OF THEM ARE HERE WITH ME TODAY.
UH, ON THE FAR RIGHT OF THE SCREEN, YOU SEE LONNIE ANDERSON, HE'S, UH, REALLY OUR PRACTICE LEADER, UH, IN, IN, UH, STATEWIDE.
HE HAS OVER 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE.
HE'S DONE FORENSIC FLOOD STUDIES, FLOOD ANALYSIS.
UH, HE'S, HE'S DONE MANY, UH, STATE, UH, UH, REGIONAL WIDE ANALYSIS FOR VARIOUS COUNTIES, CITIES, AND THE STATE.
AND WE'RE GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT.
UM, HE'S ALSO EXCITED TO SHARE SOME OF THE TOOLS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO HIM TODAY THAT MAKE FLOOD ANALYSIS, FLOOD STUDIES, UH, A LITTLE MORE AFFORDABLE AND A LITTLE MORE EFFICIENT IN PUTTING THEM TOGETHER FOR LARGE AREAS THAT WE COULDN'T HAVE DONE IN THE PAST.
UH, AND THEN ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SCREEN, YOU SEE ZUBIN, HE IS OUR, UH, MANAGING VP HERE IN THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH AREA.
UH, HE'S THE STATEWIDE, UM, LEAD FOR THE DRAINAGE TEAM.
[00:10:01]
HE'S GOT, UH, EXPERIENCE WITH A LOT OF THE SOFTWARE THAT WE USE TODAY, XP SWIM, HEGRA, HEGRA, TWO HMS, ALL OF THOSE SOFTWARE PROGRAMS. UH, HE'S GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT.AND HE'S ALSO GONNA SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF THE WORK THAT HE'S DONE, UH, HERE LOCALLY IN FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT AND EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS FOR COMMUNITIES TO, TO ALERT, UM, CREWS, UH, FLOODING AREAS THAT ARE ABOUT TO FLOOD IN ADVANCE OF FLOODING SO THEY CAN PRE-POSITION, UH, IN REAL TIME.
SO THOSE ARE KIND OF SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF WHAT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT TODAY.
BUT I'D LIKE TO, UH, I'D LIKE TO INVITE ZUBIN TO COME UP AND SHARE WITH US, UH, FIRST SOME OF THE INFORMATION, UH, BEFORE WE DIVE IN.
UM, THANK YOU FOR HAVING US HERE, UH, JUDGE AND COMMISSIONERS.
SO, UH, BEFORE WE DIVE IN, NO PUN INTENDED, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WATER HERE, SO FIGURED I'D GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF HUMOR.
I'M THE MANAGING SBE FOR PAP DAWSON ENGINEERS.
I'VE BEEN HERE WITH PAP DAWSON FOR ABOUT EIGHT YEARS, UH, 21 YEARS IN THE METROPLEX IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.
UM, PRETTY MUCH MY ENTIRE ADULT LIFE, I SHOULD SAY.
SO, UM, I'VE GOT A LOT OF STORMWATER MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE DEALING WITH PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, I HELP WITH THE LAND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.
I HELP WITH TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.
IN FACT, MY FIRST THREE OR FOUR YEARS AT MY PREVIOUS FIRM WAS DOING THAT.
UH, AND SINCE THEN, I'VE GRADUATED TO, UH, HELPING CITIES AND COUNTIES DO A LOT OF, UH, CITYWIDE AND COUNTYWIDE FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENTS, EVEN HELPED FEMA WITH CITYWIDE, I MEAN, COUNTYWIDE, UH, UH, MAPPING, UH, ACTIVITY STATEMENTS, MEANING REMAPPING OF YOUR, UH, YOUR FEMA, FLOOD PLAINE MAPS AND THAT KIND OF STUFF.
SO, A LOT OF BROAD RANGING EXPERIENCE.
BUT TODAY I'M GONNA FOCUS ON SOME OF THE RECENT STUFF WE'VE BEEN DOING AT PAP DAWSON.
AND, BUT BEFORE WE GET INTO THAT, WHICH IS WHAT LONNIE'S GONNA TALK ABOUT, I WANNA SET THE STAGE FOR LIKE, WHY WE'RE EVEN HERE, RIGHT? AND WHAT WE SEE WHEN WE, WE HAVE THESE KINDS OF DISCUSSIONS WITH, UH, WITH, UH, UH, POTENTIAL, UH, CLIENTS.
SO WHEN YOU THINK OF A FLOOD RISK, RIGHT, YOU SEE A WARNING THAT COMES UP.
YOU, IT'S EITHER ON YOUR PHONE, IT'S EITHER ON THE NEWS, UH, NEWS CHANNEL, WHATEVER.
YOU SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS THAT POPS UP AND YOU LOOK AT IT AND SAY, OH, OKAY, THAT'S A LOT OF RAIN COMING, RIGHT? SO SOMETHING SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'RE SEEING TODAY, RIGHT? UH, THIS IS JUST A MAP OF THE CITY OF FOURTH WARD BECAUSE SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN DOING FOR THE CITY OF FOURTH WARD FOR A WHILE.
SO, UH, I DON'T HAVE SOMETHING SIMILAR FOR, UH, ROCKWELL COUNTY.
BUT GENERALLY THE IDEA IS THAT WE'VE GOT FEMA FLOOD.
SO, UH, THE EXPECTATION OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS, HEY, I'M OUTSIDE OF FEMA, MAPPED FLOODPLAIN AREA, SO I'LL BE OKAY.
RIGHT WHEN I'M SEEING THE STORM, I'LL BE OKAY.
BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT'S NOT THE CASE, RIGHT? WHEN A HUGE STORM HAPPENS, SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS, THESE ARE JUST PICTURES FROM ACROSS THE STATE.
THERE'S DALLAS IN THERE, THERE'S HOUSTON IN, THERE'S SAN ANTONIO AND, AND WHATNOT.
SO, UH, YOU SEE A LOT OF FLOODING.
DO YOU SEE ANY, EXCEPT FOR THE ONE PICTURE, BUT THAT HOUSTON IN IT, WHERE THERE'S THE BAYOU, THERE'S NOT A LOT OF CREEK FLOODING THAT'S HAPPENING.
IT'S ALL HAPPENING IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS.
AND WHAT CAN WE DO BETTER? I MEAN, REALISTICALLY, AFTER THE STORM HAS OCCURRED, THAT'S THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SCREEN.
WE CAN ACTUALLY GO AND INVESTIGATE WHAT HAPPENED, WHAT ARE THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE PROBLEM, AND ANALYZE IT.
WE, WE, WE DO THAT A LOT FOR A LOT OF OUR CLIENTS.
UH, ONCE A RAINSTORM HAS HAPPENED, THE RIGHT SIDE IS THE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM, AND YOU CAN DEPLOY BOTH SYSTEMS ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR FLOOD RISK IS.
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IN ALL OF THIS IS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR FLOOD RISK IS BEFORE YOU CAN GO DOWN THIS FORK IN THE ROAD OF WHAT
[00:15:01]
HAPPENED, AND HOW CAN I DO BETTER BEFORE A STORM HAPPENS? SO HERE'S KIND OF A MAP THAT SHOWS YOU WHERE THE FEMA FLOOD PLANE IS.THIS IS WHAT'S MAPPED BY, UH, FEMA.
THEY TYPICALLY START AT A ONE SQUARE MILE DRAINAGE AREA.
SO ANYTHING WITH LESS THAN A ONE SQUARE MILE DRAINAGE AREA IS NOT MAPPED FOR YOU.
HOWEVER, YOU CAN SEE IN THE ORANGE, THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF FLOOD RISK, MEANING THERE'S FLOODPLAIN ON PROPERTIES, ROADS, AND ALL KINDS OF COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS OUT THERE.
SO THOSE FOLKS WHO ARE IN THOSE ORANGE AREAS, WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM? THEY DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THEIR FLOOD RISK IS, NEITHER DO YOU.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE SOME, HOW DO YOU DETERMINE THE ORANGE AREAS? SO THERE ARE SOME.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT.
THAT'S THE NEXT STEP, IS HOW DO WE GET TO THAT ORANGE AREA AND WHY? SO THERE ARE TWO FLOOD RISK ZONES, RIGHT? THERE'S THE FEMA FLOOD RISK ZONE, THE STUFF THAT YOU SAW IN BLUE, AND THE NON FEMA, WE CALL IT THE URBAN FLOOD RISK ZONE AREAS.
AND REALLY, WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT, YOU KNOW, I'LL JUST TOGGLE THROUGH THESE, BUT BASICALLY, THE FEMA FLOOD RISK ZONE IS AN INSURANCE PRODUCT.
IT'S DEVELOPED BASED ON EXISTING HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS OR WHENEVER THAT FEMA FLOODPLAIN MAP WAS PREPARED 10 YEARS AGO, 15 YEARS AGO, 20 YEARS AGO.
THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THEN IN A VERY, UH, DYNAMIC AREA LIKE DFW AND ESPECIALLY ROCKWELL COUNTY.
UH, THEY HAVE SOME RIVERINE FLOOD RISK AREA.
SO IF YOU'RE IN A ZONE AE YOU'RE AT HIGH RISK.
IF YOU'RE IN A FLOOD AWAY, YOU'RE A HIGH RISK.
UH, BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL THAT ORANGE AREA THAT WAS OUT THERE, RIGHT? THAT'S NON-REGULATORY.
NOBODY ACTUALLY KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON.
AND HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY MAP IT? IT'S NOT ALSO EASILY AVAILABLE.
YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO SPEND THE MONEY.
FEMA DOES THIS ON A FEDERAL LEVEL, BUT BEYOND THAT ONE SQUARE MILE, WITHIN THAT ONE SQUARE MILE, YOU'VE GOTTA SPEND THE MONEY TO ACTUALLY DO IT.
SO, UM, WHY IS THIS EVEN IMPORTANT? BECAUSE 60 TO 70% OF FEMALE CLAIMS HAPPEN INSIDE THOSE ORANGE AREAS IN THAT ONE SQUARE MILE AREA.
OVER THE LAST 60 YEARS, A LOT OF THE CITIES, COUNTIES HAVE DONE A GOOD JOB OF KEEPING DEVELOPMENT OUTSIDE OF THOSE BLUE ZONES.
BUT ALL THIS AREA THAT IS UNMAPPED, WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT FLOOD RISK IS.
AND DEVELOPMENT HAS OCCURRED OVER THERE.
SO THIS IS A, THIS IS JUST A STATISTIC THAT IS PREDOMINANTLY, UH, UBIQUITOUS ACROSS THE NATION.
SO WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO? YOU WANT TO GO FROM A HIGH RISK, LOW REWARD SCENARIO TO A HIGH REWARD, LOW RISK SCENARIO.
MEANING YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOUR FLOOD RISK IS AND WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT.
THIS IS JUST FROM THE CITY OF FOURTH WARD'S WEBSITE.
YOU CAN SEE THAT ALMOST 70% OF THEIR CLAIMS, INCLUDING REPETITIVE LOSS CLAIMS, MEANING CLAIMS. WE KNOW THAT THESE PEOPLE HAVE FLOOD INSURANCE, AND THEY HAVE CLAIMED A LOSS ONCE, AND THEN THEY'VE CLAIMED A LOSS A SECOND TIME DURING THE COURSE OF HAVING THEIR MORTGAGE OR THAT FLOOD INSURANCE.
AND 70% OF THEM ARE, UH, OUTSIDE IN THAT, UH, NON FEMA URBAN FLOOD RISK AREA.
SIMILAR NUMBERS ACROSS HARRIS COUNTY.
THIS IS HARRIS COUNTY NUMBERS.
UM, BUT YOU SEE THAT 60% OF FEMA CLAIMS, THIS IS ALL ACROSS THE NATION OVER THE PAST 40 YEARS, HAVE BEEN OUTSIDE OF THE A HUNDRED YEAR BLUE ZONE AREA.
YOU'LL SEE THE BLUE AND THE, AND THE PINK.
THE BLUE IS THE FEMA MAP FLOODPLAIN.
THE PINK IS, YOU KNOW, THE AREA THAT IS OUTSIDE.
AND YOU SEE ALL THE RED SPECKLINGS.
THAT'S ALL THE FLOOD CLAIMS THAT HAPPENED IN HARRIS COUNTY, UH, DURING HURRICANE HARVEY.
YOU CAN SEE HOW MANY THERE WERE OUTSIDE THAT BLUE AREA.
THIS IS WATER TRYING TO GET TO THE CREEK.
SO IT'S ACTUALLY FLOODING FOLKS ALONG THE WAY BEFORE IT ACTUALLY EVEN MAKES IT TO THE CREEK.
AND THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING OVER HERE.
IT'S NOT UNCOMMON TO, TO FIND A LOT OF FLOODING HAPPENING OUTSIDE THIS AREA.
SO WHAT CAN, WHAT KIND OF SOFTWARES ARE AVAILABLE THAT CAN ACTUALLY GET YOU THAT ORANGE AREA? RIGHT? SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
SO THERE'S PLENTY OF SOFTWARES OUT THERE, UH, UNTIL RECENTLY.
THE, THE, THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE I'M, I'M GONNA FOCUS ON IS HERA VIRGIN 6.7.
IT'S BASICALLY A US ARMY CORE SOFTWARE.
ALL OUR DEVELOPER ENGINEERS USE IT.
UH, ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY KNOWS HOW TO USE IT.
IT'S, I CAN'T SAY IT ENOUGH, IT'S FREE.
UH, THE INFO WORKS, ICM AND XB SWIM ARE THE SECOND, I WOULD SAY, IN MY OPINION, ARE THE SECOND CLOSEST SOFTWARES IN TERMS OF THAT CAPABILITY.
UM, BUT THEY'RE SUPER EXPENSIVE AND THEY HAVE A VERY SMALL USE, UH, USER BASE.
SO IF YOU ACTUALLY CREATE A MODEL, THE ORANGE COLORED FLOODPLAIN WITH SOME OF THESE SOFTWARES, YOU'RE GONNA FIND VERY FEW PEOPLE AND ACTUALLY MAINTAIN THAT MODEL OVER TIME AND THEN ALSO USE IT OVER TIME.
SO THAT'S WHY WE THINK HERA VERSION SEVEN, 6.7, WHICH IS THE LATEST VERSION RIGHT NOW, IS THE BEST SOFTWARE TO USE FOR THIS STUFF.
AND FEMA USES IT AND IT BASICALLY ALLOWS YOU TO BRING ALL YOUR FLOOD RISK IN ONE, ONE PACKAGE.
AND UNTIL RECENTLY WE COULDN'T DO THIS, GUYS.
SO THIS IS, UH, THIS IS, THIS IS GOOD.
UH, OUR APPROACH IS SCALABLE AND LAYERED.
[00:20:01]
IS, AS YOU, THERE ARE THREE THINGS YOU NEED AS BASIC INFORMATION TO DO SOME OF THIS ANALYSIS.YOU NEED A GOOD TERRAIN, YOU NEED GOOD LAND USE COVER INFORMATION, AND YOU NEED GOOD GIS DATA, ALRIGHT? AND AS YOU GO FROM GOOD, BETTER, BEST, YOU GET BETTER PRODUCTS ON THE BACKEND AND THIS OFF, AND THE HERA CAN DO ALL OF IT.
AND, UH, IT'S, IT CAN DO REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU FALL ON THIS MATRIX, UH, YOU CAN DO, YOU CAN DO, UH, HEC RAS AND I'LL JUST GIVE YOU THE, THE RELEVANT LEVEL, UH, LEVEL OF INFORMATION OUT.
SO WHERE DOES ROCKWALL COUNTY AND SOME OF THE CITIES UNDER ROCKWALL, UH, COUNTY FALL? SO THE, I'VE KIND OF HIGHLIGHTED THE ORANGE AREAS.
THAT'S WHERE WE FALL RIGHT NOW IN ROCKWALL COUNTY.
WE'VE GOT VERY GOOD TERRAIN INFORMATION.
WE'VE GOT BUILDING FOOTPRINTS, UM, YOU KNOW, PARCEL BASE, LAND USE, PERCENT IMPERVIOUS COVER, ALL THAT IS AVAILABLE THROUGH COG.
AND THEN WE'VE GOT GOOD GIS INFORMATION.
THE ONLY THING THAT'S PROBABLY LACKING IS SOME STORM DRAIN INFORMATION, FLOW LINES, THAT KIND OF STUFF.
IT'S NOT, IT'S FINE IF WE DON'T, WE CAN APPROXIMATE THINGS AND WE CAN MOVE ON.
IN FACT, WHEN WE DID THIS FOR THE CITY OF FOURTH WARD, WE HAD 60,000 GIS, UH, FEATURES THAT WE WERE ABLE TO BRING IN VERY DETAILED, WHICH IS BASICALLY THE BEST COLUMN, BUT THERE WAS ALMOST 2000 GIS FEATURES THAT WE DID NOT HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON.
SO THEN WE WENT IN AND ACTUALLY DID SOME ANALYSIS, QUICK DESKTOP ANALYSIS TO ACTUALLY PLUG, PUT THAT INFORMATION IN, AND WE'LL SHOW YOU SOME RESULTS ON HOW THAT LOOKS.
SO WHERE DO THESE PRODUCTS COME IN? WHAT KIND OF PRODUCTS CAN YOU EXPECT AS YOU GO FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, FROM GOOD TO BETTER TO BEST? SO THE TEXAS BLE, UH, I DUNNO IF YOU'VE HEARD OF IT.
IT'S THE BASE LEVEL ENGINEERING.
TWDB HAS BEEN DOING IT FOR THE LAST, UH, THREE OR FOUR YEARS.
THEY'RE ACTUALLY IN THEIR SECOND CONTRACT PHASE NOW, OR WILL BE SOON.
AND THEY'VE DONE A TEXAS WIDE URBAN, KIND OF A RURAL URBAN FLOOD RISK MODELING.
IT'S AT 500, UH, 500 FOOT CELL.
UH, WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT RECOMMENDING THAT FOR Y'ALL.
WE TYPICALLY WANT TO GO DOWN TO 35 FOOT LEVEL.
UM, AND THEN YOU, WHEN YOU GO TO GOOD, YOU'VE GOT COUNTY WIDE MAPPING THAT WE'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN.
HEY, TUBMAN, EXPLAIN THAT TO ME.
IS THAT WHAT, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? RIGHT? SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE RESOLUTION OF THE DATA.
P PIXELS FOCUS PIXELS FOUR D VERSUS, THERE YOU GO.
YES, I ASSUME THAT, BUT I THOUGHT, MAN, IT'S DANGEROUS FOR ME TO ASSUME.
I I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LIKE FOR YOU.
YEAH, PIXELS BASICALLY, AND JUST, YEAH, IF YOU WERE LOOKING AT DOT PER INCHES AT A IMAGE, YOU KNOW, UH, A HIGH RESOLUTION 12 MEGAPIXEL IMAGE IS GONNA GIVE YOU BETTER QUALITY THAT YOU CAN ZOOM INTO MORE THAN A THREE MEGAPIXEL OF THE SAME PICTURE, RIGHT? SO THAT'S THE SAME THING.
WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING FOR MORE DETAIL.
UM, UH, GOOD WOULD BE COUNTYWIDE LEVEL STUFF THAT WE'VE DONE ALREADY FOR HARRIS COUNTY AND FORT BEND COUNTY, CORPUS CHRISTI, STORMWATER MASTER PLAN.
STORMWATER MASTER PLAN IS SOMETHING WE WENT IN A LITTLE BIT BETTER INTO THE BETTER CATEGORY.
AND THEN YOU CAN DO BEST, WHICH IS THE CITY OF FOURTH TOWARDS URBAN FLOOD RISK THING.
THIS THING IS VERY DETAILED, HAS ALL THE DETAIL THAT YOU CAN POSSIBLY NEED, AND IT'S VERY SKILLED AND LAYERED.
SO IF, LET'S JUST SAY NEW TERRAIN COMES IN, YOU CAN TAKE THE TERRAIN OUT THAT WE ACTUALLY DEVELOPED THESE MODELS TWO OR THREE YEARS AGO AND SLIDE THE NEW TERRAIN IN.
NEW LAND USE COMES IN, TAKE IT OUT, SLIDE THE NEW LAND USE IN, YOU KNOW, NEW DEVELOPMENT HAPPENS, NEW FILL, NEW CUT, NEW REGIONAL DETENTION PONDS, WHATEVER.
YOU CAN SLIDE ALL OF THAT STUFF IN.
YOU DON'T HAVE, AND JUST RERUN THE MODEL.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO RESET THE WHOLE THING.
SO IT'S A VERY SCALED AND LAYERED APPROACH.
ULTIMATELY, THIS IS JUST A QUICK MAP OF WHAT THE LESSONS LEARNED ARE FOR US.
WE'VE DONE THIS ALL ACROSS THE STATE.
UH, OUR MOST RECENT BEING THE CITY OF FOURTH WARD, ONE THAT WE JUST WRAPPED UP IN LAST, UH, FEB, I THINK APRIL, 2024.
UH, BEING LOCAL MATTERS, UNDERSTANDING YOUR LOCAL HYDROLOGY HYDRAULICS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THERE ARE NUANCES TO EVERYTHING THAT WE DO ACROSS THE STATE.
HARRIS COUNTY IS NOT THE SAME AS ROCKWELL COUNTY.
BUT WE KNOW HOW TO WORK OUR MODELS TO, TO GET THE RIGHT ANSWER.
EVERYTHING IS SCALABLE AND BASICALLY GIVES YOU A PACKAGE THAT YOU CAN THEN TAKE AND GIVE TO A DEVELOPER ENGINEER OR GIVE TO A TRANSPORTATION ROADWAY THAT'S COMING THROUGH AND SAY, HEY, I'VE GOT THIS MODEL.
YOU CAN MAKE IT BETTER BECAUSE NOW YOU'RE LOOKING AT THIS PARTICULAR CROSSING, BUT LET'S START WITH THIS.
AND OBVIOUSLY FOR CITIZENS, UH, TO UNDERSTAND THEIR FLOOD RISK ON THEIR PROPERTY, IF THERE'S A NEW DEVELOPMENT COMING IN, YOU CAN ACTUALLY PULL UP THAT DEVELOPMENT IN AND ACTUALLY SEE THE IMPACTS DOWNSTREAM AND UPSTREAM.
UH, ONE OF THE BIG THINGS IS WHEN YOU BLOCK FLOW, THERE'S UPSTREAM IMPACTS TOO.
SO YOU'VE GOTTA MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T CREATE UPSTREAM IMPACTS.
EVERYTHING IS, UH, RIGHT THERE IN A, UH, MODEL.
SO YOU CAN ACTUALLY LOOK AT IT.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'S SITTING ON A SHELF.
YOU CAN HAVE SOME OF YOUR, UH, LOCAL H AND H ENGINEERS HELP YOU WITH THAT.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY YOU CREATE TRUST WITH THE, WITH THE PUBLIC.
[00:25:01]
UH, WE FOUND IN MANY SETTINGS THAT WHEN WE HAVE MODELS THAT, UM, PROVIDE RESULTS THAT DON'T RESONATE WITH THEM, THEY HAVEN'T SEEN IT ACTUALLY HAPPEN IN THE FIELD, OR WHEN IT RAINS, THEY LOSE TRUST AND THEN THEY START DISTRUSTING THE WHOLE PRODUCT.AND WHAT WE'VE DONE IS WE'VE CREATED THESE MODELS THAT ACTUALLY ALL ACROSS THE CITY OF FOURTH WARD, 950 SQUARE MILES, WE'VE DONE THIS AND ALL WE'VE GOT IS COMPLIMENTS ON, OH YEAH, THAT'S ACTUALLY WHAT'S HAPPENING ON MY, ON MY, ON MY PROPERTY.
THE WATER'S COMING IN THROUGH THE ROAD, JUMPING THE CURB, GOING ACROSS THE FRONT YARD, GOING BETWEEN THE, THE, THE, THE SIDE DITCH THAT'S BETWEEN THE TWO HOMES GOING TO THE NEXT ALLEY AND GOING DOWN THIS WAY.
YES, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS.
AND WE'RE ABLE TO CAPTURE THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL VERY QUICKLY ON A HOLISTIC SCALE.
SO THAT REALLY MAKES, UH, THE PUBLIC TRUST PART OF IT, MAKE, IT, MAKES IT EASIER FOR THEN YOU TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP, WHICH IS WHAT GETTING A CIP OR IS ADDING A PLAN IN, UH, IN PLACE BECAUSE YOU NOW KNOW WHAT YOUR TRUE FLOOD RISK IS AND IT'S ACCURATE.
SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA PASS IT OFF FOR THE DEEP DIVE TO LONNIE, AND HE IS GONNA TALK ABOUT ALL THE NITTY GRITTY STUFF.
IS THIS THE APPROPRIATE TIME TO ASK A QUESTION? ABSOLUTELY.
ONE OF YOUR SLIDES, YOU INDICATED THE NON FEMA URBAN AREA MM-HMM
YOU, YOU USE THE PHRASE IS CURRENTLY NON, NOT, NOT CURRENTLY REGULATORY.
WHAT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? SO, UM, CURRENTLY FEMA REGULATES THROUGH THE NFIP PROGRAM, THE FLOOD PLAIN.
UH, THAT IS, YOU KNOW, THAT THEY HAVE THE BLUE AREAS, YOU KNOW, THESE AREAS RIGHT HERE MM-HMM
THE BLUE AREAS THAT YOU SEE, UH, THERE ARE FEMA FEDERAL RULES IN PLACE FOR YOU TO, FOR FOLKS TO, UH, ACTUALLY DO ANY DEVELOPMENT INSIDE THOSE BLUE AREAS, INSIDE THESE ORANGE AREAS BECAUSE THE MAP STOPS.
THERE IS NO FEDERAL PERMITTING PROCESS TO PREVENT OR REGULATE, I WOULD JUST SAY REGULATE DEVELOPMENT.
YOU WANT DEVELOPMENT, YOU JUST WANT IT TO BE SUSTAINABLE, SCALABLE, PRACTICAL, AND RESILIENT IN THE LONG TERM.
YOU, SO THAT'S, THAT'S THE PART OF THE REGULATORY IN THE NON, OKAY, SO THERE'S NO FEDERAL REGULATORY, NO FEMA.
BUT WHAT ABOUT US? UM, DO WE HAVE, IF LET'S SAY THAT THIS WAS A MAP OF ROCK WALL COUNTY, YES.
WOULD WE HAVE THE AUTHORITY STATUTORILY AS A COUNTY TO MAKE SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS THAT WOULD PROHIBIT DEVELOPMENT IN THE NON FEMA FLOODPLAIN AREAS? TECHNICALLY, YES, WE DO.
YOU WOULD HAVE TO CREATE DRAINAGE CRITERIA AND YOU WOULD HAVE TO KNOW WHAT THAT ORANGE AREA LOOKS LIKE.
BUT IF WE DID THAT, THEN WE COULD LEGALLY SUSTAINABLY IN COURT PASS RULES THAT SAY WITHIN THOSE AREAS YOU CAN'T BUILD.
AND LONNIE WILL ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT, HE'S ACTUALLY DEVELOPED THE CRITERIA MANUAL ON HOW WITH, WITH THESE COMPLEX MODELS, DON'T GET ME WRONG, THESE ARE COMPLEX MODELS, BUT FOLKS CAN USE KNOW HOW TO USE THEM.
THESE DEVELOPED CRITERIA ON HOW DEVELOPER ENGINEERS CAN COME IN AND USE THAT MODEL TO FOSTER GOOD, YOU KNOW, PRACTICES IN DEVELOPMENT WHILE, YOU KNOW, PRESERVING THESE NATURAL WATERWAYS AND PREVENTING OTHER PEOPLE FROM BEING IMPACTED FROM WHATEVER DEVELOPMENT THAT IS COMING.
AND THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, RIGHT? WE DON'T WANT OTHERS TO BE NEGATIVELY IMPACTED, ADVERSELY IMPACTED.
RIGHT? AND THESE GIVE YOU THE TOOLS TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT, RIGHT? OF COURSE, YOU CAN THEN CREATE REGULATIONS, UH, BASED ON THAT INFORMATION.
BECAUSE, UH, OF COURSE ALL THE REGULATIONS WE HAVE AND THAT YOU TYPICALLY SEE ARE ALL TIED TO FEMA A HUNDRED YEAR FLOOD PLAIN, CORRECT? CORRECT.
AND THAT'S WHERE THE BLUE AND THE ORANGE BOUNDARY IS.
AND THEN BEYOND THAT, IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FLOOD RISK IS, HOW DO YOU REGULATE TO ANYTHING? OKAY, THANK YOU.
I'M EXCITED FROM THE CONVERSATIONS WE'VE HAD AND EVERYTHING I'VE HEARD SO FAR, BECAUSE THIS IS MY PASSION IS DRAINAGE AT THIS SCALE.
I AM, I MIGHT SOUND A LITTLE FUNNY.
I CAME FROM UP NORTH ABOUT 30 YEARS, 20 SOMETHING ODD YEARS AGO.
GREW UP IN NEBRASKA, GUY HERE AS QUICK AS I COULD, LEARNED THAT IT'S MUCH BETTER TO SWEAT THAN SHIVER.
SO A LOT OF THESE QUESTIONS THAT YOU GOT, I'M HOPING THAT I'LL IMMERSE YOU IN IT, PUN INTENDED ON THAT.
SO AS WE TALKED, I'VE DEVELOPED A LOT OF WHAT I'M CALLING INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES.
IT'S COME FROM NOT HAVING AVAILABILITY OR THE CAPABILITY TO USE SOME OF THESE MORE EXPENSIVE
[00:30:01]
MODELS THAT IT JUST, THE CLIENT CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY IT.WE CAN'T AFFORD TO TRAIN PEOPLE HOW TO WORK WITH IT.
AND THEN ONCE YOU BUILT SOMETHING, THEY COME OUT WITH A NEW VERSION OF THE SOFTWARE AND THEY WANNA CHARGE YOU ANOTHER $30,000 A YEAR TO KEEP DOING THIS.
SO I'VE LEARNED HOW TO DO A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT THEY DID IN HECK, THE SOFTWARE FREE SOFTWARE BEFORE THEY ACTUALLY BECAME ABLE TO DO THE 2D MODELING AS THE CORE WAS BUILDING THE MODEL.
I WAS A BETA TESTER FOR 'EM FOR ABOUT FOUR YEARS, HELPING FIND THE BUGS AND EVERYTHING BEFORE IT ACTUALLY CAME OUT.
SO I HAD A KIND OF A STEP UP ON EVERYBODY ONCE IT HIT THE, THE PUBLIC STREET THAT I ALREADY KNEW HOW TO USE.
A LOT OF THIS, THE SOFTWARE AS ZUMA MENTIONED, IS IF THEY'RE A DRAINAGE ENGINEER, THEY HAVE USED IT, THEY'VE LEARNED IT IN SCHOOL, EVERYTHING.
SO IT'S NOT AN UNFAMILIAR PRODUCT.
WHAT I REALLY LIKE IS ALL THE OTHER ADD-ONS THAT YOU CAN DO.
I MEAN YOU CAN BUY THAT BASE MODEL AND JUST KEEP ADDING ON THINGS WITH NOW WITHOUT A LOT OF ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT.
IF YOU GET MORE DATA, QUICKLY SHUFFLE THAT IN.
IT'S NOT RECREATING THE WORLD.
WE CAN DO FLOOD WARNING STUFF.
WE CAN DO THE POST STORM FORENSIC STUFF, WHICH IS THE STUFF THAT I REALLY ENJOY OR GET SATISFACTION OUT OF IS AFTER AN EVENT I'VE GONE THROUGH, CREATED A MODEL, I RUN THAT MODEL AND I REPLICATE WHAT HAPPENS.
THAT IS WHERE YOU REALLY LEARN THE MODELING SKILLS TO REPLICATE WHAT'S TRULY HAPPENED BECAUSE NOW YOU HAVE A MODEL THAT ACTUALLY MIMICS NATURE AND WHEN YOU CHANGE SOMETHING, IT'S GONNA SHOW YOU WHAT YOU'VE DONE THAT'S GOING TO CAUSE EITHER A BENEFIT OR AN IMPACT THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN.
SO THIS, THIS FEEDS EVERYTHING INTO IT.
WE CAN DO EROSION MITIGATION STUFF, DAM BREACH ANALYSES.
I PUT TOGETHER A QUICK MODEL LAST NIGHT BEFORE I WENT TO BED JUST TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A DEMONSTRATION OF IT.
AND ONE THING THAT I NOTICED WAS THE AMOUNT OF DAMS THAT YOU GUYS HAVE OUT HERE THAT I WOULD THINK THAT THAT IS A CRUCIAL THING THAT YOU'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO USE.
WE CAN ALSO DO SOME SEDIMENT TRANSPORT STUFF.
YOU'D ASKED ABOUT THE CELL SIZE.
THIS IN A NUTSHELL IS WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THESE 2D MODELS.
EACH ONE OF THOSE WAFFLE SQUARES IS A CELL.
SO WE'RE DUMPING RAINFALL INTO IT.
THAT VOLUME FILLS UP TO A CERTAIN LEVEL AND IT SPILLS INTO THE NEXT ADJACENT CELL.
SO THIS MAY BE A 5,000 SQUARE MILE 2D CELL.
WE WOULD DO SOMETHING THAT'S IN THE A HUNDRED TO 35 UM, FOOT CELL SIZE FOR ROCK WALL SO THAT YOU GET THAT FINE DETAIL.
AND THEN THE WAY HECK RAZ WORKS TOO IS IT ACTUALLY HAS THE TRAIN UNDERNEATH OF IT.
SO YOU'RE ACTUALLY COUNTING EVERY SQUARE FOOT OF VOLUME THAT'S IN THAT CELL.
AND SO IT'LL SHOW YOU THE LITTLE TRICKLES OF WATER THROUGH THE LITTLE RIVERINE AREAS AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
STORM SEWER CAPACITY HAS BEEN LACKING IN OR STORM SEWER MODELING CAPABILITIES.
IT'S BEEN LACKING IN A LOT OF THESE SOFTWARES FOR A LONG TIME.
I'VE DEVELOPED A WAY TO DO IT WHERE I CAN QUICKLY MIMIC THE EFFECT OF STORM SEWER WITHOUT GOING THROUGH ALL THAT LABOROUS EFFORT OF PUTTING IT INTO THE MODEL.
HECK, GRASS HAS THE CAPABILITY TO PUT THE STORM SEWER IN THERE, BUT WE DON'T WANT TO DO THAT AT THIS POINT FOR, WHAT YOU WANT TO DO IS GET A COUNTYWIDE MODEL THAT GIVES YOU VERY GOOD REPRESENTATION OF WHAT THE FLOODING IS GOING ON AND THE MODEL WILL RUN IN SAY UNDER AN HOUR.
ONCE YOU START PUTTING STORM SEWER IN, YOU GOT INLETS, YOU GOT MANHOLES, YOU GOT THE PIPES.
THAT'S JUST ADDING SIX LAYERS OF COMPLEXITY TO THE MODEL.
AND THAT MODEL NOW TAKES 20 HOURS TO RUN.
IN ALL MY TESTING THAT I'VE DONE WITH THIS, THE RESULTS ARE PLUS OR MINUS FOUR INCHES DIFFERENT BETWEEN ONE HOUR RUN THAT GETS ME REALLY CLOSE TO AN ANSWER OR A 24 HOUR RUN THAT NAILS YOU DOWN FOR DESIGN PURPOSES THING.
SO WHAT I'M ESSENTIALLY DOING IS GETTING THE PIPE SIZES, ESTIMATING THEM AND KIND OF CUTTING A TRENCH AT THE GROUND LEVEL.
SO IF IT'S A 48 INCH PIPE, I'M MAKING A LITTLE FOUR FOOT DEEP, FOUR FOOT WIDE CUT IN THE GROUND SO THAT I KIND OF REPRESENT THE FLOW AREA OF THAT PIPE.
I'M GETTING THAT WATER NOW TO FLOW DOWNHILL.
AND SO AS WE GO THROUGH IT, WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS NOW WE CAN REFLECT THE STREET FLOODING.
I CAN REFLECT THE SHEET FLOW PATTERNS AND THE RIVERINE FLOODING ALL IN ONE MODEL.
THE HYDROGRAPH THAT YOU SEE IN THE RIGHT HAND CORNER THERE, THAT'S THE STAGE.
HYDROGRAPH D ORANGE IS WHAT THE GAUGE READ AND THE BLUE IS
[00:35:01]
WHAT MY MODEL SAID.I'M REPLICATING WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE NATURE BOTH TIME AND PEAK STAGE VERY WELL WITH THIS METHOD.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN SEE THE DOTS THAT ARE UP THERE, BUT THOSE ARE FLOOD CLAIMS THAT HAVE HAPPENED.
SO THE TWO IMAGES ON THE LOWER LEFT, THOSE ARE SHOWING YOU FLOOD FLOODED STRUCTURES THAT HAPPEN FROM WATER TRYING TO GET TO THE CHANNEL.
IT'S NOTHING THAT FEMA WOULD EVER MAP, BUT WE CAN SHOW, HEY, YOU GOT FLOODED BECAUSE TWO HOUSES DOWN OR THE TWO ADJACENT HOUSES TO YOU, THEIR BACKYARD'S DRAINED TO YOURS AND COME THROUGH YOUR FRONT YARD AND MAYBE YOU BUILT A FENCE OR A LANDSCAPING THING THAT YOU DIDN'T REALIZE ALL THAT WATER WAS COMING THERE AND IT BACKED UP TO YOUR PATIO.
WE CAN GET DOWN TO THAT LEVEL.
I CAN GET, I CAN MAKE THESE MODELS SO DETAILED THAT I COULD MOVE THE POTTED PLANT FROM ONE SIDE OF MY PATIO TO THE OTHER AND IT'LL SHOW A DIFFERENCE IN WATER SURFACES.
YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THAT, BUT YOU COULD IF YOU DID.
SO ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT MAKING SURE YOU HAVE A ACCURATE MODEL IS OUR ABILITY TO ACTUALLY BRING IN THE RADAR DATA AND RUN THAT RAINFALL GOING THROUGH THERE SO THAT WE CAN SEE EXACTLY WHERE THE RAIN FELL AND AT WHAT INTENSITIES AND VOLUME IT FELL.
A LOT OF PLACES HAVE RAIN GAUGES A COUPLE MILES APART.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED IN BETWEEN THERE.
IT COULD HAVE BEEN TWO INCHES OVER HERE, FOUR INCHES OVER HERE AND THERE WAS AN EIGHT INCH DOWNPOUR IN BETWEEN.
WITH THE RADAR DATA WE CAN CAPTURE THAT AND WE GET MUCH BETTER MODELS THAT WE CAN TRUST IS WHAT'S HAPPENING.
THE OTHER GREAT THING ABOUT IT IS THAT WE CAN, WHOOPS, WE CAN CREATE FLOW PAY TRACINGS THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE HOW THE FLOW IS GOING CONVEYING THROUGH THERE IS THAT PLANE.
WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE HOW THE FLOW IS GOING THROUGH THESE COMPLEX AREAS THAT WHEN YOU ZOOM IN YOU CAN SEE WHERE THE DIVERSIONS ARE HAPPENING THAT THAT HIGH GROUND IS CAUSING THE FLOW TO SPLIT AND COME AROUND AND HOW IT DOES, I THINK IT ZOOMS IN HERE IN A SECOND AND YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THAT FLOW.
THESE ARE GREAT TOOLS FOR WHEN YOU'RE PRESENTING THINGS TO THE PUBLIC TOO THAT A PICTURE'S WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.
YOU CAN SHOW THEM HOW THAT WATER'S MOVING THROUGH WITH THIS SOFTWARE, I CAN QUICKLY GO IN AND ADD A LEVEE AND SHOW WITHIN MINUTES MINUS THE TIME THAT IT TAKES THE MODEL TO RUN.
I CAN THROW IN A LEVEE AND SAY, OKAY, YOU'RE GONNA PREVENT THIS FLOODING, BUT THAT VOLUME OF WATER THAT WENT THERE HAD TO GO SOMEWHERE AND IT'S GOING ACROSS THE ROAD OVER TO THIS SITE.
AND THAT'S WHERE THAT IMPACT'S COMING FROM.
SO YOU CAN ACTUALLY DESIGN NOW TO PREVENT THE DAMAGE AND MITIGATE FOR WHERE YOU WOULD, YOU BASICALLY MOVED THE PROBLEM SHEET FLOW, THE UNMAPPED FLOOD RISK, WHICH IS THOSE AREAS THAT THE FEMA FLOOD MAPS AREN'T SHOWING BECAUSE THEY'RE LARGELY DEVELOPED WITH A ONE DIMENSIONAL MODEL THAT THE ENGINEER CAME UP WITH THE FLOWS, HOWEVER THEY CAME UP WITH IT AND THEY TOLD THE MODEL EXACTLY WHERE THOSE FLOWS CAME FROM, WHERE THEY'RE GOING INTO THE MODEL AND WHAT DIRECTION THAT GOES.
THE ENGINEER CAN OVERRIDE NATURE WITH A BAD ASSUMPTION AND SAY IT'S GOING THAT WAY OR OR THEY CAN START WITH THE OUTPUT THEY WANT AND WORK BACKWARDS.
THE, WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS IS IT TAKES A LOT OF THE LOAD OFF OF ME THAT I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT GOOD OR BAD ASSUMPTIONS.
THE MODEL'S TELLING ME WHAT'S HAPPENING BASED ON PHYSICS.
SO IN THIS EXAMPLE HERE, THERE'S TWO FLOODING SOURCES.
THERE'S A FLOODPLAIN, UH, I DON'T THINK YOU CAN SEE MY MOUSE.
SO THERE'S A FLOODPLAIN THAT'S KIND OF ALONG THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN THERE AND COMING FROM THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER THAT IS ONE FLOODING SOURCE AND THEN YOU GOT THE LARGE FLOODING SOURCE FEMA MAPPING IS WHAT'S SHOWN IN THE BLACK LINES THERE.
WHAT WE WERE ABLE TO SHOW WITH OUR MODELING WAS THAT THERE WAS A HUGE SHEET FLOW UNMAPPED FLOOD RISK WHERE WATER ACTUALLY GOT UP HIGH ENOUGH FLOWED ACROSS THAT ROAD AND HEADED NORTH ACROSS WHAT WAS PROPOSED TO BE A NEW SUBDIVISION GOING THERE THAT WITHOUT THIS MODELING, THE FEMA 1D WOULD NEVER HAVE SHOWN YOU THAT, THAT IT WAS TAKING ALL THE FLOW TO THE MAIN CHANNEL, BUT IT WASN'T ABLE TO SHOW YOU THE LATERAL FLOW THAT'S GOING OUT.
CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION? MM-HMM
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THE ONE ON THE RIGHT.
AND THE BLACK LINES IN THERE, YOU SAY ARE FEMA MAPPING? YEAH, THAT'S WHERE THE FEMA SAID THAT THE, THAT FLOODPLAIN EXISTED.
AND IS THAT WHAT OCCURS UPON A HUNDRED YEAR EVENT THAT THAT WAS CONSIDERING A HUNDRED YEAR RAINFALL? YES, A HUNDRED YEAR EVENT.
[00:40:01]
I SEE A LOT OF BLACK LINES.WHERE IS THE, THE FLOODING YOU SHOW, IS IT THIS? SO THE BLUE IS WHAT MY MODELING IS SHOWING.
SO THE BLUE THAT IS OUTSIDE OF THE BLACK, THAT'S THE UNMAPPED FLOODING AND AND WHAT'S THE BIG VERT VORTEX THAT COMES IN FROM THE LEFT? LIKE A TRIANGLE? OH, THAT'S JUST SHOWING YOU THIS, THE SQUARE THAT'S ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE IS A ZOOM IN OF THE PICTURE THAT'S ON THE LEFT.
SO, SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE PICTURE THAT'S ON THE LEFT, THAT BLUE SPLOTCH, THAT DOESN'T HAVE ANY BLACK AROUND IT, THAT'S A ZOOM IN PICTURE THAT ONE, THAT IS THE OVERFLOW THAT'S HAPPENING FROM THE CHANNEL THAT'S ALONG THE, THE BOTTOM EDGE OF THE SCREEN.
AND SO IN THE, IN YOUR MODEL ON THE OCCURRENCE OF A HUNDRED YEAR EVENT, SAME A HUNDRED YEAR EVENT THAT FEMA'S LOOKING AT, RIGHT? YES.
THE FLOODING WOULD GO WHEREVER THAT LIGHT BLUE IS OUTSIDE THE BLACK? CORRECT.
SO YOU'RE NOT, LIKE I SAY THE, THE FEMA IS ALL ONE DIMENSIONAL GOING ONE DIRECTION AND AND WHAT CONSTITUTES FLOODING THERE? I MEAN, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT, AND, AND I I'M JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND THIS.
SO WILL YOU SAY, WELL THAT AREA OUTSIDE THE BLUE IS FLOODING.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? ONE INCH, TWO INCH? UH, IT, IT VARIES.
IN THIS CASE, EVERYTHING THAT I'M SHOWING IN THE CYAN BLUE COLOR UHHUH IS GREATER THAN A HALF A FOOT OF DEPTH.
GREATER THAN A HALF A FOOT? YES.
SO IN THAT AREA, I WANNA SAY IT WAS FROM A HALF A FOOT TO TWO TO THREE FEET DEEP GOING ACROSS THAT AREA.
AND, AND IS WHAT, WHAT JUST HOW WOULD THAT MATCH UP TO WHAT FEMA USES TO DETERMINE A HUNDRED YEAR FLOOD? DO THEY SAME HALF A FOOT OR WHAT DO THEY USE? THEY'RE, IT DEPENDS ON WHAT MUNICIPALITY HAS TAKEN THOSE MAPS, BUT TYPICALLY FEMA MAPS THE A HUNDRED YEAR OUT TO A 10TH OF A FOOT DEEP AND THEN THE 500 YEAR IS ANYTHING THE RAINFALL WAS GREATER THAN A HUNDRED YEAR.
BUT THERE ARE AREAS THAT CONSIDER, THEY CALL IT THE SHADED ZONE X THE DEFINITION OF A SHADED ZONE X IS THE 500 YEAR OR AREAS OF THE A HUNDRED YEAR THAT ARE GREATER THAN A HALF A FOOT OF DEPTH.
BUT A LOT OF PLACES DON'T MAKE THAT DEVIATION.
SO YOU SAID THE FEMA LOOK A HUNDRED YEAR LOOKS AT A 10TH OF A FOOT.
SO DOES THAT MEAN THEY MAP EVERYTHING OUT TO A 10TH OF A FOOT? SO THAT WOULD MEAN WITH ANYTHING WHERE YOU'RE 1.2 INCHES IN WATER FLOODING WOULD BE WITHIN THE A HUNDRED YEAR Y TWO AGAIN.
SO WHEN THEY DO THEIR ONE DEMEN, THEY DRAW A CROSS SECTION ACROSS THE CHANNEL THAT'S KIND OF LIKE A, A BULL SHAPED UHHUH
AND THEN WHEN THAT WATER GETS UP TO ON THE EDGES OF THE BOWL WHERE IT'S WITHIN ZERO TO A 10TH OF A FOOT DEEP, SO THEY DO A LOT OF CLEANUP 'CAUSE YOU GET A LOT OF IRREGULARITY.
SO THEY LET YOU SMOOTH OUT THINGS IN THAT 10TH OF A FOOT ON THE EDGES.
SO THAT, THAT'S KINDA WHAT CONTROLS THE FEMA.
AND AGAIN, IT'S, AND IT'S A VERY APPROXIMATION TYPE MODELING.
I I SURE I'LL GIVE YOU THAT, BUT I'M JUST TRYING TO SEE.
SO THE SINE BLUE COLOR, I LIKE THAT TERM SINE BLUE.
UM, BUT IN THAT, IS THAT THE SAME STANDARD FOR YOUR MODEL? DO YOU TAKE IT TO, UH, 10TH OF A FOOT WHEN YOU COME UP WITH THESE MAPS? YEAH, I HAVE ALL OF THE DETAILS TO GO ALL THE WAY OUT TO ZERO.
BUT WHEN YOU DO ON, ON THIS MODELING, I'M NOT ASSIGNING A THE FLOW INTO THE MODEL.
I'M LETTING THE RAINFALL ON THE GROUND WORK ITS WAY TO THE CHANNEL AND THEN THE CHANNEL CONVEY IT DOWNSTREAM.
SO IF I SHOWED IT AT ZERO DEPTH, THE WHOLE AREA IS BASICALLY YOU GOT EVERYTHING HAD WATER FALLING ON IT.
I WANT TO SEE THE AREA, THE DEPTH THAT I'M WORRIED ABOUT WILL START CAUSING FLOODING, WHICH IS GENERALLY THAT HALF A FOOT RANGE.
AND, AND I'M GOING BACK TO MY EARLIER QUESTION.
IF WE WERE TO TRY AND INCORPORATE YOUR MODELING DATA MM-HMM
AND CREATE, UH, REGULATIONS BASED ON THAT, I WOULD THINK ONE CRITICISM WE WOULD GET IS IF WE WEREN'T USING SIMILAR STANDARDS TO WHAT FEMA DOES, THAT WE WERE KIND OF JUST CREATING OUR OWN LITTLE STANDARDS.
AND ARE THOSE, CAN, ARE THOSE GONNA BE DEFENSIBLE? DEFINITELY DEFENSIBLE.
AND IT'S, AGAIN, FEMA DOESN'T, THEY DON'T PROJECT BACK UP INTO THE, THEY WORRY ABOUT THE FLOW THAT GOT IN THE CHANNEL AND HOW THE CHANNEL FLOODED OUT.
[00:45:01]
60 TO 70% OF THE REASON PEOPLE FLOOD IS THE WATER TRYING TO GET TO THE CHANNEL, FLOODED THEM AND TAKES THAT INTO CONSIDERATION.AND THEN WE CAN TAKE, SO YOU GOT THE FEMA, THE REGULATORY FEMA MODEL, WHICH IS LARGELY IF YOU GOT A MORTGAGE THAT'S INSURED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, UHHUH
WE CAN DO THIS THAT REPLACES ALL OF THAT MAPPING AND MAKES IT IN SYNC THAT WE CAN MAP IT UP TO A 10TH OF A SQUARE MILE TYPE THING.
AND THEN DOES, DO YOU HAVE, DOES THE FEMA MAP OR YOUR MODEL SHOW HOW LONG THE WATER REMAINS? THE FEMA MAP DOESN'T? MINE DOES.
I CAN CLICK ON THERE AND TELL YOU, OKAY, IT GOT UP A FOOT DEEP, BUT IT ONLY LASTED FOR 15 MINUTES OR IT WAS UP THERE FOR THREE DAYS AT THAT LEVEL THOUSAND.
THE FEMA DOESN'T NO, IT'S ALL STATIC.
IT, IT'S JUST, IF IT GETS THERE, IT'S IN THE FLOOD PLAIN.
RIGHT? THEY'RE DOING PEAK ON PEAK ON PEAK.
SO THEY'RE SAYING, ALL RIGHT, YOU HAD A HUNDRED CFS COME IN FROM THAT FIRST SQUARE MILE.
YOU HAD 300 FROM THAT NEXT AND A THOUSAND.
THEY PUT ALL OF THOSE FLOWS INTO THE MODEL AT THE EXACT SAME TIME.
WELL THAT A THOUSAND CFS PROBABLY DIDN'T HAPPEN UNTIL HOUR 12 OF THE STORM WHERE THAT A HUNDRED HAPPENED AT HOUR THREE.
BUT THEY'RE SAYING THEY ALL HAPPENED AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME, WHICH IS KIND OF THAT TWO WRONGS MAKE A RIGHT.
THEY'RE NOT CAPTURING ALL THAT DETAIL.
SO THEY'RE GOING ON THE VERY CONSERVATIVE SIDE, BUT BECAUSE THEY'RE LACKING A LOT OF THAT DETAIL, IT GIVES THEM A LITTLE COMFORT LEVEL IN TERMS OF HOW HIGH THE WATER CAN GET.
AND THEY DO DO SOME MODEL CALIBRATIONS AGAINST HISTORIC STORMS TO SHOW THAT THEY'RE REASONABLY REPRESENTING WHAT HAD HAPPENED PREVIOUSLY OUT THERE.
SO I, I JUST HAVE A QUICK QUESTION JUST TO MAKE SURE MM-HMM
SO YOU'VE GOT THE FEMA REGULATORY MODEL.
IT SUPPORTS OR ADDRESSES, I THINK THE COMPLIMENTARY DATA THAT YOUR SYSTEM AND MODEL CAN PROVIDE OR I GUESS WOULD BE ABLE TO MODEL, RIGHT? SO FROM A DEFENSIBLE STANDPOINT, I THINK AS COMMISSIONER TI WAS TALKING ABOUT, FEMA WOULD SUPPORT YEAH.
WHAT YOUR, SO WE HAVE DONE, I HAVE DONE, WE CALL IT MAP NEXT IN HARRIS COUNTY, WHERE AFTER HURRICANE HARVEY, FEMA CAME IN AND SAID, LOOK, YOU HAD 150,000 HOMES THAT FLOODED OUTSIDE THE FLOODPLAIN.
WE NEED TO UPDATE THE MODELS, GAVE US MONEY.
AND I WAS ABLE TO CONVINCE THE COUNTY WE NEED TO DO THIS RIGHT? AND WE DID IT WITH 1D 2D MODELING.
SO THE CHANNELS REPRESENTED IN 1D AND EVERYTHING IN THE OVER BANKS IS 2D.
THAT WAS BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE THE TOOLS WE HAVE TODAY, BUT IT GREATLY IMPROVED THE ACCURACY OF WHAT'S GOING ON OUT THERE.
AND FEMA HAS ACCEPTED, WE'RE GETTING THE FINAL STEPS.
WE WERE DONE WITH THE MODELING IN 2020 AND IT'S TAKEN FIVE YEARS FOR FEMA TO FIGURE OUT WHAT COLOR THEY WANT THE LINES TO BE AND EVERYTHING ELSE ON THIS, IT IT, IT'S FRUSTRATING THAT BY THE TIME YOU GET THROUGH THE FEMA PROCESS, THE MAPS ARE ALREADY OUTDATED BECAUSE OF THE SO MUCH DEVELOPMENT'S HAPPENED OUT THERE.
BUT LIKE I SAY, WHAT, AND I CAN SHOW SOME EXAMPLES OF THINGS THAT THE, THIS IS A GREAT TOOL AS WELL TO CHECK THE FEMA MAPS BECAUSE THERE'S BEEN DOZENS OF TIMES THAT I'VE RAN THIS MODEL AT A VERY CRUDE LEVEL AND SEEN SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT THE FEMA MODEL SHOWED.
AND THEN WHEN YOU DIG INTO THE FEMA MODEL, YOU REALIZE IT'S THINGS LIKE THIS THAT THEY DIDN'T RECOGNIZE THAT THERE WAS A BIG DIVERSION OF FLOW FROM THIS WATERSHED TO THAT OTHER WATERSHED AT THAT LOCATION.
AND ONCE YOU PUT THAT IN, IT'S LIKE, OKAY, THE MODELS WOULD'VE HAD, WOULD'VE JIVED IF THEY WOULD'VE RECOGNIZED THAT.
THE OTHER GREAT THING ABOUT USING MY APPROXIMATION TOOL FOR THE STORM SEWER SYSTEMS IS THAT I CAN QUICKLY GO IN AND GIVE YOU AN ANSWER OF, OKAY, THIS IS AN AREA THAT FLOODS AND IT WOULD TAKE SAY A 72 INCH PIPE DOWN THE STREET TO HELP ALLEVIATE THAT FLOODING ISSUE.
LIKE I SAID BEFORE, THE MODEL DOESN'T HAVE THE DETAILS FOR A DESIGN LEVEL ANALYSIS, BUT I CAN GET A CLOSE APPROXIMATION OF WHAT IT NEEDS.
SO WE CAN GO THROUGH, ALL RIGHT, 72 INCH PIPE FOR A MILE, THAT'S COST BENEFIT, COST RATIO.
DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO DO THIS PROJECT? YES.
OKAY, LET'S TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL AND DO A DESIGN LEVEL ANALYSIS.
I CAN TAKE AND JUST QUICKLY DELETE THOSE TRENCHED LINES THAT I BURNED IN AND ACTUALLY PUT IN THE STORM SEWER, PUT IN THE INLETS, PUT IN THE MANHOLES, ADD THAT DETAIL AND RUN THE MODEL.
I'M NOT RECREATING A WHOLE NEW WORLD, I'M JUST SUPPLEMENTING THAT DATA AND QUICKLY TRADING OUT INFORMATION, WHICH IS GREAT.
