The City of Fort Worth’s Stormwater Management Field Operations crews work hard to maintain the drainage systems throughout the city. The primary stormwater drainage system infrastructure includes maintenance of channels, pipes, inlets and culverts.
Channels - Also know as drainage channels or ditches and are commonly found throughout neighborhoods and commonly made of earthen material or concrete.
These assets convey storm water from neighborhoods and developed areas to the nearest creek or river.
Stormwater crews maintain approximately 230 miles of channels that convey stormwater. Stormwater Management provides routine and major maintenance to engineered drainage channels that are located within a City dedicated drainage easement.
Routine work consists of the following...
CHANNEL
Channel Maintenance
Channel Restoration
CONCRETE
Concrete Structures and pipes must be maintained and working at optimal levels, allowing drainage system to operate at maximum capacity as designed.
MOWING
Vegetation in drainage easements must be maintained to a desired condition in order to allow the open channel system to operate at designed conditions.
Pipes - Commonly referred to as culvert pipes or drainage pipes and are a network of underground pipes used to convey runoff of our city streets.
Pipe Inspection With approximately 1000 miles of storm drain pipe in the city of Fort Worth the pipe Inspection program Inspects and assesses 35 miles of pipe per year.
Information collected during this inspection would help to identify any cleaning needed for pre-cctv purposes, risk exposure, failure, and damage control associated with underground drainage system.
This program will generate a comprehensive database to properly Identify, plan, prioritize, manage or renovate the city’s underground drainage system.
This database will make determinations based on the evaluations performed during the CCTV process.
Inlets - also known as storm drain inlets, curb inlets or catch basins.
Inlet Maintenance Scheduled maintenance Is essential in keeping our drainage system at maximum capacity reducing flood risk to citizens and businesses.
Stormwater crews inspect and clean more than 30,000 storm drain inlets within the system. Street flooding is often the result of storm drains that are too small to handle heavy runoff.
In other cases, though, the drain may need cleaning. Report street flooding and blocked inlets to TPW Customer Service and crews will investigate.
Culverts - type of drain pipe or channel built into roadways, with an opening underneath for water flow.
Culvert Cleaning Program This program consist of a team Inspecting culverts throughout the year, identifying heavily clogged culverts and prioritizing as needed. High risk locations are also prioritized and Inspected before and after any rain event.
Drainage ditches, often found on roadsides, provide a nearby, safe location for stormwater to go.
The city of Fort Worth has approximately 4,000 culverts within the system.
Storm prep performed by Stormwater Field Operations Maintenance Crews, includes the following steps:
Property owners can take the following steps to prevent flooding to your property:
A drainage problem within your own lot---or water running from your neighbor's lot into your own---is considered to be a private drainage matter, and therefore is not regulated by the City of Fort Worth.
Helpful resources in this situation would include contacting an engineer or landscape professional to assist you in solving the drainage issue on your private property.
If your own efforts at a solution to drainage issues with your neighbor can't be resolved, contact Stormwater Customer Service to request assistance with next steps at clarifying private drainage responsibilities
It is illegal in the City of Fort Worth to dump any type of debris into a stream, river or drainage ditch. This debris can become entangled in culverts, shallow stream beds, or drainage ditches and impede drainage causing the flow of water to back up. Residents of Fort Worth should also keep drainage ditches on their property free of debris, foliage and vegetation that would impede the flow of water.
Debris dumping should be reported to the City of Fort Worth’s Code Compliance Department by calling 817-392-1234.
Combatting Mosquitos, West Nile & Zika Viruses in standing stormwater runoff:
Remember the 4 D’s: Drain, Deet, Dress, Dusk & Dawn
Mosquitoes are more than just a nuisance, they also can carry viruses.
Reducing the mosquito population and your risk of being bitten by them is the best way to prevent infection. It’s as easy as Five by Five.
Follow these steps to protect yourself and those in your home:
Mosquito traps have been placed at 42 Fort Worth fire stations, and will monitored. Mosquitoes will be tested, in partnership with Tarrant County Public Health, for. West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis.
Mosquitoes are not tested for the Zika virus since this virus hasn’t been identified locally.
Q: Does Code or The City of Fort Worth place mosquito dunks at the request of residents? If so, do we place them on private property?
A: We cannot treat private property for mosquitos, instead the the property owner will need to provide treatment. We can however provide mosquito dunks at no charge for the property owner to use. If a property owner makes a report of standing water, a health inspector will conduct an investigation of the surrounding area to see if there are any issues on public property that we can address. If there is an issue within the private property, the inspector will then advise the property owner on what they can do decrease mosquito-prone areas on their own property.
For more information on ways to protect yourself, visit fortworthtexas.gov/mosquitoes/ and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.