03Levee emergency Action PLAns...A Life-sAver for cities! 04

How to turn fLood studies into Projects

06 Low imPAct deveLoPment - nrH centre - city of nortH ricHLAnd HiLLs

07 PArAdigm sHift of stormwAter mAnAgement in fort wortHissue 8 fALL 2012

A n e w s L e t t e r f r o m t H e wAt e r r e s o u r c e s e n g i n e e r i n g g r o u P o f H A L f f A s s o c i At e s , i n c .

Beauty and the Beast: Stream Restoration and StabilizationAndy Carter, PE

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Are your creeks and streams in danger of winning any beauty pageants? it’s not likely. traditional engineering techniques favored function and efficiency over aesthetic, leaving creeks scarred with concrete structures, gabions and retaining walls. Additionally, many naturally preserved streams are experiencing significant erosion exacerbated by urbanization which endangers infrastructure. when stabilizing a stream, is it possible to design a beautiful solution that employs a natural look while taming the beast of hydraulic design parameters such as shear and velocity? Along a portion of shoal creek within the urban core of the city of Austin, this was the challenge presented to the water resources group at Halff.

to fortify the channel side slope and prevent historical residences from being undermined by erosive forces, the city desired a robust design solution that would withstand the frequent and violent flooding of this urban stream. further, the solution needed to integrate into the natural aesthetic of the city’s linear trails that flank the creek.

to meet the “hard” performance specifications and provide a “soft” look, the Halff team designed an innovative solution that incorporated natural local materials with a combination of modern geo-textile products. subject to periodic flooding and long- term down cutting, the toe (bottom three feet) of the bank stabilization was fortified with

rough cut limestone blocks. Above the fortified toe, Halff engineered a stream bank stabilization design that consisted of a mechanically stabilized earth (mse) lifts tied back into the slope with uniaxial straps. each of these lifts was capped with a protruding “soil wrap”. these caps, filled with topsoil, provide stepped tiers that were seeded with a native grass and wildflower mix and provided a soft and vegetated face to the strong mse wall behind.

wrapped in a strong biaxial geogrid and a soil retention blanket, these soil wraps resist the erosive velocities while accomplishing a softer vegetated

look. utilizing this technique, Halff was able to fulfill the city of Austin’s mission to fortify a swift moving and erosive stream bank while providing a natural channel look to this

t h e

engineered design. designing not just engineering solutions, but solutions that properly integrate into the environment is the new challenge in restoring urban streams throughout texas. Halff is committed to designing solutions that meet our clients’ needs. if you have a similar need, please do not hesitate to contact Andy carter (acarter@halff.com / 512-777-4559) or your local Halff representative. u

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Beauty and the Beast: Stream Restoration and Stabilization

stream bank stabilization under construction early vegetation of the soil wraps after 3 weeks

Many available grant opportunities exist to assist communities in flood protection planning and hazard mitigation. The table below summarizes a few of these available grants in texas:

Flood Protection and Hazard Mitigation Grant Opportunities Cindy Engelhardt, PE, CFM

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Programs

Administrated through

Purpose / goal

cost(% federal / % Local)

Hazard mitigationgrant Program(HmgP)

dem

the key purpose of the HmgP is to ensure that the opportunity to take critical mitigation measures to reduce the risk of loss of a life and property from future disasters is not lost during the reconstruction process following a disaster.

75/25

Pre-disaster mitigation (Pdm)

dem

Pdm is designed to assist states, territories, indian tribal governments, and local communities in implementing a sustained pre-disaster natural hazard mitigation program to reduce overall risk to the population and structures from future hazard events.

75/25 or 90/10

flood mitigation Assistance

twdB

the fmA goal is to reduce or eliminate claims under the national flood insurance Program (nfiP).

75/25 or 90/10

repetitive flood claims (rfc)

dem

The RFC goal is to reduce flood damages to individual properties for which one or more claim payments for losses have been made under flood insurance coverage.

100/0

severe repetitive Loss (srL)

twdB

The SRL goal is to reduce flood damages to residential properties that have experienced severe repetitive losses under flood insurance coverage.

75/25 or 90/10

flood Protection Planning (fPP)

twdB

the key purpose of the fPP is to assist political subdivision to conduct flood studies for entire watersheds to evaluate both structural and nonstructural solutions to flooding problems.

