As groundbreaking takes place on Panther Island, the Tarrant Regional Water District plans to spend $45 million on a canal system to help with flood control between downtown Fort Worth and the Northside. In total, the district expects to spend about $85 million on the federal flood control project.

The district, which provides water and flood protection to more than 50 communities, including Fort Worth and Arlington, unveiled its 2025 budget and tax rate proposal on Aug. 20. The proposal must be approved by the county board, with a vote scheduled for Sept. 17.

As part of the budget, the water district plans to increase the fees municipalities pay for raw water that cities then treat to make it drinkable. The increase is intended to support several infrastructure improvements to expand water supplies by 2050, as the district expects the number of residents served to nearly double over the next 50 years.

If approved, the budget would increase water rates by 3.35%, from $1.35 to $1.40 per 1,000 gallons. With this increase, the district expects to generate $12.4 million more from water sales than last year. Fort Worth’s water costs alone will account for $6.5 million of this increase.

These revenues could finance major capital projects over the next five years, but also higher maintenance and support costs. These projects include replacing aging infrastructure, expanding water reservoir capacity and building new operational facilities.

While the price of raw water has risen steadily in recent years, the district’s property tax is not expected to increase. Water district staff proposed keeping the same rate of $0.0267 per $100 of value for the coming year. Officials celebrated their status as the lowest-rate taxing authority in Tarrant County.

The budget also proposes to provide $350,000 for consultations on Panther Island and $100,000 for the water district to develop a strategy for selling significant land holdings available for development as part of the island.

The long-awaited $1.16 billion Central City Flood Control Project will build a 1.5-mile bypass canal to divert a portion of the Trinity River, protecting 2,400 acres of Fort Worth land from catastrophic flooding and relieving pressure on the city’s aging levee system. The canal will create Panther Island, a hundreds of acres of waterfront that connects downtown with the Stockyards and Northside neighborhoods.

Cristian ArguetaSoto

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Fort Worth Report

The water district and other government agencies are responsible for covering 35% of the total project cost for the bypass canal, while the remaining costs will be funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with more than $400 million in federal funds.

To prepare for construction, the city of Fort Worth must move water and sewer lines out of the path of the future canal. The Tarrant Regional Water District will reimburse the city annually, using $250 million in flood control bonds approved by voters in 2018. Until that reimbursement payment arrives each September, the city must make the upfront payments to pay contractors, according to previous Fort Worth Report reports.

Last year, the water district expected to reimburse the city $88 million for the relocation work. In 2025, the amount will be about $62 million.

In March, the City of Fort Worth and the Water District adopted a new strategy that laid out the future timeline for development on the island. As part of that plan, the Water District will build a canal system that will wind through the future Panther Island, connecting developments to other parts of the island and serving as the primary method of stormwater and flood control.

The $45 million allocated for canals this year exceeds last year’s $3 million budget by 1,400 percent.

Other budget highlights include a $200,000 allocation for the demolition of LaGrave Field, the historic minor league baseball stadium that has fallen into disrepair since it closed a decade ago. The water district’s board approved the demolition plans in June, as recommended by HR&A Advisors, the consulting firm developing the strategy for the island.

The Trinity River Vision Authority, the body that oversees coordination and conducts risk assessment planning for the project, will meet at 9:30 a.m. on August 22 to discuss current developments.

Cecilia Lenzen is a government affairs reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach her at [email protected] or @bycecilialenzen.

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This article first appeared in the Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.