HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 22243-06-2016 ORDINANCE NO. 22243-06-2016
AN ORDINANCE INCREASING THE ESTIMATED RECEIPTS AND
APPROPRIATIONS IN THE GRANTS OPERATING FUND IN THE AMOUNT
OF $632,309.00 SUBJECT TO RECEIPT OF A GRANT FROM THE TEXAS
WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD TO FUND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A
FLOOD RESPONSE PLAN AND AUGMENT THE CITY'S EXISTING HIGH
WATER WARNING SYSTEM; PROVIDING FOR A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE;
MAKING THIS ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE OF PRIOR ORDINANCES;
REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; AND
PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH,
TEXAS:
SECTION 1.
That in addition to those amounts allocated to the various City departments for Fiscal Year 2015-2016 in the
Budget of the City Manager, there shall also be increased estimated receipts and appropriations in the
GrantS Operating Fund in the amount of$632,309.00 subject to receipt of a grant from the Texas Water
Development Board, to fund the development of a Flood Response Plan and augment the City's existing
High Water Warning System.
SECTION 2.
That should any portion, section or part of a section of this ordinance be declared invalid, inoperative or
void for any reason by a court of competent jurisdiction,such decision, opinion or judgment shall in no way
impair the remaining portions, sections, or parts of sections of this ordinance, which said remaining
provisions shall be and remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 3.
That this ordinance shall be cumulative of Ordinance No. 21873-09-2015 and all other ordinances and
appropriations amending the same except in those instances where the provisions of this ordinance are in
direct conflict with such other ordinances and appropriations, in which instance said conflicting provisions
of said prior ordinances and appropriations are hereby expressly repealed. .
SECTION 4.
This ordinance shall take effect upon adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY:
Arthur Bashor,Assistant City Attorney mlly J. er,C4 Secretary
ADOPTED AND EFFECTIVE: June 7.2016
Ordinance No. 22243-06-2016
Page 1 of 1
I. GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Legal name of applicant: City of Fort Worth
2. Participating political subdivisions: City of Fort Worth
3. Official representative:
Greg Simmons,Assistant Director,
Storm Water Management Division,
Transportation and Public Works Department,
1000 Throckmorton Street,
Fort Worth, TX 76102
Phone: 817-392-7852; Fax: 817-392-2433;
Email: Gregory.Simmons @fortworthtexas.gov
4. Total project cost: $632,309.00
5. Total grant funds requested from the TWDB: $247,378.00
6. Applicant cash contribution to the study: $ 350,000.00
7. Source of cash contribution: Stormwater Utility Fund
8. Applicant in-kind services contribution: $ 34,931.00
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II. PLANNING/PROJECT INFORMATION
9. Watersheds for Flood Protection Needs:
This project proposal is applicable to flood prone watersheds within Extra-Territorial
Jurisdiction (ETJ) and City Limits of Fort Worth.
10. Project Area for Economically Disadvantaged:
The project proposal is not targeted for areas with economically disadvantaged.
11. The purpose of the project:
There are two purposes: (a) enhance an early warning system, and (b) develop a flood
response plan.
12. Severity of the existing or potential flood hazard:
The City of Fort Worth is primarily vulnerable to flooding from rapidly occurring flash
flood events that affect its neighborhoods. Development from increased impervious
cover has decreased lag times from watersheds and contributed to increased peak flows
along small streams and areas with undersized storm drains. The inner city areas,
particularly older neighborhoods built in 1920s and 1930s within Loop 820, are
especially vulnerable due to severely undersized drainage systems. Periodic flash
floods over the past 15 years have flooded many hundreds of homes, businesses and
churches, many on multiple occasions.
Additionally, there have been 17 fatalities since 1986 within the City of Fort Worth from
vehicles entering high water over roadways along small streams. The City undertook a
Roadway Flood Hazard Assessment to review over 700 locations, of which 285 were
identified for detailed inspection and hazard scoring. The City now has a High-Water
Warning System at the 51 most hazardous crossings, set to trigger flashers when the
water is rapidly rising or about to overtop a roadway. Notification is sent to the base
station, triggering an email to key personnel regarding flasher location and
depth. Although several of the most dangerous crossings have been replaced over the
past ten years, funding is lagging for additional crossing projects.
