Lubbock County, TX Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)
Key Facts
- Design storm
- Drainage plans sized for FEMA 100-year flood
- Plan seal
- Must be sealed by Texas-licensed engineer
- Easements
- Open/lined channel easements minimum 30 feet
- Bridges
- Designed for 25-year storm frequency
- Curb/storm sewer
- Minimum 2-year storm frequency
- Developer duty
- Responsible for on-site and off-site drainage
- Penalty
- Class B misdemeanor under § 2.2
Summary
Lubbock County requires every subdivision plat outside the cities to include an engineer-sealed drainage plan sized for the 100-year FEMA flood before the Commissioners' Court will approve a final plat. Section 9 of the county's Subdivision Regulations sets the drainage facilities, easements and approval standards the Lubbock County Transportation Administration reviews.
All parts of subdivisions subject to flooding shall have drainage facilities adequate to prevent flooding. Drainage facilities consist of streets, alleys, storm sewers, channels, bridges, culverts, swells and any other facility through which the County must have a right in either the form of a dedicated right-of-way or flood way and drainage easements. Drainage structures shall be constructed in such locations and of such size and dimensions to adequately serve the subdivision under study and the contributing drainage area. In new subdivisions, the developer shall provide all of the necessary easements and rights-of-way from the owner and all adjoining owners thereto required by the Commissioners' Court for drainage structures, including storm sewer and open or lined channels.
Full Breakdown
1 requires every part of a subdivision subject to flooding to have drainage facilities adequate to prevent flooding, defining those facilities to include streets, alleys, storm sewers, channels, bridges, culverts and swales, and requiring the developer to dedicate the rights-of-way, floodways and drainage easements the County needs to build and maintain them. 2, the developer must submit a drainage plan sealed by a Texas-registered professional engineer along with the final plat, showing all drainage routing and overflow for a storm equal to the 100-year flood as defined by FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program, and marking the regulatory 100-year flood plain on the plat itself.
3 requires an accompanying engineering study of contributing drainage areas, runoff coefficients and expected storm flow, using the Soil Conservation Service method, the Rational Method, or another method the County Transportation Administration approves. 5 makes the developer responsible for conveying storm and flood water crossing the property, including water directed there by earlier development upstream. 1 requires the sub-divider to instead follow the municipality's own drainage criteria manual, or get the municipality's approval if no such manual exists.
Violations & Fines
Lubbock County Subdivision Regulations § 2.2 makes knowingly or intentionally violating any requirement in the regulations, including the Section 9 drainage standards, a Class B misdemeanor. The Lubbock County Transportation Administration and the County Criminal District Attorney's Office administer and enforce the drainage requirements, and the Commissioners' Court will not approve a final plat until the required drainage plan and engineering study are on file.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Lubbock County require a drainage plan before I can plat rural land?
Who approves the design of a subdivision's drainage ditches and culverts?
Whose responsibility is off-site flooding caused by a new subdivision?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lubbock County
Texas rules heatmap·Compare Lubbock County to another location·View the Texas environmental rules overview
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