Into the Vault: IFCD 3 And DCURD’s Relationship Explained

You know the saying “it takes a village?” Well, it takes a village to keep Valley Ranch running beautifully, smoothly and safely. IFCD 3 is just one piece of the Valley Ranch puzzle. We work alongside the City of Irving, Valley Ranch Association, the Dallas County Utility and Reclamation District (DCURD) and other organizations to support our community in the best way possible.

Today, we’re going into the WaterWays Vault to review a previous blog post that explained how and why the IFCD 3 and DCURD relationship was formed.

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 a number of annual interlocal agreements with DCURD for operations and maintenance (O&M) support. Simply put, this approach enabled 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 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.

Visit the Dallas County Utility and Reclamation website to learn more about what DCURD does to operate and maintain infrastructure for Valley Ranch and other communities in Irving.

You can also stay up-to-date on a range of IFCD 3 news and activities through our growing library of WaterWays blogs and IFCD 3’s social media channels, including Facebook and Twitter.