13. Scope of Work (6 page limit): Attached at end of application.
14. How will the Project Reduce Loss of Life?
Due to Fort Worth's geography, most streams and drainage sheds are relatively small
and travel only a short distance before reaching either the Clear Fork or West Fork
Trinity River. Prior studies have determined that stream gauging cannot give adequate
advance warning when flash flooding is occurring. Further, rainfall from thunderstorms
is quite variable based on where individual cells pop up and how long they linger in a
certain area, so that it is impossible to predict which neighborhoods are most prone to
localized flooding impact.
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By installing an extensive rain gauge network and developing proper calibration and
triggers, emergency responders can be notified to respond even as flash flooding is
beginning to occur. This in turn allows for barricades to be installed and emergency
vehicles to be mobilized in the affected neighborhoods in advance of the worst flooding.
Real-time rainfall information, plus depth information from the City's existing High-
Water Warning (HWWS) sites, can be shared with the City's partner agencies (NWS,
TRWD, USACE, etc.) in order to further enhance their warnings and response, as well as
with the public on a future website or even on a Reverse-911 system.
After the event, rainfall data as well as stream depth at HWW sites can be used to
improve rainfall estimates from radar(Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of Atmosphere
CASA radar and NWS-NEXRAD) measurements, as well as the City's own triggers. These
can also be used to enhance the City's Emergency Action Plan (EAP) to ensure better
coordination among City and external agency personnel, and to assist with long-term
flood control planning. All of these efforts together will contribute to reduced loss of
life both in an immediate flood event and in mitigation planning.
15. How will the Project Reduce Loss of Property?
The faster response time for emergency personnel (especially if combined with Reverse
911 notification) will allow citizens to move vehicles and personal property out of
harm's way, as opposed to the current situation when citizen's discover flooding as it is
already occurring on their property.
16. Schedule
Assumed contract date- 10/1/2016
Milestone dates
10/15/2016 11/30/2016 1/31/2016 2/28/2017 3/31/2017 7/31/2017 11/30/2017 12/15/2017:
Project Kick-off
Task 1:Flood sensing for reliability
Task 1.1:id.Critical Water level gaging sites
Task 1.2:Id.Critical rain gaging sites
Task 13:Install water level&rain gages
Task 2:Flood Warning software(city cash cost-share)
Task 2.1:Develop requirements and advertise
Task 2.2:Purchase software&contract with vendor
Task 23:Install and train City staff
Task 3:Flood Response Planning/k/01
Task 3.1:Develop RFQ for consultant services.
Task 3.2:Storm intensities by storm sewer-sheds
Task 3.3:Develop EAP&coordinate
Task 3,4:Final report to TWDF1
17. Budget by Task:
TASK DESCRIPTION AMOUNT
1 Water level and Rain Sensing for Reliability and Resilience $287,496.00
2 Advanced Flood Warning Software $273,904.00
3 Flood Response Plan $70,909.00
TOTAL $632,309.00
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18. Expense Budget by Category
CATEGORY AMOUNT
Salaries &Wages (City match) $24,948.00
Fringe (City match), 32% $7,983.00
Travel (City match) $2,000.00
Consulting Services contract (City match) $100,000.00
Flood Warning Software (City cash match) $250,000.00
Water level and rain gaging (TWDB funds) $247,378.00
Overhead NA
Profit N/A
TOTAL $632,309.00
Salaries and wages are based on mid-point of City's salary schedule for FY2016.
19. Qualifications and Direct Experience of Project Staff:
Ranjan S. Muttiah, Ph.D., P.E., CFM,Senior Professional Engineer, will serve as the City's
project manager. Supporting City staff includes Cannon Henry, P.E., CFM, Senior
Professional Engineer over Field Engineering (including maintenance of existing HWW
system); Steven Eubanks, P.E., CFM, Chief Stormwater Engineer; Chris Johnson, P.E.,
CFM, Engineering Manager, and Elizabeth Young, GISP, GIS/IT lead.