50/50 or 75/25

community development Block grant (cdBg)

u.s. dept. of Housing and urban development and general Land Office

The CDBG program is a flexible program that provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs.

varies

Money is tight. Many cities, counties, and districts have studied their flooding problems, and are searching for methods to stretch their budgets. It is possible for them to get their studies from paper to reality by capitalizing on Federal and State funding sources. Wharton County is a case example of this process.

wharton county, population 41,280, is located less than 30 miles from the southwestern edge of Houston, the 4th largest city in the us. the west and east portions of the county are divided by the colorado river and the north American free trade Agreement (nAftA) international Highway (future iH 69). the county is poised to explode in population over the next 20 years.

wharton county may be small in population now, but they have taken a giant step in long range planning. realizing that development is advancing toward them at an alarming rate (a common saying being that “Houston has jumped over the Brazos river”), in 2005, the wharton county commissioners court carefully examined the development and population growth rates in nearby fort Bend county. they determined that changes

were coming to wharton county and these changes would compound their existing drainage issues. They first initiated a county-wide planning effort to develop a flood mitigation Plan and a county-wide drainage master Plan. utilizing femA flood mitigation Assistance (fmA) funding administered by the texas water development Board (twdB), wharton county met with its cities: wharton, el campo and east Bernard several times over the course of a year to identify mitigation actions that would minimize flood risks within the county. this coordination led to the development of a flood mitigation Plan.

to obtain the funding necessary to study all of their creeks, the county part-nered with their cities and the twdB to apply for flood Protection Planning grants to study their two critical creeks: the san Bernard river and the tres Palacios river. the san Bernard river forms the eastern county line with Austin, fort Bend, and Brazoria counties while the tres Palacios river originates in the city of el campo and drains southeast into matagorda county.

wharton county was awarded twdB flood Protection Planning grants to study these two rivers. the additional funding for the studies was obtained through a low interest twdB flood Protection Loan.

How to Turn Flood Studies into Projects John Ivey, PE, CFM and Wes Birdwell, PE

wharton county completed its studies in 2009 and adopted their new master drainage Plan (mdP). the mdP included the following recommendations:• clearing along the san Bernard river,• channelization of the tres Palacios river in the city of el campo,• channelization of mustang creek just upstream of jackson county, and• formation of a drainage department.

Wharton County then switched to the task of transitioning flood studies into projects. the county partnered with the city of el campo to apply for a federal severe repetitive Loss grant to channelize the tres Palacios river through the city of el campo. the 90% grant will allow wharton county to provide equipment and manpower to construct the improvements, more than covering the 10% local funding requirement as in-kind services. wharton county also applied for a flood mitigation Assistance grant from the twdB to provide 75% matching funds to improve a section of east mustang creek. the proposed improvements will remove the community of Louise from the 100-year floodplain. Again, the County will provide manpower and equipment to more than cover its 25% local funding requirement as in-kind services. Halff Associates has also assisted numerous other clients to position themselves to receive Federal, State and other funding to turn flood studies into projects. Below is a list of a few of these projects.• matagorda county and the matagorda county conservation and

reclamation district - flood mitigation Assistance (fmA) grant for the town of matagorda drainage improvements

• Hays county - Hazard mitigation grant Program (HmgP) grant to install flood warning at low water crossings

• Haltom city, skyline mobile Home Park - Hazard mitigation grant Program (HmgP) acquisition project

• city of richland Hills - flood mitigation Assistance (fmA) acquisition project. note: the city is close to funding the project with city funds due to time constraints. city of Hurst, valley view - Hazard mitigation grant Program (HmgP) buyout and demolition project.

For more information on turning your flood studies into projects, please contact wes Birdwell (wbirdwell@halff.com / 512-913-2906), john ivey (jivey@halff.com / 817-764-7430), or your local Halff representative. u

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Levee Emergency Action Plans...A Life-Saver for Cities! Mike Fallon, PE

Almost all of us have seen a levee at some point. some of us may live near a levee. whether it’s in a rural setting meandering across the countryside or perhaps in a highly-urbanized environment where high-rise buildings and homes exist, these engineered earthen structures suddenly appear alongside floodplains and rivers throughout Texas and across the nation. Levees may be thought of as the “safety net” that will keep us safe during a high water flooding event; however, levees are only a part of a highly sophisticated engineered system that goes to work when a flood event occurs. The protection a levee affords is only as good as the emergency Action Plan (eAP) that goes with it. working in collaboration with local communities, levee/watershed drainage entities are able to decrease the risk of property damages and loss of life by developing and implementing a comprehensive levee system eAP. In the spirit of collaboration along with a shared civic responsibility, Halff Associates (Halff) joined with the City of Dallas (CoD) to demonstrate the City’s EAP in action to fellow levee owners from Fort Bend County.

