San Marcos Using $34M Disaster Grant To Begin Flood Control Designs

Moyer said the city may apply for additional funding from the HUD CDBG-DR program to support the city’s flood control efforts.

San Marcos city officials are using $34 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program to begin designs for flood control along the Blanco River.

The goal of the project is to prevent flooding, erosion and environmental impacts, according to Laurie Moyer, director of engineering and capital improvements.

Completing improvements to the river bank most likely will require the city to acquire some privately-owned land along and near River Road, Moyer said. City officials have hired a consulting firm to provide engineering and architecture services through the first quarter of 2019.

The consultant has requested that the city allot an additional $14 million to purchase land for the flood control projects.

Moyer said the city may apply for additional funding from the HUD CDBG-DR program to support the city’s flood control efforts.

The next step is to perform an environmental assessment of the flood control projects and receive approval by the end of 2019.

Following that, the city plans to seek bids for construction services for the flood control projects and then begin construction by late 2020 or early 2021. The flood control projects could be completed by the end of 2022.

This was originally published by strategic partnerships.