Dr. Muttiah has nearly 25 years of experience as manager, leader, and team-member in
national,Texas, and City urban water resources projects: among them, development
team of SWAT model at Texas A&M/USDA-ARS, USDA-NRCS national hydrologic
modeling, 10/12-digit sub-watersheds for Texas, Edwards recharge improvement from
brush management (partly funded by TWDB), City water distribution system modeling,
and Fort Worth flood control projects. Since joining City of Fort Worth's SWM/TPW
Department in 2011, he was project manager of City's watershed flood studies (FEMA
LOMR revisions) when he successfully managed nearly 40 different consultant contracts,
water quality technical lead, master planner for MS4/post-construction and flood
warning system. Dr. Muttiah has also published in peer reviewed journals with 4,700
citations from 51 publications (researchgate.net statistics). In his current capacity, he
will be leading City of Fort Worth's effort to improve the reliability of the HWWS sensing
and flood warning system.
Mr. Henry has worked in the City of Fort Worth's Stormwater Management Engineering
Division since its existence in 2006. He currently serves as the City's lead stormwater
Senior Professional Engineer over maintenance programs for stormwater infrastructure.
In his role, he manages and oversees small capital project design and construction
activities, supports and oversees stormwater related drainage complaints and
investigations, manages the City's low-water crossing alert system, and provides general
engineering support for the City's Stormwater Operation and Maintenance Division. Mr.
Henry, has recently acted as Project Engineer for the expansion of the City's low-water
crossing alert system, which currently includes over 730 various alert sensors that
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provide real-time weather information to staff and other entities within and
surrounding the Fort Worth area.
Mr. Eubanks has worked in the City's Stormwater program since 1999. He has overseen
new development review, capital project management, flooding and drainage complaint
investigations, and engineering assistance for maintenance projects. He assisted in the
development of the City's Stormwater Utility and the 2006 Fort Worth Storm Water
Management Design Manual and most recently oversaw development of the City's
Stormwater Master Plan. Mr. Eubanks currently serves as Co-chairman of the Texas
Floodplain Management Association's Stormwater Committee and was named Engineer
of the Year by TSPE Fort Worth Chapter in 2016.
Chris Johnson, P.E., CFM, is the City's Stormwater Utility Engineering Manager,
responsible for planning, capital project development, and oversight of the City's High
Water Warning System. Mr.Johnson has 32 years of flood hazard reduction experience,
including stormwater master planning, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, flood hazard
mapping, dam safety, and emergency action plan preparation. Mr.Johnson's role will be
to provide management oversight, allocate resources, and serve as a technical advisor
to the project team.
Elizabeth Young, Elizabeth Young, GISP has been part of the City's Strom Water
Management Division since 2009 and brings 22 years of GIS experience and 10 years of
IT Management to the team. Mrs. Young was brought on board to direct the GIS
Inventory and Assessment Project which mapped and assessed the condition of over
300,000 assets. As IT Manger, she oversees technology initiatives including the
implementation of a work order/asset management system-and a new High Water
Warning System. She also has oversight for Storm Water commercial billing. Mrs.
Young currently sits on the Accela Advisory Council and has recently completed her Lean
Six Sigma Certification.
20. Method of Monitoring Project Progress:
Each of the tasks in this project has specified deliverables with deadlines. The project
manager will be responsible for ensuring tasks are completed by the deadline. Periodic
progress and review meetings will be held with key project personnel. Meeting minutes
identifying decisions made and outstanding action items will be prepared and
distributed to participants. Schedules will be specified in contracts with vendors and
consultants and invoices monitored for compliance with deliverables. The vendor
contracts will specify 24/7 availability. The actual performance of the flood warning
system obviously is rainfall-dependent. Following installation of the different
components (rain and water level gaging and flood warning software), measurements
will be checked against existing gages for QA/QC. Major problems will be identified and
immediately rectified.