david garcia (cod), Project manager, led the day long tour beginning at the trinity watershed management’s flood control room located near the Baker Pump station alongside the trinity river east Levee. the flood control Headquarters houses the staff and technology that operate the trinity river Levee system and all pump stations for the city of dallas.

david explained the details and procedures the city goes through before, during and after a storm event occurring over the trinity river watershed. mr. garcia also described the supervisory control and data Acquisition (scAdA) and Automated Local evaluation in real time (ALert) systems,

david garcia (center standing), explains the city’s step by step actions in accordance with their eAP to (from right to left) mark vogler, Alan spears, greg frank, and jessica Baker.

from the Baker Pump station, the group traveled north on the east Levee to Hampton Pump station while overlooking the on-going construction of a seepage cut-off wall along the way. crossing the floodplain to the west Levee via the old mockingbird street Bridge, the group could see the old and the new Pavaho Pump stations from the top of the levee.

construction is nearly complete on the new Pavaho Pump station which added an additional 375,000 gallons per minute (gpm) in pumping capacity for the trinity river west Levee, compared to the existing 80,000 gpm at the old Pavaho Pump station. Presentations to the group over lunch were followed by a question and answer session. david garcia (cod) talked about the city’s flood fighting experiences in the trinity watershed and jessica Baker (Halff) provided an in-depth perspective on the planning and development behind the cod’s trinity river Levee eAP, including a look into the critical components of identifying responsibilities, notification flowcharts, demographical risks, the importance of establishing evacuation zones and routes, identifying special needs areas, conducting table top exercise training, as well as some examples of various outreach efforts which are vitally important in communicating with the public.

the group takes a look inside the old Baker Pump station on the trinity Levee. shown is (from left to right) Bobby Adams, wes Birdwell, mark vogler, jing chen, david worley, Alan spears,

necessary levee inspection duties, as well as the use of integrated technology and coordination across various local, county and state agencies. the resources described by mr. garcia afford dallas the opportunity to proactively address operations and maintenance actions throughout the city and particularly within the trinity river Levee system on-going construction of the seepage cut-off wall along the way.

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the dallas skyline and trinity river

So What is an EAP?

An emergency Action Plan is a formal document that identifies potential emergency conditions and

specifies preplanned actions to be followed to minimize property damage and loss of life.

the plan identifies: actions to be taken for different emergency levels beginning with notification flow

charts; the various roles parties will take to alert and evacuate citizens to safe locations; and critical areas where emergency response

personnel will be needed to evacuate the populations, if needed.

the site tour concluded at dallas city Hall in the office of emergency management’s emergency operations center (eoc)…the “command center” for the city. josh roberts, emergency management specialist, showed everyone how his team integrates all the moving parts from across the city during an event and how decisions are rendered. He discussed the importance of various tools such as the: newly devised Dallas Flood Risk Dry Erase Maps; future placement of flood evacuation signs; capability of utilizing mobile devices; and the importance of full scale training exercises.

jessica Baker discussing the value and benefits gained from implementing an outreach program associated with an emergency Action Plan.

josh roberts on right speaking to (from left to right) jessica Baker, jing chen, robert valenzuela, wes Birdwell, sharon valiente, and mark vogler.

Participating City/County Officials Included: fort Bend county: mark vogler (drainage district mgr), richard stolleis (county engr), Alan spears (dep emergency mgmt coordinator), - sugar Land, tX: david worley (trans engr), robert valenzuela (Asst city engr) - fort Bend county Lid #2: greg frank (Lid engr) - missouri city, tX: sharon valiante (Asst Public works dir), jing chen (Asst city engr), judy Lefevers (emergency mgmt coordinator) – dallas, tX: david garcia (Project mgr), josh roberts (emergency mgmt) - Halff Associates: walter skipwith, Bobby Adams, wes Birdwell, jessica Baker and mike fallon

Closing Note - nothing is nobler than to extend a helping hand to your neighbor and to share one’s knowledge. special thanks goes to the city of dallas: david garcia and josh roberts for their willingness and generosity to share information and showcase their eAP from the ground level along the trinity river.

