WEST is pleased to announce the award of a task order from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Fort Worth District, for architect-engineer services developing new design storm characterization methods. The Fort Worth District, as part of its role within the Federal Interagency Flood Risk Management (InFRM) partnership, is estimating Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) discharges for various watersheds across Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 6.

Specifically, WEST will support this effort by analyzing historic rainfall patterns and developing new design storm methods to better characterize storms for larger watersheds in the State of Texas. Also, updated design storms are needed to reflect the potential influence of climate change. The goal of the effort is to create updated design storms that produce flood simulations that are consistent with rainfall return values in the State of Texas. The deliverables from the task will be used as guidance for future rainfall-runoff modeling studies and development of effective engineering designs for management of flood risk.

USACE selected the WEST team in recognition of specialized experience and technical competence, qualifications, past performance, and capacity to accomplish work. In particular, USACE selected the team for its broad portfolio of experience with large basin hydrometeorology and experience leading major projects for data collection and analysis, design storm development, and storm performance assessment. In discussing the award, Dr. David Curtis, WEST Senior Vice President, shared “The lack of large watershed design storm standards is a long-standing unresolved problem in our profession. We are excited to collaborate with our partners in the InFRM Academic Council to take on this challenge.”

Learn more

The Fort Worth District was established in 1950 after disastrous floods in the region. It oversees water resources development for the majority of Texas, and military design and construction in Texas and parts of Louisiana and New Mexico.

For more information on the Fort Worth District, visit: https://www.swf.usace.army.mil/

To learn about WEST’s flood warning and forecasting and other services supporting USACE and other local, national, and international initiatives, see: www.westconsultants.com/services/