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III. WRITTEN ASSSURANCES
21. The Stormwater Management Division of the Transportation and Public Works
Department (TPW) is responsible for planning and executing flooding related projects in
the City of Fort Worth as authorized by City Ordinance No. 16781.
22.The City of Fort Worth participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and
is NFIP community number: 480596.
23.The proposed project does not duplicate existing projects.
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IV. RESOLUTION
24. Expense budget by category for the detailed scope of work by tasks:
City salaries based on mid-point of FY2016 salary schedule
Personnel Total Hours Cost
Item
Task 1 Rain and water level gaging
Task 1.1 Sr. PE,Engr. Manager,Engr.Tech® 24 $1,255
Task 1.2 Sr. PE,Engr.Tech 40 $1,962'
Task 1.3 Sr. PE,Engr.Tech 164 $5,901'.
Equipment including installation TWDB cost share $247,378'.
Travel City match $1,000
Consultant services City match $30,000'.
Task-1 total $287,496
Task 2 Advanced Flood Warning Software
Task 2.1 Sr PE,Engr. Manager,Engr.Tech 24, $1,283
Task 2.2 Sr PE,Engr Tech,IT Analyst 28'' $1,073
Task 2.3 Sr PE,Engr Tech,IT Analyst 38 $1,549'
Consultant services City match $20,000'.
Software purchase City match $250,000
Task-2 total $273,905
Task 3 Flood Response Planning
Task 3.1 Sr PE,Engr.Tech,Engr. Manager r 16 $918'
Task 3.2 Sr. PE,Engr.Tech 160, $9,495
Task 3.3 Sr. PE,Engr.Tech 140 $8,240
Task 3.4 Sr. PE 20' $1,256''
Consultant services City match $50,000
Travel City match 1 M
Task-3 total $70,909
ALL TASKS' $632,309,
City match% 60.9!
25. Authorization for the grant application from the governing body of the City of Fort
Worth is attached.
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(Question 13) SCOPE OF WORK
The City of Fort Worth has invested in a flood alert system with flashers at 51 hazardous road
crossings. The system also provides early warning to Stormwater Maintenance and emergency
personnel of impending flood levels at these crossings. The main thrust of this funding request
to make this alert system more reliable: low-water crossings will be gaged with more resilient
bubbler sensors, software will be upgraded, and the rain network will be expanded to more
accurately capture the spatial variability of rainfall. The City of Fort Worth will provide
matching funds through purchase of flood warning software,funding of consultant services,
and through City staff time on the project. Reliability of the gaging and communication system
that leads to reduction of false positive and false negative signals from the current sensor
network is critical for information used by flood emergency responders.
Background
The starting point for this proposal is the City's High Water Warning System (HWWS). The
system consists of stage and precipitation gages at 51 low water crossings, 5 lake levels, and 2
dedicated weather stations. Warning flashers are automatically turned on when rising flood
waters exeeed a pre-defined threshold level; nominally the threshold levels are set at rising
waters at 1' below low-chord of crossing.
The reliability of the system is critical because City's Stormwater maintenance crews respond to
the flood alerts and deploy barricades. When there's wide spread flooding and when personnel
are stretched thin,false alerts due to poor gage readings can reduce the effectiveness of the
deployment of personnel. Enhancing the current HWWS sensors and software will create
better situational awareness for City and external partners, allow better integration of weather
and flooding information with forecasting and weather monitoring tools (NEXRAD and CASA),
and improve the response (but avoiding false alarms) of emergency personnel.
The HWWS uses the Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time (ALERT) protocol, using VHF
radios and a single repeater to transmit to the base station located at the South Holly Water
Treatment Plant. A repeater is located at the top of Burnett Plaza Building and functions to
receive signals from sites that do have a reliable communication link to the base station, and
passes signals along to the base station. The equipment used in the existing HWWS is supplied
by High Sierra Electronics, Inc. and DataWise is the software that is used to monitor the sensors
and issue alerts.
