Experts urge land reform after devastating floods

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Following the catastrophic flooding across Central Texas and in Kerr County, some conservation organizations are speaking out to educate people about the deadly flooding.

The organizations — which include Heart of Texas Conservancy, Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, Green Spaces Alliance and Cibolo Center for Conservation — are calling for immediate land use reform in Texas.

“This latest event shows us that we are called flash flood alley for a good reason,” said Ben Eldredge, with Heart of Texas Conservancy.

Their goal is to create more policy, rules and inform communities about ways to protect lives and natural resources.

“A lot of the initial reaction has been that we need early warning systems and you know, we do need to make sure there is a robust early warning network. However, those are not full proof,” Eldredge said. “There are scenarios where people will not get the warnings, will not get them, will not heed them.”

Eldredge said the best way to keep people safe is to keep them out of flood zones.

“People in my view should not be sleeping in the flood zone,” said Eldredge. “We should not be allowing lodging, etc. Now there are a lot of rules and regulations in counties throughout the state which prevent people from moving into, let’s say for example the 100 year flood zone, sometimes those regulations are waived.”

Eldredge said trees and plants can also help slow water down and also reduce erosion of the stream bank. He said these natural features need to be preserved to mitigate storm water intensity.

“It is natural infrastructure that benefits humanity,” Eldredge said. ” However, counties have limited authority that doesn’t allow for the protection of this natural infrastructure”

While these catastrophic events are rare, Eldredge said they are happening more often and should be on alert.

“The data, the science shows us that these type of flood events do happen,” Eldredge said. “While this one is especially extreme, it is not the most extreme that could happen, and we would be wise across the entire region to avoid calamities like this again by not placing lodging in the flood plane.”

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows have already named members to a committee on disaster preparedness and flooding.

The committee will look at flood warning systems, flood emergency communications and natural disaster preparation and recovery, in addition to relief efforts.

The plan is to also head down to Kerrville to hear directly from people impacted.

Heart of Texas Conservancy and a few other organizations plan to hold a press conference in Comfort, Texas on Friday to educate the community about these topics.