IFCD 3-DCURD Relationship Creates DIY Benefits

Last month, we talked about the community benefits of IFCD 3 teaming with the City of Irving and the Valley Ranch Associations to share skills and resources in tackling key community projects in the most efficient and effective way. However, at the core of the District’s daily success in serving Valley Ranch is a strategic relationship between IFCD 3 and the Dallas County Utility and Reclamation District (DCURD) that dates back more than a decade.

Early in IFCD 3’s history, one individual with modest equipment handled basic maintenance assignments, with more substantial tasks outsourced to external contractors. While this was a practical option toward the beginning of the District’s history, maintenance demands for flood control systems increase with time, no differently than with streets and other community infrastructure. Additionally, having only one person available to operate the system made vacation and sick-time issues difficult to address.

In 2008, the IFCD 3 board of directors made the decision to enter into the first of annual interlocal agreements with DCURD for operations and maintenance (O&M) support. Simply put, this approach enables IFCD 3 to utilize DCURD as the flood control district’s source of O&M personnel and equipment, leveraging DCURD’s experience in providing public services in Las Colinas and elsewhere in the city of Irving. Beyond expertise, the agreement provides IFCD 3 with redundancy and scalability of staffing and skills to match any demand that arises.

Most importantly, the IFCD 3-DCURD relationship delivers innovation and economies of scale that save taxpayers money. For example, the recent dredging of Water Circle was handled by the DCURD team using portable pipeline slurry equipment to remove and transfer silt for redistribution for less than $200,000, instead of employing traditional excavating and trucking practices. As a result, approximately one million dollars were saved in the process, while eliminating the negative aspects of moving silt via trucks.

The bottom line for Valley Ranch taxpayers? Securing the best value is a top focus in IFCD 3’s service to Valley Ranch, both today and in the future.