The ALERT protocol is an event-driven, real-time, one-way transmission system with small data
payload: the system consumes low amounts of power, notification to the receiver station takes
place as the event occurs, and the system is relatively low-cost. The short comings of the ALERT
system are that it is prone to high rates of lost and erroneous data because the event
transmission can lead to data collisions (on average about a 30-35%fail rate), and scaling to a
larger sensing network leads to larger messaging sizing and thereby even more data collisions.
The ALERT2 protocol has addressed many of the limitations of the ALERT system. The new
gaging sites funded through this project will be phased in through ALERT 2.
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The City partners with a number of agencies involved in flood warning and forecasting: the
National Weather Service (NWS) Fort Worth Weather Field Office (WFO) receives gage data
collected by City of Fort Worth, and Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) and USACE
coordinates on lake levels and releases. The NWS WFO collects and distributes precipitation
data from its own weather stations at the Texas Motor Speedway, Meacham and Dallas/Fort
Worth airports. The NWS NEXRAD dual-polarization radar station that serves the region is
located the Spinks Airport. Weather and flood forecasts issued by the NWS are received and
passed onto relevant City personnel by the City's Office of Emergency Management (OEM). The
City at this time does not have a "real-time"flood forecasting capabilities and relies on the NWS
flood forecasts.
There are two major lakes that are in the City of Fort Worth: Lake Worth, and Lake Benbrook.
Lake Worth is does not have significant amount of storage and mostly acts as a "pass through"
lake for the much larger Eagle-Mountain lake, which is operated by TRWD,just upstream of
Lake Worth. Flood levels at Lake Worth are monitored by the Water Department and alerts
issued to Lake Worth residents in coordination with the TRWD. The releases of Lake Benbrook
are controlled by the USACE.
Project Tasks
The City works with a number of agencies involved in flood warning and forecasting: the
National Weather Service (NWS) Fort Worth Weather Field Office (WFO) collects rain data
collected by City of Fort Worth, and other cities and the Tarrant Regional Water District
(TRWD). The NWS WFO collects and distributes precipitation data from its own weather
stations at the Texas Motor Speedway, Meacham and Dallas/Fort Worth airports. The NWS
NEXRAD dual-polarization radar station that serves the region is located the Spinks Airport.
Weather and flood forecasts issued by the NWS are received and passed onto relevant City
personnel by the City's Office of Emergency Management (OEM). The City at this time does not
have a "real-time"flood forecasting capabilities and relies on the NWS flood forecasts.
There are two major lakes that are in the City of Fort Worth: Lake Worth, and Lake Benbrook.
Lake Worth is does not have significant amount of storage and mostly acts as a "pass through"
lake for the much larger Eagle-Mountain lake, which is operated by TRWD,just upstream of
Lake Worth. Flood levels at Lake Worth are monitored by the Water Department and alerts
issued to Lake Worth residents in coordination with the TRWD. The releases of Lake Benbrook
are controlled by the USACE.
Task 1: Water level and Rain Sensing for reliability and resilience
Hydraulics at pier/embankment bridges and culvert crossings is not straight forward, and flood
conditions can significantly alter the dynamics of flood flows up-stream and downstream of
crossings. The current level sensing used by Fort Worth is dependent on debris free flood flows
water levels are sensed by pressure transducers (PT tubes). The objective of this task is to
investigate, and appropriately place additional sensors (flood proofed bubbler sensors), at
specific monitoring sites that are part of the current HWWS sites. The specific attributes of
many of these crossings are: a). low levels of flood frequency service; b). poor visibility of
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hazard; c). high traffic volume at peak hours; d). past fatality and/or rescues at crossing; e).
downstream threat, and f). length of traffic detour.
Currently, water levels once they pass a trigger level are treated independently and no cross-
validation with other hydraulically connected sensors is performed. For the sites that have
been selected, the software (which the City will purchase as cost-share for this project) will be
programmed to check for cross-validation between upstream and downstream gages before
alerts are issued. For this project effort, it is anticipated that 10 upstream/downstream bubbler
type water level sensors will be placed at different locations that are part of the current HWWS
gaging network to test cross-validation procedure. A primary finding from this task will be
whether having different sensor types (bubbler sensor) sensing at appropriate downstream and
upstream locations provides better reliability and resiliency of water level measurements at
low-water crossings.
