Dallas County wants to protect one of its economic hubs from floods

Southern Dallas Inland Port is home to distribution centers for companies like Home Depot and Amazon, along with thousands of trade, transportation, and utilities jobs. Now, county officials are studying ways to protect the economic hub from potential flooding.

Dallas County is making progress on a study of how flooding can impact Inland Port and its surrounding areas. The county updated the city of Dallas during a recent transportation and Infrastructure committee meeting.

“I’m very interested in how we began to get control of that (water) flow and make some very wise choices,” said Dallas City Council member Kathy Stewart.

The county received $5.3 million from the Texas Water Development Board for the study. It aims to prevent flood death and determine the approach the county will take to minimize flooding.

The study is vital for the county to receive funding from the state as Texas works on its first flood plan, said Lissa Shepard, Dallas County’s senior bridge engineer and floodplain manager.

The county is now collecting data on how much the water rises in creeks around Inland Port. The county’s preliminary study should be ready next fall.

Juan Salinas II is a KERA news intern. Got a tip? Email Juan at jsalinas@kera.org. You can follow Juan on Twitter @4nsmiley.