AGAIN, IT WENT FROM RUNNING IN AN HOUR OR LESS TO RUNNING
[00:50:01]
FOUR OR FIVE HOURS DEPENDING ON HOW BIG OF AN AREA YOU DID.BUT YOU GET ALL THAT DETAIL, YOU KNOW WHERE THAT INLET NEEDS TO BE, YOU KNOW, IF IT NEEDS TO BE A FIVE FOOT OR A 10 FOOT SPAN, YOU GET ALL OF THAT INFORMATION.
AND IT MAY BE ONCE YOU COME THROUGH AND YOU DO THAT, THAT THAT 72 INCH PIPE, I THOUGHT IT WAS, WAS REALLY A 66 OR MAYBE IT TURNED INTO AN 84, BUT IT'S WITHIN ABOUT A HALF A PIPE SIZE OR SO WITH COMFORT LEVEL.
SO ONCE YOU'VE DONE ALL OF THIS, LIKE I SAID, WE GOT, YOU DO THE RAIN ON GRID AND YOU GOT FLOODING DEPTH EVERYWHERE OUT THERE, ESSENTIALLY YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THAT 10TH OF A FOOT EVERY TIME IT RAINS, YOU GOT A HALF AN INCH OR AN INCH OF WATER RUNNING THROUGH YOUR YARD.
YOU'RE NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT.
YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT ONCE IT STARTS TO GET CONCENTRATED IN A DEPTH OF SIX INCHES OR SO.
SO WE CAN FILTER THAT DOWN, GET IT TO WHERE WE'RE SHOWING THE DEPTHS GREATER THAN SAY SIX INCHES AND IT'S STILL REALLY SPOTTY AND SPECKLY.
THAT'S, THERE'S JUST TOO MUCH CLUTTER FOR THE CITIZENS TO QUICKLY RECOGNIZE WHAT IS HAPPENING, WHAT IS TRUE AND WHAT'S NOT.
SO WE'VE DEVELOPED KIND OF A SIX STEP PROCESS THAT WE GO THROUGH WHERE WE REDUCE THE NOISE, GET RID OF A LOT OF THE SPECKLES, WE'LL IMPROVE THE WORKABILITY OF IT, FILL IN SOME OF THE, THE HOLES THAT ARE IN THE MAPPING, SMOOTH IT OUT, SIMPLIFY THINGS.
NOW IT'S A MUCH SMALLER FILE SIZE TO WORK WITH THAT YOU CAN LOAD IT ON YOUR WEBSITE AND QUICKLY REPLICATE, EXCHANGE THAT INFORMATION.
THE GOALS OF IT ARE TO MAKE IT EASY AND FRIENDLY TO WORK WITH FOR THE CITIZENS TO RECOGNIZE WHAT'S GOING ON.
I THINK THERE MIGHT BE SOME, SO BASICALLY GO GO FROM THIS KIND OF CHECKERBOARD LOOKING THING TO SMOOTHED IN.
MAYBE YOU DON'T LIKE BLUE, YOU LIKE ORANGE.
WE CAN CHANGE THAT COLOR HOWEVER YOU WANT.
WHEN WE DID THIS FOR FORT WORTH, I WANNA SAY IT FELT LIKE SIX MONTHS OF OUR TIME WAS SPENT, HEY, CAN YOU MAKE IT LOOK LIKE THIS? CAN YOU CHANGE THIS? WE DON'T WANNA SEE THE TRENCH LINES UNDER THAT.
WE CAN MAKE IT VERY SPECIALIZED FOR WHAT YOU NEED TO HAVE COLOR-WISE AND EVERYTHING.
WE GOT PUT IT UP ON THEIR WEBSITE.
THEY HAVE THE, THE FLOOD RISK VIEWER THAT THE FORT WORTH.
IF YOU TAKE A PICTURE OF THE, WE CAN SHARE THAT LATER TOO.
THE OTHER IN HARRIS COUNTY, WHAT WE DID IS THEY'VE CREATED A DESKTOP OR A DASHBOARD THAT HAS ALL OF THIS INFORMATION LOADED IN.
WE CAN GO IN AND TYPE IN YOUR ADDRESS AND IT'LL PULL UP, ARE YOU IN OR OUTTA THE FLOODPLAIN? WHAT IS YOUR URBAN FLOODING RISK? WHAT IS YOUR PERCENT RISK OF FLOODING EACH YEAR? BECAUSE JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE IN THE A HUNDRED YEAR FLOODING, IT MAY BE YOU DON'T, IT'S NOT THAT 1%, OH, I ONLY HAVE A 1% CHANCE OF FLOODING EVERY YEAR.
NO, YOU'RE IN THE 1% FLOODPLAIN, BUT MAYBE YOU'RE SO CLOSE TO THE CHANNEL THAT YOU'RE REALLY IN THE 10 YEAR OR 10% FLOODPLAIN.
THEY DON'T, THAT INFORMATION'S NOT OUT THERE THAT PEOPLE CAN RECOGNIZE THAT HEY, THEY, THEY THINK A HUNDRED YEAR, 1%, NO, YOU'RE SO DEEP IN THE A HUNDRED YEAR THAT YOU REALLY HAVE A 50% CHANCE OF FLOODING TYPE THING.
THIS DASHBOARD WILL GIVE YOU THAT INFORMATION.
WHAT I'M WORKING ON RIGHT NOW, AND I'LL SHOW YOU AFTER WE'RE DONE HERE, SOME OF THE DETAILS OF THAT IS DOING THIS FULL URBAN MODEL WHERE I'VE PUT IN THE STORM SEWERS WITH THE TRENCHING AND EVERYTHING AND RUNNING A WHOLE RAIN ON GRID.
SO I GET ALL OF THAT INFORMATION, BOTH THE RIVERINE, THE URBAN FLOODING, ALL OF THAT, ALL IN ONE SINGLE PACKAGE.
WHAT DOES RIVERINE MEAN? IT'S THE FIRST TIME I'VE HEARD THAT PHRASE.
LIKE I SAID, ALL OF THE WATER HAS GOTTEN INTO THE CHANNEL ALREADY.
THEY'RE LOOKING AT HOW DOES THAT FILL UP AND SPILL OUT OF THE CHANNEL.
SO YOU GOT RIVERINE, WHICH THE PHDS, WHICH I'M NOT, THE PHDS WILL CALL IT FLUVIAL, WHICH IS THE, THE RIVERINE TYPE FLOODING.
THEN YOU GOT FLUVIAL, WHICH I REFER TO AS URBAN FLOODING, WHICH IS THE STREET SYSTEMS, THE WATER TRYING TO GET FLUVIAL AND P FLUVIAL.
MAN, MAN, YOU, YOU, YOU GUYS ARE JUST TRYING TO MESS PEOPLE UP.
THAT, THAT'S WHY I TRY TO CALL IT, I'M, I'M GONNA CHALLENGE EVERYONE TO USE THAT IN A SENTENCE.
UM, AREN'T WE GLAD, I MEAN WE'VE LEARNED SOMETHING TODAY.
SO, BUT, SO WE GOT THAT MODELING GOING ON AND I WAS TALKING ABOUT ALL THESE ADD-ONS THAT YOU CAN DO WITH THIS STUFF.
ONCE YOU'VE DONE THAT AND YOU HAVE A GREAT MODEL THAT REPLICATES YOUR TRUE EXISTING CONDITIONS, YOU CAN START DEVELOPING, OKAY, WE KNOW WE HAVE FLOODING ISSUES HERE.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO FIX THOSE? WE CAN TAKE YOUR DATA, WE CAN PUT IN THE COUNTYWIDE ANALYSIS THAT WE'VE DONE, MARRY THOSE TOGETHER, START LOOKING
[00:55:01]
AT EXISTING CONDITIONS FOR FIXING EXISTING PROBLEMS. LET'S SLIDE OUT WHAT EXISTING IS AND LOOK AT FUTURE CONDITIONS.YOU GOT A LOT OF AREA THAT'S NOT DEVELOPED YET.
THE BEST WAY TO GET AHEAD OF FLOODING IS TO PLAN FOR IT.
AND SO IF YOU, YOU GOT OPEN AREA AND I CALL IT KIND OF THE DRAINAGE THOROUGHFARE PLAN.
LOOK AT WHAT THINGS ARE GOING WHERE THEY WANT TO GO NOW AND MAYBE SET IT UP SO THAT WHEN A NEW DEVELOPMENT COMES IN, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WATERSHED, YOU TELL THEM, HEY, WE NEED A TWO OR 300 FOOT RIGHT AWAY THROUGH HERE FOR FUTURE DRAINAGE.
YOU DIG THE DITCH SO THAT THE NEXT GUY UPSTREAM OF YOU HAS A PLACE TO DRAIN HIS WATER SO THAT YOU DON'T BLOCK THEIR FLOW AND THEY HAVE A PLACE FOR THEIR WATER TO GO DOWNSTREAM.
AND SO YOU KINDA LAY OUT THAT CORRIDOR.
WE DO THAT IN HARRIS COUNTY A LOT AND IT'S KIND OF A, YOU NEED TO PICK UP THE FLOW AT YOUR PROPERTY LINE PLUS OR MINUS 50 OR A HUNDRED FEET AT THIS LOCATION, BUT HOW YOU WANNA MAKE IT THROUGH YOUR PROPERTY IS UP TO YOU.
SO THEY CAN MAKE IT AS ARTISTIC AS THEY WANT.
THEY JUST WANT TO HAVE IT TIED INTO SPECIFIC LOCATIONS DOWNSTREAM SO THAT AS FUTURE DEVELOPMENT COMES IN, THEY HAVE A WAY TO DRAIN THINGS IN AND IT'S ALREADY PLANNED FOR, 'CAUSE IT'S MUCH EASIER TO PLAN BEFORE DEVELOPMENT'S GONE IN, THEN TRY TO FIX A FLOODING ISSUE AFTER IT'S GONE IN.
SO THIS IS ALL KIND OF NEW INFORMATION THAT WE CAN GENERATE A GUIDANCE CRITERIA THAT HELPS BUILD, WE KNOW THE NET COGS DATA IS A LOT OF EVERYBODY'S VERY FAMILIAR WITH IT.
WE CAN USE THAT AS A RESOURCE AND TRY TO JUST ADD ADDITIONAL DETAILS AND REFER TO IT WHERE NEEDED.
WE CAN CUSTOMIZE IT FOR WHAT YOU NEED HERE SPECIFICALLY, WHICH SOUNDS LIKE YOU GOT A LOT OF UN MAPPED FLOOD RISK AND YOU'RE TRYING TO PREVENT FLOODING FROM HAPPENING BECAUSE SOMEBODY GOES IN AND BUILDS SOMETHING AND HAS BLOCKED A DRAINAGE WAY OR BLOCKED A SHEET FLOW PATH THAT IS NOT EASILY RECOGNIZABLE.
THIS WILL MAKE IT RECOGNIZABLE.
THE FUTURE DRAINAGE UTILITY IMPLEMENTATION.
WE DID SOMETHING WITH, UM, CORPUS CHRISTI WHERE AS THEY'RE COMING IN, THEY CAN START HELPING TO PAY FOR THESE DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, OR SETTING ASIDE HARRIS COUNTY, THERE'S SOME AREAS THAT AS DEVELOPMENT COMES IN, PART OF THEIR MITIGATION REQUIREMENT IS OFFSET BY THEM PROVIDING THE RIGHT OF WAY OR DIGGING THE DITCH THAT YOU NEED.
ULTIMATELY, I WAS THE FIRST, FROM WHAT I'VE BEEN TOLD, DEVELOP THE 2D GUIDANCE MANUAL FOR THE, IN THE US FOR HARRIS COUNTY.
FROM THE WORK THAT I WAS DOING WITH TESTING THAT, THAT MATERIAL, I PUT IT TOGETHER IN A QUICK AND UNDERSTANDABLE WAY.
I'M NOT, I TRY TO KEEP THINGS SIMPLE AND REPEATABLE THAT I DO A MODEL.
YOU GET ANOTHER DRAINAGE ENGINEER, THEY'LL DO IT THEIR OWN WAY, BUT AS LONG AS WE HAVE A GOOD SOLID MIDDLE WAY, THERE'S A LITTLE FUZZ ON THE SIDES THAT WE CAN MOVE AROUND ON HOW THEY THINK IS BETTER TO DO THINGS.
IT'S NOT A SET IN STONE TYPE THING, BUT YOU WANT A GOOD SOLID CORE TO IT.
THAT ACTUALLY BRINGS UP A QUESTION I I WAS GONNA ASK YOU LATER, BUT SINCE YOU MENTIONED IT, UM, HOW DO, HOW WELL DO OTHER ENGINEERING FIRMS ACCEPT YOUR MODELING AND AGREE TO IT? BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE, WE DON'T CONTRACT WITH P DAWSON.
UM, WE CONTRACT WITH ANOTHER FIRM FOR ENGINEERING OVERSIGHT.
AND DO OTHER FIRMS ACCEPT THIS? DO THEY CHALLENGE IT? WILL THEY WORK WITH IT? WHAT'S YOUR BEEN OF YOUR EXPERIENCE THERE? IT IS BECOMING MORE MAINSTREAM.
THE 2D MODELING, THE TRENCHING AND ALL OF THAT IS SOMETHING NEW THAT I'VE DONE IN THE LAST COUPLE YEARS, BUT I'VE TRAINED ENOUGH OF THE OTHER, I THINK MOST OF THE MAJOR BIG FIRMS ALREADY HAVE EITHER WORKED WITH ME OR UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM DOING.
BUT I'VE DONE THIS ACROSS THE STATE AND I'VE WORKED WITH, LIKE HOUSTON, I THINK EVERY ENGINEERING COMPANY'S GOT AN OFFICE THERE TYPE THING.
I DO GET QUESTIONS SOMETIMES NOT TO BRAG, BUT I USUALLY WIN THE DISCUSSION ON WHY I AM DOING IT AND CAN DEFEND WHY IT NEEDS TO BE DONE THIS WAY.
THAT, I MEAN, WE HAD A DISCUSSION JUST RECENTLY ON, PART OF THE THING THAT I DO WITH THE TERRAIN IS THAT I BRING IN THE BUILDING FOOTPRINTS AND I ELEVATE THEM UP SIX TO INCHES TO A FOOT TO BRING THEM UP OUT OF THE TERRAIN BECAUSE WHEN THEY DO THE LIDAR, THEY FLATTEN IT OUT AND TRY TO GET RID OF THE WHOLE BUILDING THING.
BUT THE WAY THAT THE END VALUE IS, THE ROUGHNESS VALUE IS
[01:00:01]
CALCULATED IN THE MODEL IS BASED ON HOW WET OR HOW MUCH OF THE LENGTH OF THAT WATER IS WITH THAT ROUGHNESS.WELL, IF YOU MOVE THE BUILDING OUT, YOU MIGHT HAVE HAD THIS LENGTH WITH A HIGH ROUGHNESS VALUE, BUT IN REALITY THAT BUILDING'S SET UP SO THERE WAS ONLY THIS MUCH AREA THAT THOUGHT WATER COULD FLOW.
AND IF YOU DON'T DO THAT, YOU'RE ALMOST QUADRUPLING HOW ROUGH YOU'RE TRYING TO TELL THE TERRAIN IS.
SO I DEFENDED THAT AND THEY'RE LIKE, OKAY, WE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT'S HOW IT WAS WORKING.
SO THAT IS WHAT, BUT I DON'T THINK THERE IS ANY RISK.
THE ONLY RISK THAT YOU WOULD HAVE IS WITH I THINK THE OLDER MA AND PAW TYPE FIRMS THAT HAVEN'T MOVED AWAY IN THE LAST 15 YEARS TO THIS NEW MODELING.
SO, SO THE SHORT ANSWER IS OTHER ENGINEERING FIRMS GENERALLY ACCEPT THIS MODELING STRATEGY AND YOU DON'T, WE WOULDN'T EXPECT A LOT OF PUSHBACK IF WE WANTED TO IMPLEMENT IT.
THE ONLY, THE PUSHBACKS YOU'LL GET IS THAT THIS MODELING IS GOING TO SHOW YOU A LOT MORE, THEY CALL 'EM IMPACTS, I CALL THEM CHANGES BECAUSE YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING THAT'S NOT GOING TO CAUSE A CHANGE IN HOW FLOW IS GOING.
I CHANGED HOW THE WATER WAS GOING AROUND THERE.
WAS IT AN ADVERSE IMPACT? NO, THAT COW PASTURE, THAT WATER WENT UP AN INCH FOR 15 MINUTES.
THAT URBAN AREA, THE WATER WENT UP AN INCH FOR 15 MINUTES AND IT WAS AT THE GUY'S DOOR SILL.
SO YOU GOTTA DIFFERENTIATE WHAT'S AN ADVERSE IMPACT AND WHAT'S A CHANGE.
UM, SO IN THIS MODELING THAT YOU DO, I'M SURE THERE'S BEEN DEVELOPER CHALLENGES.
HAVE ANY OF THOSE BEEN LITIGATED TO WHAT YOU CAN TALK ABOUT AND HAVE THEY BEEN SUCCESSFUL THROUGH THAT LITIGATION? I HAVEN'T EXPERIENCED ANY LITIGATION.
WE'VE, I'VE DONE A LOT OF DEVELOPER IMPACT STUDIES.
USING THIS, YOU'RE GOING TO END UP HAVING TO PUT IN A LOT MORE MITIGATION THAN WHAT THE OLD 1D DID BECAUSE THE 1D, YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE DOING CHANGES OUT THERE.
THIS IDENTIFIES AS ALL THOSE CHANGES AND IT TAKES A LOT MORE WORK TO MITIGATE THINGS.
SO HOUSTON, WE USED TO SAY AROUND A HALF AN ACRE FOOT PER ACRE OF DEVELOPMENT WAS WHAT YOU NEEDED FOR DETENTION.
NOW IT'S CLOSER TO PROBABLY THREE QUARTERS OF AN ACRE FOOT PER ACRE, AND YOU NEED TO MITIGATE THE SHEET FLOW CONVEYANCE IMPACTS THAT WE CAN NOW IDENTIFY THAT MAY BE JUST AS EASY AS PUTTING A LITTLE BAR DITCH AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF YOUR SITE.
TO GET THAT WATER TO GO BACK TO THE DIRECTION IT WAS GOING, INSTEAD OF IT NOT BEING ABLE TO GO THROUGH THE SITE, IT HAS TO GO AROUND THE SITE DEVELOPERS, PRO DEVELOPERS, I WOULD IMAGINE PROBABLY FIND THIS BETTER THAN THE VAGUENESS THAT EXISTS IN A LOT OF THIS TODAY.
AND NOT ALL DEVELOPERS ARE BAD.
AS LONG AS THEY'RE ALL TREATED THE SAME, THEY'RE WILLING TO PAY THE ADDITIONAL COST.
IT'S JUST THIS GUY DIDN'T HAVE TO PUT DETENTION.