The HWWS uses tipping bucket sensors to measure rainfall and is generally well suited for flood
warning purposes (precision to 0.04"). This project will supplement current rain gage (1 per
site) with an additional rain gages selected sites for cross-validation of rain fall measurements
during storm events. The City has been working with the CASA community(see http:
www.nctcog.org/ep/Special Projects/CASAWX) for more accurate weather (rainfall) forecasting
in the DFW metroplex. The rapid refresh (X-band every 5 minutes) CASA radar has pre-
programmed rainfall rate calibration parameters that are being refined for the Dallas-Fort
Worth metroplex. Due to the extreme nature of flood events, relying on a single rain gage
(with appropriate measures at gaging site) at a site has been shown prone to rainfall capture
problems when compared against radar measurements. Placement of additional rain gages at
a specific site will allow for better comparison and calibration of CASA and NEXRAD rainfall
rates. Commercial and NWS forecast (e.g. Rapid Refresh RAP and HRRR products) providers
place considerable value on use of rain corrected radar measurements for forecasts.
The City currently maintains and monitors 38 precipitation gages. An AECOM study contracted
by the City of Fort Worth showed that adequate coverage of rainfall patterns for the City
required 30 rain gages in addition to existing rainfall sites. Due to the importance of rainfall, 20
new rain gaging sites using ALERT2 will be identified and gaged for this project. The locations
will be based on: availability of City right-of-way or participation from private entities, criticality
of location (locations at storm sewer-shed divides to catch storm frontal movements will be
preferred), obstruction clearance, height (high buildings in the downtown), and security at site
to prevent vandalism etc. No new sites (beyond existing low-water crossings) for flood water
levels is planned through this grant application.
The gaging data from this project will aid in on-going and future collaborative efforts with other
cities in the DFW metroplex to more accurately track and forecast high intensity storm events.
Specific sub-tasks are given below.
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Specific sub-tasks are given below:
Task 1.1: Identify critical flood prone low-water crossings at which to install additional
upstream and downstream gages with different type sensors. Expect to supplement
with additional water level gages at 10 sites. Deliverable: Sub-set of low-water
crossings for supplemental gaging. Milestone date: 11/30/2016.
Task 1.2: Identify critical sites for installation of dedicated rain gages. Past AECOM study for
rain gages will be used as basis for expansion of the rain gage network to 20 new
sites, and installation of additional 20 rain gages at existing sites for validation.
Deliverable: Map and locations for new rain gaging sites. Milestone date:
11/30/2016.
Task 1.3: Install the sensors, and ALERT2 communication system. Deliverable: successful
installation and testing of equipment (contracted to vendor through existing HWWS
maintenance contract). Milestone date: 1/31/2017.
Task 2: Advanced Flood Warning Software Acquisition
The City currently uses the Datawise software (v7.5 and v10)tied to a server to receive and
monitor the HWWS gages. Some of the limitations of the Datawise software were found to be:
lack of local administrative control capabilities, difficulty of testing HWWS with simulated input,
lack of user friendliness, and difficulty of group communication settings. Datawise will be
phased out and replaced with new software as City's cost-share for this project.
The AECOM study of the software requirement for a flood warning system identified the
following primary requirements:
(1) Capability to ingest data via one-way (ALERT) and two-way communication (ALERT2)
(2) Control of external devices and alert generation
(3) Monitoring, analyzing, and error checking of data in real-time
(4) Display of data and sensor status on maps and in user defined format
(5) Data import and export in wide variety of formats (APIs, XML etc.), including mapping
applications
(6) Remote access and viewing (e.g., on cell phone app)
(7) Data mining
(8) Strong data back-up capabilities
(9) 24/7 support.
These requirements will be an important part of software selection and procurement. The
hardware (server), and technical support for software will be provided for this project at City's
cost. The total estimated external costs (excluding staff time) is$250,000 which is included the
City's 5-year capital expense plan. Specific sub-tasks are given below:
Task 2.1: Develop software requirements, and advertise call for flood warning software.
