FLOODSA West Texas County Wants to Better Prepare for Floods. Paying for It Will Be Tricky.
Ector County has boomed since the 1970s, when the drainage system was last updated. Officials hope state and federal funds will help pay for the update despite some grant programs ending under the Trump administration.
When it rains here, West Texans brace for the worst. With nowhere to go, water collects across sidewalks, roads and highways — the flat, desert landscape becomes a wetland in the blink of an eye.
Local officials in Ector County, which includes Odessa, said the region’s drainage system is out of date. But paying for upgrades will be a tremendous challenge.
Population, housing and commercial development have spiked, and the infrastructure has not kept up. Its drainage system, installed in the 1970s, is not equipped to handle the growth, county officials said.
Knowing this, county commissioners approved a plan last week to update its drains and alleviate flooding. To start the process, the county is hiring an engineering firm to scope the city. The study will cost them $1.5 million. That doesn’t include the cost of construction and labor. The county will work with Odessa as part of the overhaul.
Flooding in Texas and across the U.S. is becoming increasingly common. Every Texas county has declared a flood disaster at least once, according to the Texas Water Development Board. At least nine, from 1980-2024, have cost the state billions of dollars to remediate the consequences of flooding.
Despite a call from the state’s first-ever flood plan to emphasize preparing for a flood, it can be hard to secure funding ahead of a disaster. At least two federal programs intended to help with disaster prevention were sunsetted under the Trump administration.
It is likely to fall to city and county governments to front the high costs—and hope to be reimbursed eventually through state grants or other remaining federal programs.
“To be frank with you, we can’t afford to do this on our own,” said Jeff Avery, the county’s public works director. “We don’t have the money, so this plan is going to allow us to go out and get grants.”
Efforts to update the county’s drainage system began a year and a half ago, Avery said, when he started to receive calls from residents. The county had to first put out bids to engineering firms that could assist the county in designing a plan. Once the blueprint is complete, the county will have an estimate of the cost to update the drains. County officials, Avery said, can use that plan to apply for grants and reimbursements.
