Lubbock area residents asked to offer flood problem information

KCDB
By Kase Wilbanks
Published: Oct. 17, 2022 at 7:56 PM GMT-6

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The City of Lubbock is seeking information about flooding on sunny or rainy days from residents in the city limits or nearby that live in the watershed area of the Canyon Lakes System.

“The area is very large that contributes,” Director of Engineering Mike Keenum said. “A large part of the city will contribute to the Canyon Lakes System and the Yellow House Draw and the Blackwater Draw, those are where all of our waters drain to on the east and northeast side of town.”

The Texas Water Development Board awarded the City of Lubbock a grant from the Texas Flood Infrastructure Fund to study the watershed involving both draws and the Buffalo Springs Lake-North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River. It’s part of a larger effort to produce a statewide flood plan.

“That watershed goes all the way back into New Mexico,” Keenum said. “We’re kind of looking at it more from a regional, macro-level view, but we can also look down at the micro level. We’re looking at the dams that are within the Canyon Lakes System, and studying all of that area along there, but really we’re wanting input from citizens on where they’ve seen flooding problems if they’re aware of anything that’s going on, so we can kind of address that as a holistic approach.”

Keenum said anyone in Lubbock or areas like Shallowater, Buffalo Springs Lake, or other parts of Lubbock County can contribute to the survey, which costs $750,000. The grant covers 75 percent.

“We’ve only got a certain number of eyes at the City to see things,” Keenum said. “A lot of the information that we get is based on what people see that we don’t always see. The better the information, the more information we can get from the citizens and the public participating, the better off we are to have a better feel for the situation that is out there.”

While the data will help with the statewide flood plan, Keenum said it will help with local mapping of the Canyon Lakes floodway and the City promises it will help, “explore ways to better serve the citizens.”

“This helps to generate studies and get the information necessary,” Keenum said. “If we want to do a project, they will have some of the background information to do that.”