TWDB Awarding $312 Million for Flood Infrastructure Projects
5/22/2026 – The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is kicking off another round of funding for Flood Infrastructure Projects. $312 million is available for the 2026-2027 cycle.
Who Can Apply for What
Texas Cities, Counties and Districts/Authorities are eligible to apply for grants or 0%-interest loans. Four types of projects qualify:
- Flood Management Evaluations (Planning studies)
- Flood Mitigation Projects (Construction or rehabilitation of drainage infrastructure)
- Flood Management Strategies (Projects that don’t fit within the first two categories, such as warning systems, stream gages, crossing barriers, public education, buyouts, etc.)
- Federal Matching Grants (Funds for a portion of required federal matches associated with projects in one of the three categories above).
The New Plan for How Money Will Be Distributed
TWDB has published an “Intended Use Plan” describing how the money will be allocated. It includes a detailed scoring matrix for prioritizing projects. The Board will accept public comments on the plan and the matrix until Friday, June 12, 2026 at 11:59PM CDT.
Application for funding happens in two stages to make things easier. Applicants submit an abridged application for prioritizing proposed projects. The highest ranking projects will then be invited to submit full applications.
This year’s Intended Use Plan makes nine key changes compared to previous years.
- Removal of the Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) from the Minimum Requirements section.
- FME projects are not subject to the notice requirement.
- Water conveyance projects have additional coordination and planning requirements.
- To ensure financial assistance is distributed more broadly, no single entity will be able to receive financial assistance for more than two abridged application requests within a single project category. The only exceptions: (1) federal match projects, and (2) funds remain.
- Projects will be prioritized into the four categories listed above
- Removal of predetermined funding goals per category.
- TWDB will invite at least one project from each regional flood planning group within each category, as funding permits.
- Funding caps will apply to grants, loans, and in-kind funding terms within each category.
- Grant qualifiers and grant percentage offerings were changed.
For More Information
See the full 23-page Draft Intended Use Plan for all the details.
Also see the new prioritization index for planning cycle and how to submit a Public Comment.
Finally this TWDB page contains information regarding everything having to do with the Texas Flood Infrastructure Fund. It includes examples of previously submitted/approved projects, a project dashboard, instructions on how to apply for grants and much more.
To date, TWDB has committed more than $832 million to Texas flood infrastructure projects.
Local Project Now in Construction
A key to the success of projects within the San Jacinto River Basin is working with the San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group. Timothy E. Buscha is currently the chair. Buscha said recently, “What we’re hoping for is a more streamlined way to get money to the projects that need it most.” And the first step? “We’re trying to get people to get a project into the system so that they’re eligible.”
Eventually that money works its way back down to communities where it can do some good. For instance, the Taylor Gully project, which just started construction in Kingwood, is a beneficiary of more than $10 million of Flood Infrastructure Funding, according to the TWDB dashboard.
Like most large infrastructure projects, funding came from a number of sources. In this case, it came from TWDB, the 2018 Bond Program, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Texas General Land Office, and the EPA. Congressman Dan Crenshaw was instrumental in securing the funding from HUD and EPA.
So, don’t sit back and wait for projects to come to you. Advocate for them. Get with your local officials while the getting is good.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/22/2026
3188 Days since Hurricane Harvey
