The City of Fort Worth is a beautiful place to live, work and play thanks to the Trinity River and its floodplain.
The floodplains and adjacent waters are important assets that form complex physical and biological systems. When floodplains are preserved in their natural state, they provide open space areas for parks, bike paths and wildlife conservation.
Floodplains also reduce the severity of floods by storing rising waters and runoff. The natural vegetation in the floodplain improves the water quality of the lakes and rivers of Fort Worth by slowing down storm water runoff, which allows sediments and other impurities to settle out.
Flood Awareness Newsletter(PDF, 328MB)
Flood Hazard
Downtown Fort Worth is situated near the confluence of the two largest rivers in the area – the Clear Fork Trinity River and the West Fork Trinity River. Other major streams in Fort Worth include Mary’s Creek, Marine Creek, Sycamore Creek, Village Creek, Dry Branch Creek, Little Fossil Creek, Big Fossil Creek, and White’s Branch.
Flooding in Fort Worth is typically produced by heavy rainfall from frontal type storms that occur during the spring and fall months. Flash floods are the most common type of flooding in Fort Worth.
Flood Protection Assistance
The Floodplain Management Group maintains information used to protect property from floods and reviews applications to build or remodel in the floodplain. The group provides residents flood information related to Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) including flood zones, base flood elevations (BFEs) and the possible presence of floodways. Where applicable, residents may be advised of flood depths, historical flooding, flood hazards not shown on the FIRMs, and natural floodplain functions. The group also provides advice and assistance on retrofitting techniques, such as elevating buildings above flood levels or the Base Flood Elevation, dry flood proofing and wet flood proofing.
Floodplain Management is located at City Hall, 200 Texas St., and can be reached by phone at 817-392-7947.
Additional guidance is available in the following FEMA resources
Development in the Floodplain