Deliverable: RFQ for flood warning software to be advertised and selected as per
City procurement requirements. Milestone date: 1/31/2017.
Task 2.2: Procure software satisfying City requirements. Deliverable: Purchase and contract
with software vendor. Milestone date: 1/31/2017.
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Task 2.3: Install software and train City staff on software usage. Deliverable: Installation and
testing of flood warning software. Milestone date: 3/31/2017.
Task 3: Flood Response Planning (here called Emergency Action Plan, EAP)
City staff and consultant will be engaged in development of an EAP as part of this project. The
goal of a Flood EAP is to prepare a defined set of actions based on flood trigger events and help
remove as much "chaos" as possible prior to, during, and following a flood emergency. A
consultant will be selected by City staff involved in this project and will follow City's solicitation
and selection requirements. Consultant services will be provided as City's cost-share. The EAP
will consist of the following main elements.
1. Planning
a. Identification of flood hazards and risks to people and property. This effort will be
undertaken by storm drain sewer-sheds by City assets (roadway crossings, critical
facilities etc.) by flooding rainfall intensities.
b. Develop desired actions: pre-staging actions (neighborhood alerts, personnel etc.) at
hazardous areas from step (a).
c. Document clearly assigned roles and responsibilities: previous effort at master
planning which identified the "connectivity" between agencies and personnel during
flood events will be used to document and vet this document through the City's
emergency response community. The document will use unambiguous language,
and develop a communication plan.
d. Provide flood preparedness and actions education for the public: make data
available to public via website,text alerts, social media data rainfall intensities and
flooding levels of service at hazardous sites by storm sewer-shed from step (a).
2. Operations
a. Provide periodic training for O&M staff:The O&M document for the existing system
will be updated for the improvements made through this project effort.
b. Staffing and monitoring: Holistically organize and update the City's existing on-call
lists and emergency O&M procedures, exchange updated on-call lists between
relevant City departments and external partners (NWS,TRWD, USACE), and ensure
City's OEM has flood support personnel (Flood Operations Engineer, FOE) and
resources during emergencies.
c. Flood Operations:The FOE in coordination with OEM escalates level of response and
readiness of flood response staff,following procedures in the Flood EAP. Deviations
from the EAP will be documented and discussed during post-flood assessments.
3. Post-Flood
a. Flood forensics: police, fire department, and SWM field maintenance flood response
reports are compiled and appropriate level of SWM staff investigation is
determined, low-water crossings and flasher/warning response to flood events are
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investigated, and performance of critical Stormwater capital assets in impacted
areas (storm drain lines and culverts) are investigated, a flood characterization
report (nature of flood event, consequences, and response) is generated for high
intensity storms.
b. Update of Flood EAP:The Flood EAP is updated and broadcast to relevant City staff
based on lessons learned, communication among staff is intensified depending on
flood event.
c. Maintain Flood Response database: A dedicated database for flooding and response
is updated with the event and response.
Specific sub-tasks are given below:
Task 3.1: Develop RFQ&select consultant to assist with development of EAP. Deliverable: RFQ
and consultant selection. Milestone date: 2/28/2017.
Task 3.2: Identify critical rainfall intensities by storm sewer-sheds. Program threshold rainfall
intensities in flood warning software for alerts. Stormwater division's past
watershed hydrology& hydraulics models, historical observations by staff, the city-
wide Innovyze ICM hydraulic model at 100 feet grids, among other models,
observations and data will be used for this task. Deliverable: City-wide map of flood
intensities by storm sewer-sheds. Milestone date: 7/31/2017.
