The Thomas Creek Watershed has been a drainage concern for a number of years. Previous efforts to mitigate the flooding with structural components, drainage system maintenance, and snag and clearing have been futile.
In November 2017, a meeting was held between representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers, Senator Aaron Bean’s Office, State Representative Cord Byrd, and various County staff to discuss other possible solutions. It was discovered at that time that there are programs available under the Army Corps of Engineers’ Continuing Authority Program (CAP). Subsequently, the Board sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers requesting an investigation of the problems under the authority of Section 205 of the Flood Control Act of 1948. The letter was signed at the December 11, 2017, Board of County Commissioner's meeting.
In April 2018, the County was notified that the project would exceed the limitation of the CAP Program and was recommended to seek a Planning Assistance to States (PAS) Study to help the County identify solutions to resolve the flooding issues. The study began in 2019. It entailed extensive modeling with multiple scenarios considered. The Board of County Commissioners approved the final report in June of 2022 with a directive to staff for an Implementation Plan to be presented in six months. Part of the Implementation Plan will be community involvement. Staff hopes to discuss the outcome of the study at the public meeting with the path forward given the report findings.
Please be advised that a Thomas Creek Community Meeting has been scheduled to discuss the results of the Planning Assistance to States (PAS) Study conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers. The meeting will take place at the Callahan County Building located at 45401 Mickler Street on Friday, August 5, 2022 at 5:30 p.m.
If you have any questions, please contact Senior Stormwater Engineer, Katie Peay, at (904) 530-6225 or via email at [email protected].
-Sabrina Robertson
Public Information Officer