üNotification Flow Charts - (chain of command for decisions, responsible positions with current names and telephone numbers)

üResponsibilities - (define actions and responsible department/ position)

üCommunications Plan - (how to convey information to whom and when)

so, what’s the bottom line? An emergency Action Plan is critical to any public agency responsible for the safety of their citizens. An ongoing flooding event is not the time to starting thinking about a plan or what to do… the planning, coordination and simulation exercises must occur long before an actual event. Preparation is the key to the success of the plan. if you are interested in learning more about eAPs and how to properly implement an an eAP, please contact jessica Baker (jbaker@halff.com / 214-212-6692) or your local Halff representative. u

üAssessment of Population at Risk - (demographics, quantity, locations of citizens, structures, and assets potentially at risk)

üSurveillance Plan – (pre-emergency actions for monitoring and detecting emergency situations)

üEvacuation Plan - (ensure safe methods/directions for travel)

üShelter Plan - (locations, size, accommodations, contacts

üRecovery Plan - (damage assessment, disaster assistance, health, safety and security considerations)

üEAP Maintenance Plan - (training, exercises and drills to support plan updates)

EAP BASIC COMPONENTS:

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5

this year, the city of north richland Hills formally opened the “nrH centre.” the nrH centre is the city’s new recreation center. situated on 13 acres, the site takes advantage of sweeping street views of the building on three sides to include the city’s Public Library . the nrH centre is currently seeking Leadership in energy and environmental design (Leed™) certification to recognize its sustainable design and construction. for example, the project has been designed with highly efficient mechanical systems, water-saving fixtures, and energy-saving lighting. the building has also been designed with a great deal of transparency to take advantage of natural light while limiting harsh solar gain. the building’s walls and other architectural features are curved to match the surrounding landscape and adjacent roadways.

the site design is based on a “water flow” concept. the site has been shaped and carved to capture storm water flowing over vegetated areas to clean and remove solids prior to entering the storm drain system. the parking lot bays have been separated by large islands for green views and to improve water quality. each bay of parking lot slopes toward a bioswale, with associated curbs being eliminated to facilitate flow of water into the bioswale. Plantings within the bioswales capture silt and slow the water speed to reduce suspended solids. drainage is eventually carried by underground storm drain to a regional detention pond.

A large courtyard/garden at the north side of the building includes ribbons of concrete walls extending from the building “fins” into the landscape. connecting these concrete walls are curved limestone walls which mimic the curved building glass to create a formal swale which captures water from the building and conveys it over weirs, ending at a bioswale adjacent to an indoor/outdoor pool slide. this bioswale is a mixture of rock, sand, and compost, allowing water to be absorbed into the ground and if necessary, overflowing into the storm drain system.

Key members of the design team included the city of north richland Hills Parks & recreation department, Brinkley sargent Architects, Kendall Landscape Architecture, and Halff Associates. u

Low Impact Development - NRH Centre - City of North Richland Hills Stephen Crawford, PE, CFM

The NRH Centre was designed on a “water flow” concept to take advantage of natural landscape

bioswales instead of underground storm drain pipe.

nrH centre - south face

nrH centre - west face

nrH Parking Lot Bioswale

nrH curved Limestone grass swale 6

Halff is pleased to announce the addition of Andy Johnston, PE, CFM, CPESC. He has joined the firm as a project manager working in the Austin office.

in his new role, mr. johnston will help our clients throughout texas with his 39 years of experience in civil engineering and water resources. mr. johnston has extensive design experience with natural channel design, watershed assessments, flood control channels basins, erosion control, Best Management Practices assessments, water quality basins, and sustainable stormwater designs. mr. johnston’s skillset will greatly enhance Halff’s ability to serve our clients who want a sustainable balance between new infrastructure and the natural environment. u

Andy Johnston, PE, CFM, CPESC, Joins Halff Associates, Inc. as a Water Resources Project Manager in the Austin Office

Paradigm Shift of Stormwater Management in Fort Worth T. Lynn Lovell, PE, CFM

he widespread and disastrous floods of june 2004 in fort worth became the catalyst for a paradigm shift in the way the city of fort

worth addresses drainage and flooding issues. in late 2004, a citizens’ Policy Advisory committee was formed and in early 2005

recommended a storm water utility (swu) fee as a funding source for drainage. Halff Associates participated with Amec consultants

in the development of the swu which was adopted by city council in february 2006.

the city simultaneously selected Halff to assist in the complete update of the 1967 storm drainage criteria and design manual. the

original manual, developed in 1967, had been amended in 1975, 1986, and 1994. new policies and criteria were needed to reflect the major changes

that have occurred in community and regional standards, technology, and environmental regulations that impact stormwater management. the primary

motivation for the new manual was to guide the community in drainage policy and criteria so that new development or redevelopment does not increase

flooding, erosion and water pollution problems. the direction from city council was: “don’t make things worse…and how can we make things better?”

development of the manual included significant involvement with key city stormwater staff such as don mcchesney and steve eubanks, as well as, more

than 100 local engineers and developers who provided input through technical and policy advisory committees. in march 2006, the city adopted the

stormwater management design manual which had been developed as a “Local criteria” section of the 2006 version of the north central texas council of

governments’ (nctcog) integrated stormwater management (iswm) manual™.