Task 3.3: Develop EAP along with coordination meeting with relevant stakeholders as discussed
above. Deliverable: EAP report and meeting minutes. Milestone date: 11/30/2107
Task 3.4: Write final report of project findings for the benefit of other communities and project
deliverable to TWDB. Deliverable: Final project report. Milestone date: 12/15/2017
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City of Fort Worth, Texas
Mayor and Council Communication
COUNCIL ACTION: Approved on 6/7/2016 - Ordinance No. 22243-06-2016
DATE: Tuesday, June 07, 2016 REFERENCE NO.: **G-18750
LOG NAME: 20SWM TWDB FLOOD GRANT APPLICATION
SUBJECT:
Authorize Application for and, if Awarded, Acceptance of a Grant from the Texas Water Development
Board in the Amount of$247,378.00 for a Flood Warning Grant with a Cash and In-Kind Services Match in
the Amount Up to $384,931.00 for a Total Amount of$632,309.00, Approve Execution of All Applicable
Grant Contracts and Adopt Appropriation Ordinance (ALL COUNCIL DISTRICTS)
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Authorize the application to the Texas Water Development Board for a Flood Warning Grant in the
amount of$247,378.00 with a cash and in-kind service match in the amount up to $384,931.00 for a total
amount of$632,309.00;
2. Authorize the execution of all applicable grant contracts;
3. Authorize the use of$350,000.00 as a cash match and $34,931.00 as in-kind match from the
Stormwater Utility Fund for this grant; and,
4. Adopt the attached appropriations ordinance increasing estimated receipts and appropriations in the
Grants Operating State Fund in the amount of$632,309.00.
DISCUSSION:
A grant application to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is being submitted for funding the
development of a flood warning system. The grant will be used to develop a Flood Response Plan and
augment the City's existing High Water Warning System (HWWS) at flood prone low-water crossings with
additional water level sensors, and expand the City's rain gaging network to better capture rainfall data
from severe storms. This effort will improve the reliability and resiliency of the HWWS, and response of
City personnel and the public to severe flood events. The project duration will be from date of award to
December 31, 2017. Due to the cash match not being appropriated until Fiscal Year 2017, no
expenditures will be authorized until October 1, 2016. Authorization of this M&C will enable:
1. The Storm Water Management (SWM) division of the Transportation and Public Works (TPW)
Department to apply for the TWDB grant;
2. SWM/TPW to enter into a contract with the TWDB upon award of grant; and
3. Confirmation of the City's intent to commit local matching funds in cash and in-kind services estimated
in the amount of$384,931.00.
Lognaine: 20SWM TWDB FLOOD GRANT APPLICATION Page I of 2
A $350,000.00 cash match for this grant is included in the SWM/TPW Fiscal Year 2017 CIP budget
request. In-kind services will make up the balance of the City matching funds.
The program serves ALL COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
This contract will be with a governmental entity, state agency or public institution of higher education:
Texas Water Development Board.
FISCAL INFORMATION /CERTIFICATION:
The Director of Finance certifies that upon award of the above recommendations, receipt of the grant and
adoption of the attached appropriation ordinance, Stormwater funding for the match will be submitted in
the Stormwater Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 operating budget and the grant appropriations will be made
available in the Fiscal Year 2017 operating budget, as appropriated in the Grant Operating State Fund.
The Transportation and Public Works Department will be responsible for the collection and deposit of
funds due to the City. Prior to expenditure being made, the Transportation and Public Works Department
has the responsibility to validate the availability of funds.
FUND IDENTIFIERS (FIDs):
TO
Fund Department Account Project Program Activity Budget Reference # Amount
ID ID Year Chartfield 2
21002 0200410 43410XX XXXXXX 992093 $247,378.00
21002 0200410 4952001 XXXXXX 992093 $350,000.00
21002 0200410 4640950 XXXXXX 992093 $34,931.00
21002 0200410 5VARIOU XXXXXX 9920XX $597,378.00
21002 0200410 5119950 XXXXXX 9920XX $34,931.00
FROM
Fund Department Account Project Program Activity Budget Reference # Amount
ID ID Year Chartfield 2
520021 0200431 590010 P00015 2017 $250,000.00
520021 0200431 590010 P00046 2017 $100,000.00
CERTIFICATIONS:
Submitted for City Manager's Office by: Jay Chapa (5804)
Originating Department Head: Douglas Wiersig (7801)
Additional Information Contact: Ranjan S. Muttiah (7919)
Logname: 20SWM TWDB FLOOD GRANT APPLICATION Page 2 of 2