WHY DO I DO? WELL, IF YOU CAN EXPLAIN, THEY WEREN'T, THEY WERE ON TOP OF THE HILL AND YOU'RE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL.
THAT'S, THERE'S TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.
BUT IF THEY'RE SIDE BY SIDE, IF THEY'RE BOTH HAVING TO COMPETE AGAINST THE SAME COST, THEY'RE FINE WITH THAT.
SO ZOOMIN WILL GO THROUGH A FEW OF THE APPLICATIONS AND THEN I GOT, LIKE I SAY, I GOT A FEW SLIDES AFTER THE END OF THIS THAT I CAN GO THROUGH WHERE I'VE PICKED UP ISSUES THAT THE 1D HAS SHOWN, AND THEN I CAN SHOW YOU THE MODEL THAT I PUT TOGETHER LAST NIGHT AND HOW IT COMPARES TO THE FEMA MODELING, WHICH SNEAK A PEAK.
I WAS SURPRISED AT HOW WELL I WAS ABLE TO KIND OF MATCH UP WITH THE FEMA MODELING WITH IS REPLICABLE MODEL AS I PUT TOGETHER.
AND HOW MUCH OF THAT AREA THAT YOU HAVE THAT IS ZONE A, WHICH YOU HAVE ZI ASSUME YOU WELL, I'M DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FEMA ZONE A AND AES ARE? I DO NOT.
SO FEMA ZONE AE IS A DETAILED FEMA MODEL THAT THEY'VE GONE IN AND THEY'VE DONE CROSS-SECTIONS, THEY'VE PUT IN THE FLOWS, THEY'VE COMPUTED THE WATER SURFACE ELEVATION.
YOU HAVE A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF YOUR AREA THAT'S DONE AS ZONE A.
THE WAY IT WAS EXPLAINED TO ME WHEN I WAS A KID GROWING UP WAS ZONE A WAS A RULE OF THUMB, WHICH THE ENGINEER PUT HIS THUMB ON THE MAP AND DREW A LINE AROUND THE OUTSIDE.
IT'S, THEY'RE BASICALLY, IT'S SOMEBODY IS APPROXIMATING WHAT THEY THINK IT IS, IT HASN'T BEEN MODELED.
THIS MODELING CAN REPLACE ALL OF THAT AND GIVE YOU ELEVATIONS ACROSS THE WHOLE COUNTY
[01:05:01]
THAT YOUR CITIZENS GONNA KNOW HOW HIGH THEY NEED TO BUILD UP TO BE ABOVE THAT FLOODING RISK, WHERE THE FLOODING IS COMING FROM AND WHERE IT'S GOING TO SO THAT THEY CAN AVOID BLOCKING IT OR BUILDING IN IT AND WORKING AROUND THOSE THINGS.JUDGE, CAN WE TAKE A LITTLE BREAK BEFORE WE SWITCH? YEAH.
IS IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU, LONNIE LUBIN.
LET'S TAKE A, UH, ABOUT A 10 MINUTE BREAK.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALLOWING THAT QUICK BREAK.
WE'LL RECONVENE INTO OUR WORKSHOP.
UM, ALL RIGHT, WE'RE IN THE HOME STRETCH.
WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE WRAPPING THIS UP.
SO I'VE GOT A FEW MORE SLIDES PROBABLY LIKE, IT LOOKS LIKE I'VE GOT 16 SLIDES TO GO, BUT THESE WILL BE PRETTY QUICK.
AND THIS KIND OF BRINGS IT ALL HOME.
THIS IS TRYING TO TALK ABOUT ONCE WE HAVE THIS FLOOD RISK IDENTIFIED, WHAT DO WE DO WITH NEXT? RIGHT.
AND WE TALKED ABOUT IT BRIEFLY, BUT LET'S, LET'S GO THROUGH SOME OF THAT.
SO, BENEFITS OF SOME OF THE 2D COUNTYWIDE FLOOD RISK MODELING.
UM, YOU CAN READ THROUGH ALL OF THIS, BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS IT CAPTURES A HUNDRED PERCENT OF YOUR FLOODPLAIN VOLUME.
WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS EVERY RAINDROP THAT FALLS OUT THERE IS CAPTURED BECAUSE YOU'RE CAPTURING IT ON THE TERRAIN AND IT'S A 2D MODEL.
SO YOU, YOU GET ALL OF IT CONCENTRATED, YOU KNOW, YOUR FLOOD RISK.
THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.
ONE OF THE BIG THINGS, WE WERE JUST HAVING A CHAT RIGHT NOW AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HOW FOLKS WHO ARE OUTSIDE IN THAT ORANGE AREA HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEIR FLOOD RISK IS.
AND IF THEY KNEW THEY POTENTIALLY COULD GET FLOOD INSURANCE AT A MUCH SUBSIDIZED RATE.
SO IF THEY WERE TO FLOOD, THEY WOULD ACTUALLY BE PROTECTED.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, FOLKS INSIDE THAT BLUE AREA, THE FEMA MAPS AND ALL THAT, OBVIOUSLY THEY KNOW THEIR FLOOD RISK, THEY GET THEIR FLOOD INSURANCES, BUT IT'S THE FOLKS OUTSIDE THAT WOULD HAVE NO IDEA.
SO THIS IS DEFINITELY IMPORTANT FOR CITIZENS AND, UH, BUSINESSES TO KNOW THAT, AND ULTIMATELY WE SCALE.
IT'S VERY SCALABLE FOR ALL, ALL THE OTHER USERS THAT ARE OUT THERE.
SO I'M GONNA GO THROUGH SOME OF THOSE USERS QUICKLY, QUESTION YOU ASKED, UM, WAS HOW DO YOU REGULATE DEVELOPMENT? SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THE CITY OF FORT WARD DID WITH OUR MODELS.
THEY'VE ACTUALLY, THEY CALLED IT CFRA.
SO THE ORANGE AREA IS CALLED THE CITYWIDE FLOOD RISK AREA AND THE PHWA, WHICH IS THE POTENTIAL HIGH WATER, HIGH WATER AREA.
AND BASICALLY WHAT THAT IS, IS THE CITYWIDE FLOOD RISK AREA IS THE DETAILED STORM DRAIN MODELING THAT THEY HAD THAT THEY WANTED US TO, UH, UH, RECREATE WITH OUR MODELING.
SO WE DID THAT, AND THAT WAS THE DETAILED MODELING, AND WE MATCHED UP REALLY CLOSE TO SOME OF THESE XP ISTREAM MODELS THAT YOU PAY 30, 40, A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS TO ACTUALLY DO ONE SQUARE MILE OR ONE AND A HALF SQUARE MILES TO DO, UM, THE PHWA IS BASICALLY THE CITYWIDE URBAN FLOOD RISK AREA, WHICH, YOU KNOW, LONNIE JUST TALKED ABOUT, WHICH WOULD SEE SOME SOMETHING SIMILAR OVER HERE.
SO THEY REGULATE THE CFRA BECAUSE THAT'S VERY DETAILED.
SO IT'S KIND OF GIVING YOU THE SAME LEVEL OF SCALE AND THE, THE, THE DETAIL THAT A FEMA MODEL PROBABLY HAS, AND THEREFORE THEY REGULATE TO IT.
SO THEY HAVE SOME REGULATIONS IN PLACE.
THERE'S THESE, YOU KNOW, WE ACTUALLY HELPED CREATE LIKE PAMPHLETS FOR THEM SO THAT THEY CAN SHARE IT WITH RESIDENTS AND THEN THEY CAN SHARE CERTAIN PAMPHLETS WITH DEVELOPER ENGINEERS.
SO THAT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAILED FOR THEM TO ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON.
AND THEN THE PHWA WAS AN ADVISORY AREA.
SO BASICALLY THE REST OF THE COUNTY, CITY WAS JUST AN ADVISORY.
HEY, YOU MIGHT HAVE SIX INCHES OF FLOODING, YOU MIGHT HAVE TWO FEET OF FLOODING.
YOU PROBABLY NEED TO TALK TO AN ENGINEER AND GET THIS FIGURED OUT.
WE HAVE SOME ROUGH MODELS FOR YOU.
NOW IT'S ON YOU TO ACTUALLY KNOW WE'VE NOTIFIED YOU.
SO CAN I ASK A SPECIFIC QUESTION? LET RIGHT DOWN TO THE SPECIFICS.
SO DO THEY IN THEIR CFRA STATE THAT YOU CANNOT BUILD IN AN AREA THAT'S IN THE CFRA OR YOU CAN'T CREATE A DEVELOPMENT THAT MOVE PUTS EXISTING HOMES OR RESIDENCES INTO A-C-F-R-A? THEY, THEY USE IT AS A WAY TO REGULATE, UM, SUSTAIN RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT.
SO FOR INSTANCE, THEY'VE GOT HOMES THAT ARE CURRENTLY FLOODING IN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE, THE CITY THAT ARE IN SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF CFRA.
THERE ARE VERY HISTORICAL HOMES.
UH, AND THERE ARE NEW DEVELOPER.
SO WHAT'S HAPPENING IS THIS HOLDER HOME IS GETTING COMPLETELY BOUGHT OUT, RAISED TO THE GROUND, AND NEW HOMES ARE COMING IN.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE NEW HOMES ARE NOT BEING RAISED TWO, THREE FEET, SO THAT THEY WOULD BE OUTSIDE THE, THE FLOODPLAIN THAT WE, THE FLOOD RISK THAT WE KNOW THAT ALREADY EXISTS AND THAT PREVIOUS HOMEOWNER HAS ALREADY BEEN FLOODED MULTIPLE TIMES.
[01:10:01]
ADVISORY THING? IT IS, LIKE RIGHT NOW WE SAY IN OUR REGULATIONS, YOU CANNOT BUILD AN IMPROVEMENT OR STRUCTURE IN A THE HUNDRED YEAR FLOODPLAIN.DO WHAT IF WE ADOPTED THIS AND SPENT THE MONEY AND WENT THROUGH THE EFFORT TO DO IT, I WOULD THINK IT WOULD MAKE SENSE TO SAY YOU CANNOT BUILD OR STRUCTURE OR A RESIDENCE IMPROVEMENT WITHIN THE ONE, WITHIN THE COUNTYWIDE FLOOD AREA.
WHICH IS BASED UPON THIS MODELING.
AND IS THAT WHAT THEY DO OR, AND OR IS THAT PERMITTED? THEY ARE ALLOWING DEVELOPMENT AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT CREATE AN ADVERSE IMPACT ON SOMEBODY ELSE.
SO THEY WILL ALLOW YOU TO REBUILD THAT HOME AS LONG AS IT'S ELEVATED ENOUGH OR FLOOD PROOFED.
WELL, WE'RE NOT REBUILDING A LOT.
WE'VE GOT MY PRECINCT, PRECINCT THREE IS THOUSANDS OF ACRES OF UNDEVELOPED LAND.
AND RIGHT NOW WE SAY YOU CAN'T COME IN AND DEVELOP THAT AND BUILD A HOUSE IN THE A HUNDRED YEAR FEMA FLOODPLAIN.
WHAT I'M THINKING IS, IF WE MOVED IN THIS DIRECTION, A LOGICAL THING MIGHT BE TO SAY, WELL, IF WE ADOPT THIS, YOU CAN'T BUILD A HOUSE OR A STRUCTURE WITHIN THE CFRA FLOODPLAIN BASED UPON YOUR MODELING.
AND THAT MAY NOT BE THE CORRECT TERM, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.
AND IS THAT GOING TO BE ENFORCEABLE? YES, IT IS ENFORCEABLE IF YOU DO IT BY ORDINANCE AND CODE.
THE QUESTION IS, DO YOU WANT TO BE AS RIGID AS THAT OR DO YOU WANT THEIR DEVELOPER ENGINEER TO COME IN AND SAY, WE EXACTLY UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERN.
THIS FLOOD PLAIN IS THE NATURAL GROUND IS THIS WAY, BUT MY SITE LAYOUT WANTS TO TAKE THE WATER THIS WAY.
WILL YOU ALLOW ME TO DO THAT AS LONG AS MY POINT A, MY SURE INTAKE POINT AND MY OUT, OUT FULL OF POINT IS THE SAME.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT WE ARE TRYING, THAT'S WHAT THE CITY'S SAYING IS BASICALLY, WELL, YEAH, BUT YOU GET TO THE SAME RESULT.
I, I'M NOT A, I'M NOT OPPOSED TO LETTING PEOPLE ENGINEER AROUND PROBLEMS. WHAT I AM OPPOSED TO IS LETTING PEOPLE BUILD OR ENGINEER US INTO PROBLEMS. YES.
SO THIS WILL GIVE YOU THE TOOLS TO THEN SET UP YOUR DRAINAGE CRITERIA MANUAL AS WELL AS THE CODE OF ORDINANCES TO THEN REGULATE DEVELOPMENT, HOWEVER YOU CHOOSE.
IF YOU WANT TO GO REALLY HEAVY, YOU CAN GO, THAT'S YOUR CHOICE, RIGHT? I MEAN MM-HMM.
BUT WHAT I WOULD RECOMMEND IS GIVE THE ENGINEER AND DEVELOPER THE LEEWAY TO DO WHATEVER THEY NEED TO DO ON THEIR FLOOD PLANE, UH, ON THEIR PROPERTY.
AS LONG AS THEY'RE NOT CAUSING ADVERSE IMPACTS.
THIS THING CAPTURES EVERYTHING WATER COMING THROUGH THEIR SITE, AND THEY BUILD THIS DEVELOPMENT UP, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN ALL THAT WATER'S BLOCKED.
WHERE DOES IT GO? I MEAN, IT CREATES ADVERSE IMPACTS UPSTREAM, AND THEN IF YOU DON'T CAPTURE IT AND SEND IT DOWN APPROPRIATELY, AND IF YOU DON'T DETAIN ALL THAT ADDITIONAL RUNOFF THAT IS BEING CREATED BY THE PERCENT IMPERVIOUS, NOW YOU'RE CREATING A DOWNSTREAM IMPACT.
SO ALL OF THIS CAN BE ACCOUNTED FOR AND BE CONTROLLED, KIND OF REGULATED BY THE DEVELOPER PERCENTAGE.
THIS GIVES YOU THE STARTING POINT TO DO THAT.
AND I SEE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, COMMISSIONER LICH D BUT MY CONCERN WOULD BE I'M NOT SURE THAT WE CAN REGULATE THAT FOR, I DON'T KNOW THAT ANY, HAS ANYBODY DONE THAT WHERE THEY'VE SET THIS REGULATION FROM A-C-F-R-A TO SAY, YOU CAN'T BUILD HERE.
I WOULD IMAGINE THAT THE A HUNDRED YEAR FLOODPLAIN YOU COULD DO THAT.
MY, MY CONCERN WOULD ALSO BE DON'T WE HAVE TO LET A DEVELOPER REMEDY THAT SITUATION, UH, BEFORE WE CAN JUST TELL 'EM NO, THESE ARE ALL A CFR.
THESE, THESE ARE ALL FAIR QUESTIONS TO ASK.
BUT EVERY REGULATION I'VE EVER SEEN IN THE ENTIRE TIME I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, PRACTICING LAW AND WHATNOT, WHATNOT.
UM, IT, IT IS ALL BASED ON THE FEMA FLOODPLAIN STUDIES WHERE I'M GOING AND FLOODPLAIN MAPS.
YOU AND I HAVE EXACTLY THE SAME QUESTION.
DO WE HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO REGULATE ON SOMETHING ELSE? THEY HAVE SAID NOW THREE TIMES.
UM, AND, BUT IT HASN'T BEEN LITIGATED ANYWHERE, WHICH I ASKED EARLIER, AND THIS IS WHY IF WE GO THIS DI BUT I DON'T EVEN WANNA START MOVING IN THIS DIRECTION UNLESS I FEEL PRETTY COMFORTABLE.
IT'S ENFORCEABLE BECAUSE WHAT IS HAPPENED IS EXACTLY WHAT JOHN THOMAS MENTIONED EARLIER.
AND I'VE HAD OTHER PEOPLE, JOHN HAS SPOKEN TO ME AND OTHER PEOPLE IN MY PRECINCT, EVERYBODY PROBABLY HAS, THEY'LL SAY THEY CAME IN WITH THIS DEVELOPMENT AND MY LAND THAT WAS NEVER FLOODED BEFORE IS FLOODED.
AND WHOEVER APPROVED THAT DEVELOPMENT, PREPARED ENGINEERING STUDIES AND ALL THAT, AND THIS IS A, A BETTER SENSE OF MODELING.
AND I'M, IF WE CAN PREVENT WHAT'S HAPPENED TO MR. THOMAS AND OTHER PEOPLE THAT WE'VE ALL IDENTIFIED, WE ALL WANNA DO THAT.
[01:15:01]
AND I, I MEAN, I HAVE RESIDENTS IN MY PRECINCT THAT ARE BEING AFFECTED JUST FROM MODIFICATIONS WHERE THEY'VE PULLED PERMITS AND DONE A MODIFICATION TO THEIR HOME MM-HMMAND THEN THAT'S CHANGED, YOU KNOW, TO YOUR POINT EARLIER YEAH.
ON, UH, THAT'S CHANGED THE WAY THEY RUN OFF.
AND I'VE GOT PRESIDENTS THAT HAVE FLOODED BACKYARDS AND HAVE LOST ALL THEIR LANDSCAPING JUST FOR MODIFICATIONS, NOT JUST A DEVELOPMENT COMING IN.
AND, AND I THINK WE ARE THE, THE, WE ARE TALKING TO ENGINEERS ABOUT ENGINEERING.
WE NEED TO TALK TO POLICY PEOPLE ABOUT POLICY AND, AND, AND I THINK THAT WE DO NEED TO LOOK AT NO, THAT, THAT'S WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE WHEN THE, WHEN IT HITS THE WINDOW PANE.
IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S LEAKING, LEAKING HERE.
WE WOULD'VE, WE WOULD'VE, WE WOULD'VE KNOWN THAT THIS BUILDING WAS LEAKING
UM, AND OUR, AND OUR, AND OUR MAINTENANCE DIRECTOR IS DOWN IN AUSTIN AT A HISTORIC COURTHOUSE, UH, CONVENTION.
UM, SO I, I JUST WANT TO JUST SAY THAT I, I, I GET THE POINT OF THE WORKSHOP, BUT I THINK WE'RE ASKING ENGINEERS POLICY QUESTIONS THAT WE DON'T NEED TO, THAT, THAT THEY CANNOT ANSWER.
UM, AND THAT WE NEED TO, TO LOOK AT THIS FROM A MORE ACADEMIC LEVEL OF FLOODING, LOOKING AT THESE ZONES, DOING THOSE ZONES, AND THEN BEFORE WE SPEND MONEY, TALK TO OUR POLICY, OUR LAWYERS AND OTHER FOLKS ABOUT WHAT, IF WE WERE TO DO THIS, WHAT COULD WE DO? WHAT COULD WE NOT DO? THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
SO I, I DO KNOW THAT THEY GO HAND IN HAND IN OUR BRAINS, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT, NOT KNOW OFFENSE OR ANYTHING.