in january 2009, Halff was again selected to develop an updated and expanded fort worth manual in light of experience and comments of the last three

years, plus major changes in the nctcog iswm manual™, which was revised in April 2010. After several drafts and significant vetting of the manual and

accompanying grading permit ordinance in the engineering and development community, the August 2012 iswm criteria manual for site development

and construction was adopted by the city.

one of the most important policies incorporated into the manual is a requirement for detailed evaluation of upstream and downstream drainage impacts

from proposed developments. this policy, along with other significant efforts in the stormwater management Program such as watershed master planning,

gis-based storm sewer system mapping, and aggressive construction of needed improvements, have truly revolutionized stormwater management in the

city of fort worth. u

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Papers & Presentations:

Austin • Conroe • DallasFlower Mound • Fort Worth • Frisco Georgetown • Grand Prairie • Houston McAllen • Richardson • San Antonio

1-800 HALFF US www.halff.com

Asce texas section - fall conference, november 7-10, 2012 – fort worth, texaso the elusive 100-year flood, why does it Keep changing?, t. Lynn Lovell,

walter skipwith, craig Loftin (corps)

o ethics in drainage Litigation – Lynn Lovell, Pe, cfm

Asce texas section - fall conference, november 7-10, 2012 – fort worth, texas

o the elusive 100-year flood, why does it Keep changing?, t. Lynn Lovell, Pe, CFM; Walter Skipwith, PE, DWRE, CFM; Craig Loftin (USACE)

o ethics in drainage Litigation – Lynn Lovell, Pe, cfm

national Hydrologic warning council – 4th Annual nHwc texas dam safety and field technician training workshop, november 13-14, 2012 – Austin, texas

o real-time decision support system for tarrant regional water district upper trinity river flood operations, Andrew ickert, Pe, cfm

DatescHecK tHese

imPortAnt

November 7-10, 2012 TExAS SECTION ASCE

FALL CONFERENCE FORT WORTH, TExAS WWW.TExASCE.ORG

November 14, 2012 TFMA HALF-DAy FLOODPLAIN

MANAGEMENT TRAINING WORkSHOP AND CFM ExAM OPPORTUNITy

HALFF OFFICE RICHARDSON, Tx

November 28 – 30, 2012 HALFF TRAINING: BASIC FLOODPLAIN

HyDRAULICS USING HEC-RAS FORT WORTH, Tx

December 3 – 5, 2012 HALFF TRAINING: BASIC FLOODPLAIN

HyDRAULICS USING HEC-RAS AUSTIN, Tx

February 27 – March 1, 2013 SECOND NATIONAL FLOOD WORkSHOP

HOUSTON TExAS

WWW.WxRESEARCH.COM/NFW/

the meeting in rockwall was a great success. more than 340 floodplain management Professionals attended. during this conference Halff presented several technical presentations. All of the presentations are included on the tfmA website under – conferences – Previous conference Presentations. or click here: http://www.tfma.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=51

• workshop: How to successfully use femA’s dfirm digital data, jack young, eit, cfm, sam Amoako-Atta, gisP, cfm, eric Hajek, gisP, cfm

• History of flooding and floodplain management in north texas, t. Lynn Lovell, Pe, cfm, john ivey, Pe, cfm, and roy sedwick, cfm (tfmA executive director)

• twdB flood funding needs database (floodfund) research Project, catherine rowley, cfm• where did the creek go using 2d Analysis to examine a Zone A where there is no stream, Hurst,

tX, terry Barr, Pe, cfm and sam Hinojosa, Pe, cfm• comparisons of fis to recent open channel studies in the city of fort worth, terry Barr, Pe,

CFM; Sam Hinojosa, PE, CFM; Ranjan S. Muttiah, Ph.D, PE, CFM (City of Fort Worth); and Steve eubanks, Pe, cfm (city of fort worth)

• real-time decision support system for tarrant regional water district upper trinity river flood operations, Andrew ickert, Pe, cfm and craig ottman, Pe, cfm

• The Mysterious 100-Year Flood, Why Does it Keep Changing?, T. Lynn Lovell, PE, CFM; Walter Skipwith, PE, DWRE, CFM; Craig Loftin (USACE)

• ethics in floodplain management, john ivey, Pe, cfm

jack young, eit, cfm Presenting at the dfirm workshop terry Barr, Pe, cfm Presenting in a concurrent session

Lynn Lovell, Pe, cfm Presenting at the opening Plenary session