SECTION 301.34. Criteria For Approval of Preliminary Plans

The commission shall use the following criteria and those listed in §301.33(b) of this title (relating to Preliminary Plans: Data To Be Submitted) in the review and consideration of applications for approval of plans for levees and other improvements.

(1) Structural integrity. Construction must be based upon sound engineering principles. Structural integrity must withstand any waters which the levee or other improvement is intended to restrain or carry, considering all topographic features, including existing levees.

(2) Compatibility with existing hydraulic conditions. Plans must be compatible with the existing hydraulic conditions. Consideration must be given to any possible deleterious effects, such as overtopping or undermining, on any existing system of levees, channel improvements, landfills, structures, or similar improvements, or on adjacent properties. With regard to applications for approval of levees or landfills, plans will be evaluated with a consideration of comparable levee or landfill development on the opposite side of a stream if such do not exist but are plausible.

(3) Safety. Any proposed levee or other improvement must be designed so that it will not increase flooding or divert waters in such a way that any person's life or property will be endangered or subjected to significantly increased flooding. The commission shall not approve plans for levees or other improvements which will significantly increase flood rises on any person's land without that person's consent or which will endanger life or property or create a public hazard.

(4) Rights of third parties to be protected. The rights of third parties affected by a proposed levee or other improvement must be considered. Before approval, the commission shall accordingly give full consideration to the rights of all such parties not otherwise considered under paragraphs (1)-(3) of this subsection.

(5) The commission and the executive director shall assure that, as far as possible, levees or other improvements shall be designed with primary consideration to the topographic and hydrographic conditions, and in such a manner that each division of a project shall be a complete, united project forming a coordinate part of an ultimately finished series of projects, so constituted that the successful operation of each united project shall coordinate with the successful operation of other projects within the same hydraulic influence.

(6) In addition, a minimum freeboard of three feet above the 100-year design flood hydraulic gradient should be provided where levees furnish protection for urbanized or developing areas. A minimum freeboard of two feet above the 100-year design flood hydraulic gradient, or more frequent flood as may be determined under §301.33 of this title (relating to Preliminary Plans: Data To Be Submitted), should be provided where levees furnish protection for agricultural areas. Reaches of the levee which may be affected by wave buildup from structural features of the project shall require supplemental study to determine if greater freeboard should be provided.

Source Note: The provisions of this §301.34 adopted to be effective May 26, 1986, 11 TexReg 2246.