I JUST DON'T KNOW THAT Y'ALL ARE THE FOLKS TO ANSWER THE QUESTION OF HOW DO WE REGULATE A COUNTY FLOOD RISK? BECAUSE COUNTIES DON'T HAVE THE SAME AUTHORITY THAT CITIES DO.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO LOOK AT, I BELIEVE, SEPARATELY THEN CAN WE MODEL ANYWAYS, THAT'S, AND I, AND I AGREE.
NOW YOU DO, YOU DID KNOW, UM, LIST FORT BEND COUNTY AS ONE OF YOUR CLIENTS MM-HMM
AND, UM, SO, AND HARRIS COUNTY AS WELL.
SO HARRIS COUNTY HAS A FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT, AND BY THAT AUTHORITY, THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO REGULATE A LOT OF THAT.
SO, UH, MOST OF THE CITIES OVER HERE REGULATE TO A HIGHER STANDARD THAN THE FEMA UH, REQUIREMENTS.
THE FEMA STANDARD IS THE MINIMUM.
I'M SORRY, CAN YOU STEP UP TO THE MICROPHONE? THANK YOU.
THE FEMA STANDARDS ARE THE MINIMUM, USUALLY FOR ALL THESE COMMUNITIES.
THAT'S, THAT'S THE BARE MINIMUM.
LIKE HARRIS COUNTY HAS A NO RISE.
FEMA WILL ALLOW YOU TO ENCROACH IN THE FLOODPLAIN UNTIL YOU HAVE A FOOT OF RISE.
BUT HARRIS COUNTY'S LIKE, NO, WE DON'T WANT A FOOT OF RISE HERE, FLOODS THE ENTIRE COUNTY.
WE WILL LIMIT IT TO WHERE IT'S NO RISE AT ALL.
UM, SAN ANTONIO IS A VERY SIMILAR TYPE DEAL.
SO ALL THESE COMMUNITIES CAN HAVE DIFFERENT, I MEAN, THE TEXAS WATER CODE IS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST NAIL THAT YOUR HAMMER THAT YOU GOT, IS THAT YOU CAN'T IMPOUND OR DIVERT WATER ONTO SOMEBODY'S PROPERTY AND ADVERSELY IMPACT THEM.
SO THAT, THAT, THAT'S THE BIG THING THAT PREVENTS A LOT OF THE DISCUSSION ON THE, OH, IT'S NOT MY PROBLEM.
WELL, IF YOU CAN PROVE THAT YOU DIVERTED WATER ONTO THEM, IT IS YOUR PROBLEM TYPE THING.
SO, SO, UM, JUST IF YOU WANNA SEE SOME OF THE REGULATIONS THAT THE CITY OF FORWAR HAS DONE FOR CFR, JUST GO TO THIS WEBSITE RIGHT HERE.
WE'LL GIVE, WE'LL SHARE WITH YOU, AND YOU CAN GO IN THERE AND ACTUALLY, THEY'VE GONE, THEY HAD A TWO YEAR PROCESS OF ACTUALLY COMING UP WITH ALL THE, THE, THE POLICY SIDE OF THE DISCUSSION.
SO COUPLE OF APPLICATIONS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, HERE'S THE FORENSIC ANALYSIS.
THIS IS THE AUGUST, 2022 STORM, RIGHT? THAT WAS A BIG STORM.
A LOT OF FOLKS FLOODED, UH, ACROSS ALL OF THE METROPLEX.
UM, THERE WERE THE, WHAT YOU SEE IN BLUE IS BASICALLY THE FEMA FLOOD PLAIN, EXCEPT FOR THE AREA.
THAT'S WHERE THE RED STARS ARE SHOWN.
THOSE ARE FIVE HOMES THAT FLOODED.
UH, THESE HOMES WERE CONSTRUCTED IN THE LAST 15 TO 20 YEARS.
UM, FLOOD PLAIN IS THREE FEET BELOW THE FINISHED FLOOR OF THOSE HOMES, ALRIGHT? YET THEY FLOODED.
THE STORM WAS A 50 YEAR STORM.
IT WAS NOT EVEN A HUNDRED YEAR STORM, AND THEY STILL FLOODED.
UM, WHAT WE FOUND WAS WE DID, AT THIS TIME IN AUGUST, 2022, WE HAD ALREADY WERE WELL UNDERWAY, OUR MODELING FOR THEM.
SO WE ACTUALLY HAD THIS MODEL.
LONNIE LOOKED AT IT AND SAID, OH, LET ME ADD SOME MORE DETAIL.
AND SURE ENOUGH, WE FOUND THAT THERE WERE TWO TRIBUTARIES, TWO STREAMS COMING IN AT THE CONFLUENCE.
AND SOME OF THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT THE FEMA MODEL HAD MADE WAS THE DIFFERENCE IN THAT THREE F THE THREE FEET ELEVATION.
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN WHEN WE GOT THE DUAL PEAKS COMING THROUGH THOSE, UH, TWO CREEKS AND THE BACKWATER EFFECT FROM THE DOWNSTREAM RECEIVING CREEK, THESE HOMES WERE NOW STARTING TO FLOOD USING OUR MODEL.
[01:20:01]
AND YOU CAN'T SEE THAT IN A FEMA MODEL.IF ONE OF THOSE ASSUMPTIONS, LIKE LONNIE WAS TALKING ABOUT, HUMANS ARE MAKING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT WHERE TO PUT THE FLOW AND WHAT KIND OF MODEL, WHAT IS MORE CONSERVATIVE, WHAT IS NOT.
WE'RE LETTING THE MODEL TELL US, AS LONG AS WE HAVE ALL THE KNOBS TURNED RIGHT, WE'RE GETTING GOOD INFORMATION BACK.
SO WHAT ON THE RIGHT YOU SEE IS, UH, TWO CURVES.
UH, AND IF YOU REMEMBER, THE AUGUST, 2022 STORM WAS TWO, TWO PEAKS.
THAT HAPPENED WITHIN 12 HOURS OF EACH OTHER.
SO YOU'VE GOT THE, THE, THE BLUE CURVE, WHICH IS THE GAUGE THAT IS A LITTLE BIT DOWNSTREAM OF THIS POINT.
UH, AND THEN WE HAVE THE ORANGE CURVE, WHICH IS BASICALLY OUR MODELED, UH, RESULTS.
AND YOU SEE THE FIRST PEAK MATCHING UP REALLY WELL.
WELL, WHAT HAPPENED IN THE SECOND PEAK? IT DOESN'T MATCH UP WELL.
WHAT HAPPENED WAS THERE'S A LARGE, UH, URBAN FOREST AREA OVER HERE, AND ALL THOSE WITH THE AMOUNT OF STORM AMOUNT OF WATER THEY GOT ALL THOSE LOGS BASICALLY JUST BA ALL THE TREES JUST FELL IN AND BLOCKED THAT CULVERT.
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN NOW YOU SEE A LARGER STAGE ON THAT CULVERT WHEN IT COULD HAVE PASSED THROUGH.
SO IN OUR MODELS, WE CAN'T STOP A MODEL AND START IT AGAIN ASSUMING A CERTAIN CONDITION HAS CHANGED.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO ACTUALLY MIMIC BOTH OF THESE PEAKS DEPENDING ON WHICH, WHETHER YOU BLOCK THE CULVERT OR NOT.
UH, BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS WE'RE NOT ABLE TO SHOW THAT THESE HOMES YES, INDEED FLOODED FOR A 50 YEAR STORM EVENT USING THE RADAR RAINFALL THAT WE HAD.
SO IT GIVES YOU A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF NOW WHAT'S NEXT? HOW DO WE ACTUALLY, SO WE ACTUALLY THEN DID A REPORT AND CAME UP WITH SOME SOLUTIONS FOR THEM ON WHAT, WHAT'S NEXT FOR THEM.
UH, MAY, 2016 STORM IN CORPUS CHRISTI.
THIS IS AN INTERSECTION THAT THAT FLOODED.
AND, UH, WE WERE ABLE TO, UH, UH, THIS ENTIRE WATERSHED IS ABOUT 200 SQUARE MILES AND IT HAS ONLY ONE GAUGE IN IT.
SO IT'S VERY HARD FOR YOU TO CALIBRATE A MODEL BASED ON ONE GAUGE IN A 200 SQUARE MILE AREA.
SO, WELL THEN WE CAN START LOOKING AT NEWSPAPER ARTICLES AND WE FOUND THIS PICTURE.
AND, UH, WHEN WE FOUND THAT PICTURE, WE SAW, OKAY, YOU KNOW, THAT INTERSECTION IS CLEARLY FLOODED, BUT YOU KNOW, OJ SIMPSON'S, UH, YOU KNOW, BRONCO IS NOT.
AND WE WERE ABLE TO CORRELATE THOSE TWO AND SEE HOW OUR MODEL DID COMPARED TO THAT PARTICULAR STORM FOR THAT INTERSECTION.
AND YOU CAN SEE HOW CLOSELY THEY MATCHED THE INTERSECTION FLOODS, BUT THAT, THAT, THAT BRONCO DOESN'T.
RIGHT? SO THESE ARE THE BENEFITS OF SOME OF THESE, YOU KNOW, FULL VOLUMETRIC MODELS THAT GIVE YOU SO MUCH MORE GRANULARITY INTO WHAT'S GOING ON EARLY.
I TALKED ABOUT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE, UH, THE SLIDESHOW.
YOU CAN DO FORENSIC ANALYSIS AFTER A STORM PASSES OR YOU CAN DO EARLY FLOOD WARNING.
YOU CAN DO BOTH WITH THESE, THESE MODELS CAN HELP YOU DO BOTH.
SO AFTER A STORM HAS PASSED OR WHEN A STORM HAS PASSED OR COME ABOUT TO HIT, YOU CAN DO FLOOD FOR FLOOD WARNING.
WE ARE DOING THIS RIGHT NOW WITH THESE MODELS FOR THE CITY OF FORTH WORTH, JUST BECAUSE TWO SEPARATE CONTRACTS WE JUST HAPPEN HAPPENED.
WE, WE GOT THE FLOOD WARNING CONTRACT BEFORE WE EVER GOT THE URBAN FLOOD RISK CONTRACT.
AND THEN WE WENT INTO A DROUGHT IN 2021 AND WE'D HAD NO STORMS TO CHECK ANY OF OUR RESULTS, OUR ANALYSIS WITH.
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THIS PROJECT WAS GOING ON AND WE GOT ALL THESE RESULTS AND WE WERE ABLE TO USE THIS FOR THIS.
UH, WHAT WHAT IT ALLOWS US TO DO IS RUN DIFFERENT DURATIONS, DIFFERENT TYPES OF STORM EVENTS MULTIPLE TIMES, HIT RUN, GO TO BED TOMORROW MORNING, YOU GET YOUR RESULTS.
AND IT ALLOWS US TO CREATE THIS THRESHOLD CURVE, WHICH IS THE, THE, THE LINE IN, UH, RED THAT YOU SEE ON THE, ON ON BASICALLY, UH, GOING THROUGH, IT'S CALLED THE CUMULATIVE CUMULATIVE THRESHOLD CURVE.
AND IN REAL TIME, WE'RE ABLE TO TRACK RAINFALL THAT IS FALLING AT SOME OF THESE GAUGES THAT THE CITY OF HA CITY HAS, OR EVEN THROUGH RADAR AND ABLE TO PREDICT OUT IF A PARTICULAR LOW WATER CROSSING IS GONNA FLOOD OR NOT FLOOD.
ALL WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS BINARY, UH, CONDITION.
IS IT GONNA FLOOD OR IS IT NOT GONNA FLOOD? IF IT FLOODS BY SIX INCHES OR IT FLOODS BY TWO FEET, DOESN'T MATTER.
WE'RE GONNA BLOCKADE THAT CROSSING SO THAT PEOPLE CAN CROSS IT.
THAT'S, AND MAKES THAT WHOLE COMPLEX ISSUE OF FIGURING OUT FLOOD WARNING A LOT EASIER WHEN YOU MAKE IT A BINARY DECISION.
SO WITH THAT, WITH THIS, WITH THESE MODELS, WE'RE ABLE TO GET 85% ACCURACY ON TRIGGERING A, UH, A POSITIVE ALARM WHEN IT ACTUALLY DOES ACTUALLY FLOOD.
WE'RE EITHER LATE TRIGGERING OR WE HAVE A FALSE POSITIVE.
THAT'S STILL A BET BETTER, UH, PERCENTAGE THAN A FLIP OF A COIN OF WHETHER A LOW WATER CROSSING IS GONNA FLOOD OR NOT.
SO THIS HAS SHOWN, AND WE DO THIS IN REAL TIME AND WE'RE ACTUALLY TESTING IT RIGHT NOW WITH ABOUT 16 OR 17 GAUGES WITH THE CITY OF FOURTH WARD.
THERE'S STILL ANOTHER 23 OR 30 THAT ARE STILL REMAINING OUT THERE THAT WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING ON.
WE'RE PROBABLY WRAPPING UP BY THE END OF 2025, SO WE'LL HAVE SOME BETTER RESULTS.
[01:25:01]
TEST GAUGES, WE'RE SEEING, YOU KNOW, SIGNIFICANT LEAD TIMES.WE'RE GIVING THEM 45 MINUTES TO 30 MINUTES LEAD TIMES ON SOME OF THESE VERY FLASHY AREAS.
THE, IF, IF YOU WAITED FOR THE RAIN TO FALL AND THEN SEND THE CREW OUT TO ACTUALLY BLOCKADE THAT LOW WATER CROSSING, YOU'RE TOO LATE.
YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO TRACK IT A LITTLE BIT AHEAD AND THEN SEND THAT CREW OUT.
THE, UH, THE WAY FOOTWEAR IS SET UP, IT'S LIKE A PALM OF YOUR HAND.
SO IF YOU AND THEIR, THEIR OPERATIONS CREW IS DOWN HERE, SO THEY'VE GOTTA DECIDE WHICH SIDE THEY'RE GONNA GO FIRST.
AND SO IT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO, UH, TO KNOW WHERE TO GO FIRST.
SO THIS GIVES THEM THAT ABILITY IN REAL TIME FOR LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
ALRIGHT, SO THOSE WERE SOME OF THE APPLICATIONS.
SO I'LL JUST QUICKLY NOW SUMMARIZE, UH, IN SUMMARY, WE HAVE A VERY SCALED AND LABELED LAYERED APPROACH.
UH, THE ORANGE IS WHERE CITY, UH, THE ROCKWALL COUNTY WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES THAT COMPRISE THE GIS DATA ARE, UH, SO WE CAN REALLY GET SOME GOOD RESULTS FOR YOU BASED ON JUST WHERE WE FALL IN TERMS OF THE DATA THAT WE HAVE, UH, AVAILABLE TO YOU.
UH, WE USE A FREELY AVAILABLE SOFTWARE THAT EVERYBODY USES, PRETTY MUCH KNOWS TO USE OUT OF ANY WATER RESOURCES, UH, H AND H UH, ENGINEER IN CIVIL ENGINEERING CLASS.
AND SOME OF THE UNIVERSITIES IS PROBABLY IS USING THIS, OR I KNOW I DID IN, IN MY MASTERS.
SO, UM, AND THAT WAS 20 SOME ODD YEARS AGO.
IT'S NOT, IT'S, IT'S, UH, YOU DON'T HAVE TO MAIN, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY ANYBODY TO MAINTAIN IT AND, UH, UH, AND EVERYBODY KNOWS HOW TO USE IT.
SO IT'S VERY, VERY, VERY BENEFICIAL IN THAT SENSE.
UM, YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE YOUR DRAINAGE, CIP DEPENDING ON YOUR NEEDS.
UH, IF YOU WANT TO, UH, FOCUS JUST ON LOW WATER CROSSINGS RIGHT NOW, SO BE IT.
IF YOU WANNA FOCUS ON REGULATING DEVELOPMENT, YOU CAN DO THAT.
AND YOU CAN DO THAT IN DIFFERENT PRECINCTS DEPENDING ON WHAT THE DEF WHAT THE, EACH PRECINCT HAS THEIR NEED, UH, CURRENTLY FOR WHAT IS THEIR BURNING DESIRE RIGHT NOW.
AND YOU CAN DO THAT DEPENDING ON, UH, BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT TIED TO ANY PARTICULAR ONE POLICY FOR THE ENTIRE, UH, COUNTY.
YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE YOUR PROJECTS ACCORDINGLY.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY YOU ENCOURAGE RESILIENT AND, UH, PRACTICAL DEVELOPMENT.
YOU WANT DEVELOPMENT, YOU GET THE TAX DOLLARS, BUT YOU ALSO WANNA MAKE SURE YOU DON'T CREATE ADVERSE IMPACTS TO PEOPLE.
SO THAT'S WHERE WE ARE AT AS PAY DAWSON.
WE GIVE YOU JUST, UM, DEEP VENTURE RESOURCES.
WE BRING OUR STATEWIDE EXPERTS IN.
UH, WE HAVE THE TECHNICAL EXPERTISE.
WE'VE DONE THIS ACROSS THE STATE IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS WITH ALL KINDS OF, UH, DIFFERENT, UH, UH, FEEDBACK THAT WE GET.
AND THEN WE'VE INCORPORATE THAT INTO OUR LESSONS LEARNED AND TRY TO DO BETTER THE NEXT TIME.
SO WE'VE DONE THIS MULTIPLE TIMES, AND THEN WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY AND TOOLS NOW TODAY TO MAKE THIS, UH, HAPPEN FOR YOU.
SO WITH THAT, WE'LL TAKE ANY MORE QUESTIONS, BUT I KNOW LONNIE'S GOT A FEW OTHER THINGS THAT HE CAN COVER, BUT I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS AND WE'LL PASS IT OFF TO HIM.
SO HOW DO YOU, HOW DO WE IMPLEMENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS? I MEAN, I COULD SEE A LOT OF WAYS OF DOING IT.
I, AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE MODEL, OBVIOUSLY, BUT IS THIS SOMETHING THAT A COUNTY IMPLEMENTS ON A COUNTYWIDE BASIS AND YOU PROVIDE THESE PROJECTIONS? OR IS IT SOMETHING THAT WE REQUIRE DEVELOPERS TO PROVIDE US ON A PROJECT BY PROJECT BY BASIS? OR HOW DO WE, IF WE WANTED TO START RELYING ON YOUR DATA AND YOUR MODELING, HOW DO WE IMPLEMENT IT? I'LL ANSWER THE FIRST QUESTION.
I THINK LONNIE CAN ANSWER THE SECOND PART REALLY WELL.
SO THE COUNTYWIDE QUESTION IS PROBABLY THE WAY TO GO, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT HOLISTICALLY.
YOU HAVE THE SAME WAY OF DOING THINGS FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTY, UM, THAT WAY YOU HAVE SET THE BAR THE BARE, BARE MINIMUM OF WHAT FLOOD RISK IS.
IT'S CONSISTENT ACROSS THE COUNTY.
IT'S FOR EVERY CITY THAT'S IN THE COUNTY, ANY JURISDICTION THAT'S IN THE COUNTY.
