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Bexar County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved an agreement with the San Antonio River Authority (SARA) that moves forward on the development of the Next Generation Flood Warning System.
Commissioners made an investment of $2.4 million in the system that will provide faster and more accurate flood alerts to first responders and the public to save lives.
"The safety of our citizens is non-negotiable," said Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai. "This approval demonstrates our commitment to innovation and our goal of zero lost lives during a flood event."
SARA is leading the project that includes a network of sensors across the region that report flood elevation data in real time.
"As the authority for flood management in the region, we are determined to have best-in-class technology that significantly improve flood warnings, data collection, and analysis," said Jim Campbell, River Authority chairman of the board.
Work on the NextGen systems began in August to inventory existing flood gauges across the county, plan the placement of optimal locations for new safety cameras and lighting to improve visibility and monitoring during floods.
Engineers are also working on new threshold models for when flood alerts should be triggered.
San Antonio sits at the foot of the Hill Country in "Flash Flood Alley," where even in drought, rain can quickly flow down into creeks and rivers to produce deadly flooding.
Most fatalities in such flooding occur at low water crossings where motorist attempt to cross or misjudge the water level flowing across them, according to the National Weather Service. Only one foot of fast-moving water is needed to sweep a vehicle off a low water crossing.
