Fort Worth, TX Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Fort Worth created City Flood Risk Areas (CFRAs) in 2024 to regulate drainage-prone land upstream of FEMA's mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas, where engineering studies show storm water backs up because of limited storm drain capacity or topography (§ 7-392.1, § 7-392.2). Development with an acre or more of land disturbance inside a CFRA, or a smaller project that's part of a larger common plan of development, must comply with the city's Stormwater Criteria Manual and get a Stormwater Drainage Study approved (§ 7-392.4). Smaller, standalone projects under an acre instead need a CFRA Certificate of Compliance sealed by a Texas-licensed professional engineer (§ 7-392.3).

No building permit issues without one of these approvals unless the Floodplain Administrator exempts the work as a 'minor project,' such as paving a driveway at existing grade. The Stormwater Criteria Manual, adopted by reference and periodically updated, sets the engineering standards for both tracks (§ 7-392.5). Once inside a CFRA, new or relocated structures must reach the design flood elevation, defined as the 100-year flood level plus two feet of freeboard, either by elevating the finished floor or by wet/dry floodproofing built to FEMA standards, with a post-construction elevation certificate due within 60 days of completion (§ 7-392.6). The Floodplain Administrator must deny any CFRA building permit application that doesn't meet these standards unless a variance is granted (§ 7-392.7).