Texas Reimagines the Fight Against Floods

Abstract

The Texas Water Journal invited former Chairman of the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and current Chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, Peter Lake, to share his thoughts on the 2019 state flood assessment and other framework efforts. The opinion expressed in this commentary is the opinion of the individual author and not the opinion of the Texas Water Journal or the Texas Water Resources Institute. In response to the TWDB’s 2019 state flood assessment and other efforts initiated in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the 86th Texas Legislature developed a visionary new framework to fight future floods. The TWDB was tasked with overseeing and coordinating this new effort in conjunction with fellow state and federal agencies. In accordance with the guiding legislation, the TWDB is using a familiar framework based on key functional areas: science, planning, and financing. In the case of floods, that framework transforms into mapping, planning, and mitigation—the three pillars of fighting floods in Texas. Citation: Lake P. 2021. Texas Reimagines the Fight Against Floods. Texas Water Journal. 12(1):58-67. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v12i1.7133.