SO I WOULD START WITH THAT WHEN DEVELOPERS COME IN, AND THAT'S, WE'RE ALREADY SEEING THAT WITH SOME OF THE MAP NEXT MODELS THAT LONNIE DEVELOPED AND THE OTHER CONSULTANTS HAVE DEVELOPED WITH HIS METHODOLOGY IN HARRIS COUNTY.
NOW THE DEVELOPMENTS ARE COMING IN AND STARTING TO USE, EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE PRELIMINARY FEMA MAPS, THEY'RE NOT APPROVED BY FEMA, WE'RE ALREADY USING THEM.
UH, WE ARE USING THEM TO NOW REGULATE DEVELOPMENT IN THESE, UH, IN, IN HARRIS COUNTY.
SO THE DEVELOPERS THEN COME IN, TAKE THAT PIECE OF THE MODEL, MAKE IT MORE DETAILED.
THEY MIGHT ACTUALLY COME IN AND SAY, WELL, NO, YOU KNOW, THIS AREA RIGHT HERE, YOU, YOUR, YOUR MODEL WAS SO COARSED THAT WE DIDN'T CAPTURE THIS CORRECTLY.
YEAH, THEY HAVE THE THE RIGHT TO MAKE THAT CHANGE.
AND AS LONG AS THEY'RE SIGNING AND SEALING THAT STUFF, IT'S OKAY.
BUT THEN LONNIE'S ACTUALLY DEVELOPED THOSE CRITERIA OF HOW YOU CAN TAKE THAT, THAT PIECE OF THAT ENTIRE, UH, UH, QUILT, THAT FLOOD RISK QUILT THAT YOU HAVE, TAKE THAT PIECE OUT, DO THE MODELING, THE DEVELOPER DOES THE MODELING, THEY PAY FOR ALL THE ENGINEERS FEES AND ALL THAT, AND THEN ULTIMATELY THEY COME BACK AND GIVE IT TO YOU SO THAT YOU CAN PUT IT BACK IN THE BIG QUILT.
[01:30:01]
QUESTION FOR YOU TO DEFINE YOUR TERMS. YES.HARRIS COUNTY, DOES THE CITY OF HOUSTON USE HARRIS COUNTY SYSTEM OR ONLY THINGS IN HARRIS COUNTY USES HARRIS COUNTY SYSTEM.
SO THE HARRIS COUNTY IS THE KEEPER OF THE FLOODPLAIN MODELS IN THAT.
SO THE CITY OF HOUSTON WILL REFER TO THEIR FLOODPLAIN MODELS, BUT THEY EACH HAVE THEIR OWN CRITERIA.
THERE'S NOT A UNIFIED CRITERIA.
SO, SO, SO, SO LET ME SUMMARIZE BACK TO YOU WHAT YOU JUST SAID AND CORRECT ME.
SO IN HARRIS COUNTY, AND I'M JUST USING HARRIS COUNTY, THE COUNTY HAS ADOPTED A MODEL COUNTYWIDE.
AND THEN EACH CITY HAS THEIR OWN CRITERIA THAT THEY GO BACK TO THE COUNTY'S MODELING TO USE THAT CRITERIA ON WHATEVER THEIR DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS MAY OR MAY NOT BE.
SO THEY, THEY WILL HAVE, THE HARRIS COUNTY MODEL DEFINES THE FLOODPLAIN LIMITS AND THE ELEVATIONS OF THAT.
IF YOU'RE DEVELOPING IN HARRIS COUNTY, THEY MAY SAY YOU CAN BUILD YOUR HOUSE IN THE ZONE, A FLOODING OR THE ZONE X FLOOD, THE 500 YEAR FLOODING, BUT WE WANT YOU TO BUILD YOUR FINISHED FLOOR THREE FEET HIGHER.
SAME SITUATION IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
THEY MAY ONLY, WE WANT YOU TO BUILD ONE FOOT ABOVE THE STREET CREST TYPE THING.
SO THEY HAVE DIFFERENT CRITERIA ON THE BUILDING CODES, BUT THEY'RE ALL REFERRING BACK TO THE SAME FLOOD MODEL FOR THE BASE FLOOD ELEVATIONS.
ONE MAY SAY WE WANT MORE DETENTION RATE, ET CETERA, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT'S STILL COMING BACK TO THOU SHALL NOT FLOOD BY NEIGHBOR TYPE THING.
SO I WANTED TO SHOW YOU REAL QUICK SOME EXAMPLES HERE OF HOW I'VE USED THIS MODEL TO PROVE WHAT IS CAUSING THE FLOODING AND HOW TO BETTER SOLVE THAT FLOODING.
WE HAD A PROPERTY THAT WAS SAYING ALONG THE CHANNEL THAT THEY WERE BEING FLOODED FROM THE CHANNEL.
THE COUNTY ASKED US TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT AND SEE WHAT, WHAT SIZE CHANNEL DO WE NEED TO FIX THIS FLOODING HERE? WELL, ONCE YOU PUT IT INTO THE MODEL, WHAT WE ACTUALLY SAW WAS THEY WERE NOT FLOODING FROM THE CHANNEL.
THEY WERE FLOODING FROM THE WATER NORTH OF THEM GETTING OUTTA THE CHANNEL AND FLOWING DOWN THE STREET AND THEN INTO THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD THROUGH THE STREET SYSTEM AND FLOODING THEM.
AS THAT WATER DUMPED OVER THEIR STREET BACK INTO THE CHANNEL, WE COULD HAVE GIVEN THEM A SOLUTION THAT SAID, YOU NEED A 50 FOOT LARGER CHANNEL, AND IT WOULD'VE DONE ZERO IF YOU DID THIS IN A 1D MODEL.
THAT'S WHAT WOULD'VE HAPPENED.
BY USING THIS 2D MODEL, WE WERE ABLE TO CAPTURE HOW THE FLOW WAS ACTUALLY LEAVING THE SYSTEM AND WHAT THE PROB TRUE PROBLEM WAS.
IS THAT YOUR PINK, THE PINK COLOR YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT? YOU'RE REFERRING TO THE, THE, YEAH, THE PINK COLOR IS THE CHANNEL CENTER LINE.
AND SO UP THERE WHERE IT SAYS IT OVER TOPS, YES.
THAT'S WHERE THE WATER WAS COMING OUT OF THAT CHANNEL MM-HMM
AND FLOWING SOUTH INTO THE DEVELOPMENT.
HERE'S KIND OF AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE DEPTH OF FLOODING ON THE LEFT.
THE, THE YELLOWS ARE DEEPER WATER, THE HOTTER THE COLOR, THE DEEPER THE FLOODING.
AFTER WE WENT THROUGH AND SOLVE THIS ISSUE NORTH OF THE DEVELOPMENT, WE WERE ABLE TO DRY UP THE DEVELOPMENT.
SO THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY FLOODING IN THERE.
ROADWAY PROJECTS, THEY'RE PROBABLY THE HARDEST PROJECT FOR A DRAINAGE ENGINEER TO DEAL WITH, BECAUSE IF YOU'RE GONNA GET SUED ON A DRAINAGE PROJECT, IT'S MOST LIKELY GOING TO BE A ROAD NUMBER ONE.
PEOPLE ARE DRIVING THEM ALL THE TIME, RAIN OR SHINE.
INEVITABLY, WHEN IT'S IN THE RAIN, IF SOMETHING'S FLOODING, THEY'RE GONNA NOTICE IT.
AND IF ANYTHING HAS CHANGED RECENTLY, YOU'RE GONNA GET BLAMED FOR IT.
WHETHER THAT HOME FLOODED 10 TIMES BEFORE YOU PUT IN A NEW ROAD AND IT FLOODS AGAIN, IT WAS YOUR FAULT THAT TIME.
SO THAT'S WHERE YOU GOTTA BE VERY SENSITIVE TO THE VERY FINE DETAILS, WHICH THIS MODEL ALLOWS US TO DO.
I HAD A PROJECT THAT WE WERE TRYING TO CONVERT A BAR DITCH SYSTEM TO STORM SEWER AND A BOULEVARD SECTION.
IT'S ABOUT A TWO MILE LONG ROAD THAT WAS TYING INTO TXDOT.
TDOT SAID, THERE IS ONLY ONE ACRE OF DRAINAGE AREA COMING TO OUR INTERSECTION.
AND I WAS LIKE, UM, NO, THERE IS 68 ACRES OF DRAINAGE COMING TO YOUR INTERSECTION.
AND THEY'RE LIKE, WELL, NO, NOT ACCORDING TO THE PLANS.
AND I WAS LIKE, WELL, THE PLANS ARE WRONG, AND LET ME SHOW YOU.
SO I WAS ABLE TO SHOW THEM THAT I UNDERSTAND HOW YOU GOT TO THE ONE ACRE WAS THAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT A HUNDRED YEAR, THE BAR DITCHES WERE TWO FEET DEEP, AND THEY
[01:35:01]
WERE SAYING, ALL OF THIS WATER FLOWS ACROSS THE ROAD AND KEEPS GOING NORTH.BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT LIKE A, AND THAT WAS UP TO A 10 YEAR EVENT, WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENING BELOW A 10 YEAR EVENT, THOSE BAR DITCHES ARE CATCHING ALL OF THAT WATER AND TAKING IT DOWN TO THAT INTERSECTION.
A PERCENTAGE OF THAT FLOAT WAS GOING DOWN THERE.
SO I WAS ABLE TO SHOW THEM, LOOK, THIS IS WHY THIS INTERSECTION FLOODS ALL THE TIME.
IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE UNDERESTIMATING WHAT'S GOING THERE.
AND WE WERE ABLE TO COME UP WITH A SOLUTION TO FIX THE FLOODING.
ANOTHER PROJECT WE HAD, WE WERE A SUB TO THE ROADWAY DESIGNER, THEY GAVE ME THEIR PRELIMINARY LAYOUT, AND I WENT THROUGH AND RAN IT.
USING THEIR ROADWAY ALIGNMENT WAS GOING TO CAUSE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF FLOODING TO GO ACROSS THE ROAD INTO A NEIGHBORHOOD ON THE OTHER SIDE, WAS ABLE TO GO THROUGH AND HAVE THEM ADJUST THEIR ROADWAY PROFILE AND WHERE THOSE CURB CUTS WERE HAPPENING AND PUT IN SOME INTERCONNECTIONS IN THERE, AND WE WERE ABLE TO PREVENT THAT FLOODING FROM HAPPENING AS THEY BUILT, BUILT THINGS UP.
SO WITH THAT, LET ME SEE IF I CAN GET BACK TO, ALL RIGHT, HERE'S MY MODEL THAT I BUILT LAST NIGHT FOR YOU.
I THINK WHAT I NEED TO DO IS GO BACK HERE.
NOW WE SEE NOW IF I CAN GET THE NUMBER FOUR TO GO AWAY.
THAT IS AN ENGINEER'S DESKTOP, RIGHT?
DRAG YOUR, JUST DRAG YOUR I CAN'T 'CAUSE IT'S IN THE, AND I CAN, I CAN WALK OFF.
SO THE BLUE COLORS ARE THOSE ZONE AE A HUNDRED EAR FLOODPLAIN THAT IS BEEN ACTUALLY MODELED BY FEMA.
THE REDS ARE, THIS IS COUNTY OF ROCKWALL, ROCKWALL COUNTY.
I, OKAY, SO THAT'S SQUARE, PERFECT SQUARE.
SEE IF I CAN, THIS IS PROBABLY GONNA, DOES THAT HELP? SO I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE YOU WERE.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF RED APPROXIMATED FLOODPLAIN OUT THERE THAT WE CAN HELP SOLVE THAT.
NOW LOOKING AT THOSE AREAS THAT ARE DELINEATED AS APPROXIMATE, THEY'RE REALLY NOT OFF BY A WHOLE LOT.
THEY'RE NOT, I DON'T THINK THEY'RE USING THE RULE OF THUMB.
THEY, THEY PUT A LITTLE BIT OF SCIENCE INTO COMING UP WITH SOME OF THOSE.
WHEN I RUN MY MODEL, I'M GETTING ALL OF THIS BLUE AREA, THIS, THE CYAN COLOR IS WHAT I'M SHOWING NOW.
I'M ONLY SHOWING DEPTHS THAT ARE GREATER THAN A HALF A FOOT.
SO THIS IS, ALL THE BLUE AREAS ARE, ARE WHERE I'M SHOWING THE WATER IS GREATER THAN A HALF A FOOT DEEP IN, IN, IN A HUNDRED YEAR, IN A HUNDRED YEAR EVENT WITH A HUNDRED YEAR RAINFALL.
CAN YOU IDENTIFY WHERE, WHICH CREEKS THESE ARE, WHICH
[01:40:01]
DRAINAGE WATERSHEDS? THEY'RE, UM, I'M NOT FAMILIAR ENOUGH TO GIVE YOU THAT'S OKAY.I, BUT THERE'S SEVERAL DIFFERENT WATERSHEDS WE'RE LOOKING AT AND THAT'S OKAY.
SO LIKE I SAY, THIS WAS VERY APPROXIMATED MODELING THAT I DID LAST NIGHT.
I DON'T HAVE BRIDGES AND CULVERTS IN THERE.
I DON'T HAVE ALL THE DAM SPILLWAY, THEIR PRIMARY SPILLWAYS IN THERE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
SO, BUT IF YOU LOOK AT HOW THE BLUES ARE ALIGNING WITH THOSE, THOSE REDS, FOR THE MOST PART, THEY'RE NOT OFF THAT FAR.
BUT YOU HAVE A LOT OF THESE TANGENTIAL CHANNELS THAT AREN'T MAP, THAT PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND THOSE RISKS THAT ARE ALONG THOSE MINOR DRAINAGE WAYS THAT THIS MODELING IS GONNA CAPTURE THAT.
LET'S SEE IF I CAN FIND, AND THOSE MINOR DRAINAGE WAYS, AS YOU MENTIONED IT, UH, COULD YOU GO BACK TO WHERE YOU JUST WERE? YEAH.
SO I DON'T GO BACK TO WHERE, OKAY.
SO THIS IS A MAJOR DRAINAGE IN THE MIDDLE AND THE RED OUTLINES THE FEMA A HUNDRED YEAR FLOODPLAIN, RIGHT? MM-HMM
AND THE DRAINAGE WAYS, THE FINGERS THAT COME OFF OF IT ARE CURRENTLY THE LITTLE SI BLUES ARE CURRENTLY NOT IN THAT A HUNDRED YEAR FLOODPLAIN.
AND SO, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, UNDER OUR EXISTING REGULATIONS, YOU COULD BUILD A HOUSE RIGHT THERE.
THE, THE IRONIC THING IS, IS THAT SHOWS DOW ROAD, I WAS JUST SAYING THAT, THAT MR. THOMAS WAS HERE
AND TH THIS, SO THIS MAY HAVE BEEN THE DEVELOPMENT THAT HE WAS TALKING, ROBIN.
YEAH, LIKE I SAY THAT THERE'S, I'M USING ONE ROUGHNESS VALUE ACROSS THE WHOLE THING.
BUT THAT'S WHAT I REALLY LIKE ABOUT THIS, IS THAT I CAN DO A REALLY QUICK CRUDE, ROUGH ESTIMATE TO GUT CHECK OTHER MODEL RESULTS.
DO THEY SEEM AT ALL REASONABLE? ARE THEY TOTALLY DIFFERENT? BUT YOU'RE GETTING THESE THINGS THAT ARE, I MEAN, IT'S SHOWING THAT ALONG THAT ROAD, THE DEPTH IS ONE AND A HALF TO TWO FEET DEEP TYPE THING.
WE CAN GO IN AND WE CAN MODEL THINGS DOWN TO THE, THE BAR DITCH.
WE CAN PUT THAT IN THERE AND GET THAT DETAIL, FIGURE OUT WHAT'S THE DRIVEWAY CULVERT SIZES TYPE THING.
WHAT, WHAT I THINK WOULD WORK GREAT FOR YOU IS THAT IF YOU HAD A REALLY GOOD MODEL THAT HAD ALL OF THIS INFORMATION, MAYBE IT'S NOT DOWN TO THE SUBFOOT LEVEL THAT AT THE DRIVEWAY LEVEL, BUT YOU'RE DOWN THERE AT, LET'S CALL IT A THOUSAND FOOT LEVEL, THAT YOU HAVE THIS MODEL THAT WHEN SOMEBODY'S WANTING TO DO A DEVELOPMENT, YOU GIVE IT TO THEM AND SAY, YOU NEED TO WORK WITHIN THIS.
AND THEY CAN MAKE THE MODIFICATIONS.
THEY CAN EASILY UPDATE THE, THE SURFACE AND THEIR IMPERVIOUS COVERS AND ALL OF THAT, AND THEY CAN SHOW YOU HOW THEY'RE MITIGATING THE IMPACTS AND GOING ON.
THEN YOU GOT THE FEMA REGULATORY SIDE.
YOU COULD TAKE THIS MODEL AND GO THROUGH THE FEMA PROCESS AND UPDATE ALL OF YOUR MAPS TO THE NEW FEMA, TO A NEW FEMA STANDARD AND SHOW ALL OF THIS DETAIL IN THERE.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WOULD HAPPEN OVERNIGHT, OVERNIGHT ALMOST.
I CAN GIVE YOU THE MODELS TO DO IT, BUT GOING THROUGH THE HOOPS OF THE FEMA PROCESS WILL TAKE A FEW YEARS TO DO TO GET THEM TO ADOPT IT WITH THE STATE OF THINGS.
RIGHT NOW, WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF FEMA'S GONNA BE AROUND IN A FEW YEARS, WHICH THERE'S GOOD AND BAD SIDES ON THAT, THAT SIDE OF THINGS TOO.
BUT JUST HAVING THIS INFORMATION, WHETHER IT'S A USED FOR REGULATORY PURPOSES BEING YOUR REGULATORY PURPOSE OR AN INFORMATIONAL LEVEL HELPS THE CITIZENS.
'CAUSE YOU CAN JUST, YOU CAN GIVE 'EM THIS AND SAY, HEY, OUR MODELS SHOW THAT THERE'S A 20 ACRE DRAINAGE WAY THAT'S COMING THROUGH YOU AND THERE'S SHEET FLOW GOING ACROSS YOUR SITE THAT YOU NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE.
YOU DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO TELL THEM YOU HAVE TO WORK IT OUT IN THIS MODEL, BUT YOU'VE GIVEN THEM ENOUGH INFORMATION THAT THEY SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE RISK.
AND SO IF YOU TOOK IT ONE STEP FURTHER, AND LET'S AGAIN, STAY WITH THIS PHOTO.
[01:45:01]
WANTED TO COME IN AND, UH, PUT A DEVELOPMENT IN THAT AREA JUST NORTH OF DOLL ROAD WHERE THERE'S KIND OF A TRIANGLE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS LOOKING KIND OF THING THERE.UM, YOU COULD THEN SAY, TAKE THIS MODEL AND HAVE, THEY COULD LOOK AT IT AND SAY, IF YOUR HOUSES, IF THEY PUT THESE HOUSES IN, YOU COULD TAKE IT FURTHER AND SEE THE IMPACT OF WHAT THOSE ON THOSE HOUSES, BUT ALSO ON OTHER PARTS OF THE AD ADJOINING AN ADJACENT PROPERTY, RIGHT? YEP.
