As shovels hit dirt to pave the way for Panther Island, the Tarrant Regional Water District plans to spend $45 million on a canal system to support flood control between downtown Fort Worth and Northside. In total, the district anticipates spending about $85 million on the federal flood control project.
The district, which supplies water and flood control to more than 50 municipalities including Fort Worth and Arlington, unveiled its proposed 2025 budget and tax rate Aug. 20. The proposal is subject to the district board’s approval with a vote scheduled for Sept. 17.
As part of the budget, the water district plans to increase the rate that municipalities pay for raw water that cities later treat to make it safe for drinking. The increase will support several infrastructure improvements to expand water supply through 2050 as the district expects its service population to nearly double in the next 50 years.
If approved, the budget would increase the water rate by 3.35%, from $1.35 to $1.40 per 1,000 gallons. With the increase, the district expects to garner $12.4 million more from the sale of water over last year’s water sale revenue. Fort Worth’s water costs alone will account for $6.5 million of that increase.
That revenue would support large capital projects over the next five years, as well as higher maintenance and support services costs. Those projects would include replacement of aging infrastructure, expanding water reservoir capacity and building new operations facilities.
While the raw water rate has steadily increased over the past several years, the district’s property tax rate is not expected to rise. Water district staff proposed maintaining the same rate of $0.0267 per $100 valuation for the upcoming year. Officials celebrated their status as the taxing entity with the lowest tax rate in Tarrant County.
The budget proposal also includes an allocation of $350,000 to use for Panther Island consulting and $100,000 to fund the water district’s development of a strategy to sell significant land holdings that will be available for development as part of the island.
The long-awaited $1.16 billion Central City flood control project will see the construction of a 1.5-mile bypass channel to reroute part of the Trinity River, a move that will protect 2,400 acres of Fort Worth property from disastrous flooding and take pressure off the city’s aging levee system. The channel will create what is known as Panther Island, hundreds of acres in riverwalk development connecting downtown to the Stockyards and Northside neighborhood.
The water district and other government agencies are responsible for covering 35% of overall project costs for the bypass channel, while the rest of the cost will be funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers using more than $400 million in federal funds.
To prepare for construction, the city of Fort Worth must relocate water and sewer utilities out of the path of the future channel. The Tarrant Regional Water District will reimburse the city on an annual basis, drawing from $250 million in flood control bonds approved by voters in 2018. Until that reimbursement payment arrives each September the city is on the hook for the upfront dollars to pay contractors, according to previous Fort Worth Report coverage.
Last year, the water district anticipated reimbursing the city for $88 million in relocation work. In 2025, the amount will come out to about $62 million.
In March, the city of Fort Worth and the water district adopted a new strategy that mapped out the future timeline for development on the island. As part of that plan, the water district will construct a canal system that would wind its way through 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 to canals this year eclipses last year’s $3 million budget by 1400%.
Other budget highlights include a $200,000 allocation for the demolition of LaGrave Field, the historic minor league baseball stadium that has deteriorated since its closure a decade ago. The water district board approved 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 board that oversees coordination and performs risk assessment planning for the project, is scheduled to meet at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 22 to discuss development updates.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org or @bycecilialenzen.
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