Gonzales receives nearly $3 million to help fight Tinsley Creek flooding

The city of Gonzales will receive $2,999,400 in Texas General Land Office (GLO) regional mitigation funds to install a pair of detention basins to reduce the impact, intensity and frequency of flooding on Tinsley Creek.

GLO Commissioner Dawn Buckingham announced the award on Wednesday, April 2, as part of $58.3 million awarded to counties and municipalities to improve roads, water detention, drainage, and sewer systems.

Through the Regional Mitigation Program, the GLO enabled local prioritization, providing critical improvements for communities across multiple regions.

"Texans have always met challenges with resilience, courage, and a commitment to building a better future," said Commissioner Buckingham. "These funds reflect our ongoing promise to honor that spirit by delivering real improvements to the communities that need them most. From small towns to growing counties, the GLO is proud to stand with local leaders to turn vision into action—strengthening infrastructure, protecting families, and honoring the determination of Texans to thrive in the face of adversity."

Gonzales is using the funding to acquire easements, excavate, build embankment, and install base, overflow structure and pipe to build a large 1,317,379 linear feet detention pond at 2430 Stieren Road on the north side of US 90-A and a 16,697 linear feet detention pond at 1305 Kleine St. on the south side of the highway.

The Stieren Road project calls for one portion of the pond to be built on the north and west side and include an 8 to 10 acre wet pond, inundate up to 20 acres of land and contain approximately 120 acre feet of detention volume. A culvert under Stieren Road would then connect that pond hydraulically to another portion on the east side of Stieren Road on approximately 12 acres owned by Gonzales ISD that would contain an additional 36 acre-feet of volume.

According to the city’s application, the pond would be usable by the school district most of the time and could be designed to be multifunctional by creating an area that would ultimately include playgrounds, practice fields and intramural sports facilities.

On the south side, the Kleine Street pond would be built on land owned by BYK and would utilize approximately 16 acres of land and contain around 80 acre feet of volume. It is estimated that the lower two-thirds of Tinsley Creek impacts primarily low to moderate income families, as well as Lions Park and several businesses.

According to the city’s application, “nearly 1,600 acres of land drain to St. Andrew Street via Tinsley Creek and neighborhoods directly north of St. Andrew Street along Johnson Street experience significant flooding as well as many neighborhoods south of St. Andrew Street as Tinsley Creek finds its way to St Vincent Street.”

“The proposed detention facility will capture approximately 550 acres at the upper end of this drainage basin and help to slow and reduce the rate of runoff from this area to allow the lower portions of the watershed to drain before drainage from the upper portion impacts these areas,” the grant application stated.

“Reducing the frequency and intensity of flooding on Tinsley Creek is a high priority for the City of Gonzales and this grant will provide the opportunity for the city to make significant strides towards this goal.”

HUD defines mitigation as activities that increase resilience to disasters and reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of loss of life, injury, damage to and loss of property, and suffering and hardship, by lessening the impact of future disasters. HUD requires that at least 50 percent of total funds must be used for activities benefiting low-to moderate-income (LMI) individuals.

The city is estimating that $1,499,700, or 50 percent, of the funds will benefit low-to-moderate income individuals. Gonzales City Council held a public hearing on the grant on March 14 and approved the grant application to GLO at that time.

The city will spend a little over 84 percent of the funding — $2,521,217.39 — on construction, while just under 16 percent will be spent on engineering ($378,182.61), grant administration ($65,000) and environmental studies ($35,000).