SO I MEAN IT, LIKE, LET'S SAY SOMEBODY CAME IN AND SAID, WELL, THAT WE'RE GONNA PUT 12 HOUSES IN THAT LITTLE BLUE AREA.
YOU COULD THEN SAY, WELL, HERE'S HOW IT'S GOING TO IMPACT THE REST OF THE AREA, RIGHT? YEP.
I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S AS SIMPLE AS, I MEAN, I'M SHOWING AN OVERLY SIMPLIFIED THAT I CAN PLOP A BUILDING IN THERE AND IT'S GOING TO REPLICATE YOU FILLED THAT 50 SQUARE FOOT AREA UP AND WATER CANNOT BE STORED THERE.
THAT VOLUME OF WATER HAD TO GO SOMEWHERE.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT? HOW MUCH DID IT BLOCK FLOW THAT'S GOING SO THEY CAN PUT ALL OF THAT DETAIL IN THERE AND SEE HOW MUCH IT'S GOING AND, AND MITIGATE THINGS BEFORE IT'S A PROBLEM.
RIGHT? AND BY, AND THAT'S, THAT WAS JUST WHERE I WAS GONNA GO.
SO THEY COME IN AND THEY SAY, YOU LOOK AT THIS MODEL AND YOU SEE, WELL, HERE'S WHERE WE GO IF YOU DON'T MITIGATE IT, BUT IF YOU BUILD, UH, DRAINAGE, PUT IN A RETENTION POND, YOU'RE GONNA BE OKAY.
YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW WHAT TO DO.
RIGHT? AND THAT'S DEFENDABLE BECAUSE THEN THAT GUY ON THE DOWNSTREAM SIDE THAT SAYS THEY'VE NEVER FLOODED WHEN YOU HAVE A FLOOD AND THEY DO FLOOD, YOU HAVES SUPPORT FOR WHAT YOU APPROVED AS BEING THAT FLOODING DIDN'T COME FROM THAT, THAT YOU COULD DO A FORENSIC STUDY AND FIGURE OUT, LOOK, IT WAS JUST IN AN EVENT THAT WAS A 500 YEAR EVENT THAT WAS BEYOND DESIGN STANDARDS THAT EVERYBODY FLOODED FROM.
IT WASN'T CAUSED BY SOMEBODY DIVERTING FLOWS ONTO YOU.
SO THAT, I MEAN, IT, IT, IT'S, IT'S LIKE I SAY, I REALLY LIKE THIS BECAUSE IT TAKES A LOT OF THE, THE WEIGHT OFF OF MY SHOULDERS ON THE ASSUMPTIONS AND EVERYTHING AND HELPS SHOW YOU EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON AND WHERE IT'S GOING BE.
IT, IT IS HARDER TO MITIGATE, BUT IT'S A TRUE MITIGATION.
THE OLD FEMALE MODELS, IT WAS EASY.
YOU HAD A KNOB THIS BIG THAT YOU COULD TURN TO MAKE THINGS DISAPPEAR.
I'M DOWN HERE WITH THOSE LITTLE CARBURETOR SCREWS, TWISTING LITTLE TINY KNOBS TO TRY TO GET THINGS RUNNING RIGHT? IS WHAT IT IS.
SO SAY IT'S, IT GIVES YOU THE FULL PICTURE, NOT JUST THE FLOODPLAIN PICTURE.
IT GIVES YOU THE SHEET FLOW, THE URBAN AREAS, EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO, AND YOU GOT A TOOLBOX THAT YOU CAN PULL, PUT A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT THINGS IN THAT YOU CAN DO THE FLOOD FORECASTING, YOU CAN DO THE, THE DAM BREACH ANALYSIS, THE EROSION, EVERYTHING.
IT, IT'S, IT'S GOT IT ALL IN ONE PACKAGE.
I'M NOT GONNA SAY THAT IT'S EASIER TO USE THAN 1D MODELING.
THERE'S NOTHING EASIER TO USE THAN 1D MODELING.
I'M GONNA SAY IT IS 10 TIMES BETTER IN TERMS OF ITS ACCURACY OF WHAT IT'S TELLING YOU THAN 1D.
I MEAN, IT'S GREAT FOR WHEN I GO TO THESE PUBLIC MEETINGS AND THINGS WHEN THE COUNTY'S PROPOSING A PROJECT OR AFTER A FLOOD EVENT AND YOU'RE TRYING TO, THE C'S THINKING THAT THEY GOT FLOODED FROM SOMETHING TO SHOW THEM THIS IS WHAT'S HAPPENING.
AND ONCE THEY SEE THAT PICTURE AND CAN SEE THOSE FLOW PATTERNS GOING, ALL RIGHT, I UNDERSTAND NOW I I SEE WHERE IT'S COMING THERE, THERE WAS NO WAY THAT THAT DAM DOWNSTREAM OF ME FLOODED ME BECAUSE I'M 20 FEET ABOVE IT TYPE THING.
THEY START SEEING THAT RELATION.
UM, OH, I WAS GONNA SEE IF I GOT THAT.
SO HERE IS ANOTHER MODEL I GOT THAT IS A 200 PLUS SQUARE MILE WATERSHED THAT I'VE PUT ALL OF THE DETAIL.
I GOT THE STORM SEWER TRENCHING IN THERE AND EVERYTHING THAT THE BLACK DOTS ARE FEMA FLOOD CLAIMS OUT THERE.
AND THIS IS HURRICANE AMELDA, I THINK, OR NO, THIS IS ACTUALLY A MEMORIAL 2015 EVENT.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE, WHERE SOME OF THE, YOU CAN SEE HOW MUCH WATER WAS IN THEIR BACKYARDS COMING AROUND CATCHING SOME OF THESE STRUCTURES THAT
[01:50:01]
MAKE IT EVIDENT THAT IT WASN'T THE CHANNEL THAT WAS FLOODING THEM, THAT IT WAS THE URBAN BLUE OLD FLOODING THAT WAS CATCHING THEM.UM, THAT BY BEING ABLE TO CAPTURE A LOT OF THAT DETAIL, THE INTERESTING THING IS THAT I'VE TAKEN THIS MODEL NOW THROUGH, CALIBRATED IT TO FIVE EVENTS.
I'M GETTING 85% OF THE HIGH WATER MARKS THAT THEY'VE RECORDED OUT THERE.
I'M UNDER A FOOT OF, I'M WITHIN A FOOT OF THOSE MAJORITY ARE WITHIN A HALF A FOOT OF ACCURACY, WHICH IS REALLY GOOD FOR THIS TYPE OF MODELING BECAUSE I'M MODELING EVERY RAINDROP FROM EVERYBODY'S BACKYARD.
IT'S NOT THE LUMPED PARAMETER TYPE MODELS OF THE PAST.
WHEN I LOOK AT WHAT THE FLOOD INUNDATION IN THIS WATERSHED IS FOR THE CURRENT FEMA MAP, IT WAS LIKE 25 SQUARE MILES USING THIS MODEL AND SHOWING DEPTHS OF FLOODING THAT ARE GREATER THAN A FOOT.
I'M AT 38 SQUARE MILES, WHICH IF YOU DO THE MATH, THAT'S A 60% INCREASE IN THAT FLOODPLAIN, WHICH COINCIDES WITH 60% OF OUR FLOODING RECTOR DAMAGES.
REC FLOOD CLAIMS HAPPEN OUTSIDE OF THE FLOODPLAIN.
SO NOW I'M ACTUALLY STARTING TO CAPTURE THE ENTIRE TRUE FLOODPLAIN, BOTH WATER GETTING TO IT TO THE CHANNEL AND FLOWING OUT OF THE CHANNEL.
SO, BUT I MEAN, YOU, AND YOU GOT WHERE YOU CAN DO WATER SURFACE ELEVATIONS, UM, VELOCITIES, SEE WHAT THE, WHERE THE HIGH SPEED VELOCITY THINGS ARE THAT YOU GOTTA PLAN AROUND THERE, THERE ARE UMPTEEN OTHER RESULTS THAT YOU CAN, LET'S SEE.
SO THEY'RE GIVING YOU ALL SORTS OF THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO A, A RISK ANALYSIS, A DEPTH OF FLOODING TIMES THE VELOCITY.
IF IT'S MORE THAN LIKE TWO AND A HALF, THAT'S WHERE PEOPLE GET SWEPT OFF THEIR FEET IN FLOODING.
SO YOU CAN START DEFINING FLOOD RISK ZONES, WHICH IS A BETTER DEFINITION THAN FLOODWAY FLOODWAY IS.
I WISH IT WOULD JUST GO AWAY BECAUSE IT MEANS NOTHING IN THESE MODELS ANYMORE.
BUT THESE FLOOD ZONE, THE FLOOD RISK STUFF DOES WHERE YOU DO THE DEPTH TIMES VELOCITY.
SO I DON'T HAVE MUCH MORE TO SHOW YOU IF HE HAD YOU GUYS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR LONNIE ZUBIN OR MICHAEL? UM, I DON'T THANK YOU GUYS FOR, UH, THE IN DEPTH ANALYSIS AND, AND WHAT YOU GUYS CAN DO.
UM, I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT THE SOIL CONSERVATION MEETING IS BEING FRUITFUL.
I THINK THAT'S THE POINT OF US TRYING TO GET TOGETHER AND DO THOSE THINGS.
SO, UM, SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR DOING THIS.
AND I DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS.
I THINK I UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON.
I DON'T KNOW WHO'S THE MOST APPROPRIATE, UH, PERSON ESTIMATION OF COST OF, OF PUTTING ALL THAT.
SO THE SOFTWARE YOU, YOU SAID IS FREE AND OUR, WE HAVE AN ENGINEER THAT WILL START IN TWO WEEKS.
UM, SO THEY I'M SURE WILL KNOW HOW TO USE THE SOFTWARE.
WHAT, WHAT, AND, AND, AND I REALIZE WITH YOUR ROUGH, UH, YOU, YOU I'M SURE IS ARE DOING THE ENGINEERING THING NUMBER OF HOURS TIMES I GOT A RULE OF THUMB YEAH.
THAT FROM MY HARRIS COUNTY WORK WITH THE FAMILIARITY I HAVE WITH THE DATA SETS THAT THEY HAVE, WE'RE RUNNING ABOUT 14 TO $1,500 A SQUARE MILE TO DO, TO BUILD THESE MODELS AND GET THEM CALIBRATED.
IF YOU HAVE LESS, YOU DON'T HAVE A LOT OF STORM SEWER.
IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE OUT HERE THAT IT IS A LOT OF KIND OF ROADSIDE DITCH TYPE DRAINAGE IN UNDEVELOPED AREAS THAT WE DON'T, AND WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO PUT IN EVERY STORM SEWER PIPE.
I JUST NEED THOSE MORE OR LESS THE LAST SECTION OF PIPE TO GET IT INTO THE CHANNEL TYPE STUFF.
AND WE CAN GO THROUGH AND APPROXIMATE SOME OF THAT OFF OF THE AERIAL IMAGES AND WHATEVER CAD DRAWINGS YOU MAY HAVE IN THAT.
THE ON THE LOW END, IF WE DON'T GO AS DETAILED AS I DID ON THE HARRIS COUNTY STUFF, WE'RE PROBABLY IN THAT THOUSAND DOLLARS A SQUARE MILE RANGE.
NO, I WOULD, I WOULD, UH, WANT TO GO DETAILED.
I MEAN, WHY, WHY DO IT IF YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET, YEAH.
AND SO IF YOU'RE DOING THE FULL COUNTY
[01:55:01]
TOO, 'CAUSE IT THERE, THERE'S A ECONOMY OF SCALE.IF I DO SOMETHING OVER A HUNDRED SQUARE MILES, I'M IN THAT 1500 PLUS OR MINUS FOUR, $500 RANGE, A SQUARE MILE.
IF IT'S A SMALLER 30 SQUARE MILE, ONE THAT COST US MORE LIKE $3,000 A SQUARE MILE JUST BECAUSE YOU GOT THE MANAGEMENT AND GET, IT'S, YOU GET ALL THE DATA AND YOU PUSH A BUTTON TO BRING IT IN.
IT'S GETTING ALL THE DATA THAT COST, PUSHING THE BUTTON IS THE SAME, WHETHER IT'S 30 MILES OR A HUNDRED SQUARE MILES.
AND, AND THEN ONCE THE DATA'S IN, UM, AND THE SOFTWARE'S FREE, THE DATA'S IN.
DO WE THEN OWN THAT DATA AND HAVE THE ABILITY TO COME IN AND FIDDLE WITH THE KNOBS? YES.
UH, WHERE DEVELOPMENT COMES IN, CAN OUR ENGINEER SAY, OKAY, HERE'S, HERE'S WHAT YOU'RE GONNA CAUSE DOWNSTREAM THAT YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO MITIGATE.
YOU'LL, YOU'LL PROBABLY WANT TO HAVE SET UP SOME SAFEGUARDS THAT, OKAY, HERE'S THE BASE MODEL THAT NOBODY'S CHANGING ANYTHING IN.
YOU GIVE THAT TO THEM AND THEN TELL THEM, GIVE ME WHAT YOU CHANGED BACK SO I CAN PUT IT INTO MY MODEL.
OR YOU HAVE COMPARISON SCRIPT THINGS SET UP SO THAT YOU CAN UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT DID THEY CHANGE.
BECAUSE IT'S EASY TO ACCIDENTALLY OR ON PURPOSE, CHANGE A PARAMETER THAT AFFECTS THE ENTIRE MODEL.
IT'S, YES, IT'S, AND SO YOU WANT TO LOCK DOWN WHO IS ACTUALLY CHANGING THIS FOR THE NEXT PERSON TO USE.
LET THEM DO WHATEVER THEY WANT.
I WOULD PREFER THEM TO, IF IT WAS, IF I WAS YOUR ENGINEER, I WOULD SAY, GIVE ME THE DATA THAT YOU CHANGED.
SHOW ME THE DELTA AND I WILL STICK IT INTO THE MODEL SO THAT I CAN BE CONFIDENT THAT THE NEXT MODEL I GIVE TO THE NEXT GUY IS BUILT CORRECTLY.
ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS? I, I THINK THAT YOU ANSWERED IT.
I, I GUESS IS THERE, IS THERE COLLABORATION? I'M, I'M EITHER HARRIS COUNTY OR FORT BEND COUNTY THAT YOU USED, IS THERE COLLABORATION WITH THE MUNICIPALITIES THAT, UM, DID THEY PARTICIPATE WITH THE COUNTY, THE, THEIR ENGINEERS OR THEIR PLANNING DEPARTMENTS OR WHATEVER? YEAH, IT, I MEAN, IT, IT GOES, USUALLY WE GO IN, WE BUILD THE MODELS AND THEN WE START DISSEMINATING SOME OF THE INFORMATION.
SO LIKE ON THE MAP, NEXT STEP WE DID IT AND THEN WE WOULD GO MEET WITH THE FLOODPLAIN ADMINISTRATORS, EXPLAIN TO THEM WHAT WE'RE DOING.
THEY WOULD LOOK AT THE RESULTS AND SAY, HEY, THIS IS A NEW DEVELOPMENT OVER HERE THAT'S NOT IN THERE.
AND SO THERE, LIKE I SAY THIS, IT'S NOT COMPLETELY SCRAPPING EVERYTHING.
WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES THAT IT'S EASY TO CHANGE ANYTHING.
I KNOW THERE'S NEW LIDAR COMING OUT.
MOST OF THE LIDAR THAT WE'VE GOT IS FROM 2018 OR EARLIER, THERE'S SOME RUMBLINGS OF SOME AREAS COMING OUT WITH 2024 THAT'S DOWN TO A HALF METER RESOLUTION.
SLIDE R AGAIN, OH, IT'S THE TERRAIN DATA.
SO IT'S, THE PLANE FLIES OVER AND IT'S SHOOTING A LASER AT THE GROUND AND IT'LL GIVE YOU THAT GROUND TOPO ELEVATION.
IT'S THE, THE GREEN AND BROWNS AND REDS THAT GIVE YOU THE ELEVATION DATA.
SO THAT'S ALL FILTERED DOWN TO LIKE A ONE METER.
SO THEY'LL HAVE 10 POINTS IN THIS DESKTOP AND THEY'LL AVERAGE IT INTO A SINGLE ELEVATION.
WITH THE NEW STUFF, THEY'LL HAVE FOUR POINTS FOR THAT.
I DON'T REALLY HAVE A, THANKS SO MUCH, APPRECIATE THE IN.
I DON'T REALLY HAVE A QUESTION FOR HIM, BUT I THINK JUST FOR US AS A COMMISSIONER'S COURT, UM, THE RESPONSIBILITY PROBABLY FALLS ON US WHEN WE, WHEN OUR ENGINEER SHOWS UP ON MAY 12TH.
AND THEN WHEN WE START LOOKING AT, I KNOW WE'VE TALKED ABOUT DOING SUBDIVISION UH, REVISIONS AND REWRITES REGULATIONS, UH, TO HAVE OUR COUNCIL LOOK AT THIS, MAKE SURE THAT THIS IS SOMETHING WE CAN BASE THOSE ON AND THEN BUILD IT INTO THAT.
SO I, I WOULD THINK AS A COMMISSIONER'S COURT, THOSE ARE THE NEXT STEPS WE START MOVING TOWARD.
AND I KNOW AGREED, WE'VE HELPED SOME OF THE COMMUNITIES WRITE SOME OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE KNOW HOW TO USE THE MODELS, HOW THE DEVELOPMENT'S GOING TO USE THEM AND HELP GUIDE SOME OF THAT LANGUAGE AND DONE IT UMPTEEN TIMES IN HARRIS COUNTY THAT WHEN THE NEW MODELS COME OUT AND EVERYTHING, TRY TO GIVE THEM A GUIDANCE MANUAL ON HOW TO USE THE, HOW TO USE THE PRODUCT, HOW THE REVIEWERS ARE GOING TO LOOK AT IT, WHAT THE REVIEWERS NEED TO LOOK FOR, THAT TYPE OF STUFF THAT DO A LOT OF THAT.
AND WE'D PROBABLY WOULD OBVIOUSLY WANNA HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH YOU, BUT FOR, FOR OUR PURPOSES, WE NEED TO WORK WITH THE PEOPLE THAT ARE GONNA BE, THAT WE'RE GETTING OUR ADVICE FROM AND, AND SEE HOW WE IMPLEMENT THIS INTO IT.
I ENJOY, ONCE PEOPLE ENJOY WHAT WE'RE, WE'RE PITCHING THAT THEY'RE NOT ACTUALLY A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE HALF THE TIME.
[02:00:01]
YOU, AND YOU ARE GONNA SEND US YOUR PRESENTATION.CAN I, CAN WE GET A COPY OF IT? YES.
SO AT 1111 THE WORKSHOP IS ADJOURNED.