Into the Vault: What IFCD 3 Does and Doesn’t Control

IFCD 3 recently attended Keep Irving Beautiful’s 32nd Annual Trash Bash! During the event, we had the opportunity to talk with many community members and residents about who we are and what we do. Throughout multiple conversations, we were asked about different types of flooding and what IFCD 3 can or can’t help Valley Ranch residents with when it comes to excess water.

Today, we’re going into the Waterways Vault to explain exactly what we do and don’t control in Valley Ranch when it comes to flood management.

The term ‘flood’ can be used to describe any amount of water that’s somewhere it shouldn’t be. Your neighbor might have a pipe burst in their home, causing their first floor to fill with water. A tornado might engulf an entire city or region. A severe thunderstorm combined with a clogged drainage system may submerge streets and highways, causing vehicle accidents. While all these situations involve various amounts of excess water, it’s important to know what types of flooding IFCD 3 does and doesn’t control.

Let’s start by looking back at the history of Valley Ranch. This area has been a floodplain for hundreds of years due to our community’s proximity to the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. Before this land became Valley Ranch, it was used as grazing land for livestock. Whenever the Trinity River overflowed and caused the area to flood, the animals simply moved to higher ground until the water receded.

When the state of Texas approved the development of Valley Ranch, developers knew they needed to address the potential for flooding before they broke ground. That’s where IFCD 3 came in. The District was established solely for creating and maintaining community-wide flood control across Valley Ranch through ponds, canals, the pump station and other facilities, all of which work together to redirect excess water from homes, roads and businesses and into the Elm Fork.

While unwanted water on your property due to a broken pipe or poor drainage of your yard is still important to manage and prevent, those individual property problems are handled by other professionals, such as landscapers and plumbers. Because IFCD 3 provides a community-wide function funded with taxpayer dollars, our focus is on Valley Ranch as a whole. That means we control overall water levels in Valley Ranch ponds and canals, removing water from streets and sidewalks via the storm sewer system, directing excess water into the river side of the levee, which protects the overall community from flooding.

For more information about IFCD 3 and our mission to deliver flood control to Valley Ranch, explore the rest of our website, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.