Get breaking news alerts at star-telegram.com/newsletters
Star-Telegram illustration/Yffy Yossifor photo
A body was found in the Trinity River Monday afternoon after what police believe was an accidental drowning.
A witness observed what appeared to be a body in the river in the 400 block of North Taylor Street, near the Tarrant County College Trinity River campus.
Fort Worth Police Department officers were dispatched at around 3:15, and an unconscious person was located in the water by police and fire rescue teams.
The person appeared to have accidentally drowned, a police spokesperson said, and no foul play is suspected.
The Main Street Bridge on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. Construction on the 1.5 mile bypass channel that will cut underneath the Main Street Bridge is expected to begin summer of 2026.
Amanda McCoy
amccoy@star-telegram.com
Dirt might finally start turning on Panther Island in 2026, roughly a quarter of a century after its inception.
The idea to revitalize the Trinity River began in 2001, with plans for an 800-acre district north of downtown emerging years later. The idea was to reconnect the community to the river after it was cut off when the earthen levees were built following the 1949 flood.
It then became a flood control project to improve the Trinity River levee system by connecting two sections of the river north of downtown.
The Main Street bridge on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. Work is expected to start on the north channel of Panther Island in 2026. Christopher Torres ctorres@star-telegram.com
It has since split into two projects to distinguish between the flood control work being done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the development work being done by private developers in coordination with the city of Fort Worth and Tarrant Regional Water District. Officials haven’t updated the cost of the project since 2018, when they put the price tag at $1.17 billion.
The project has faced repeated setbacks, from changes in the plans, to construction delays on the bridges, to a block in funding during the first Trump administration. In 2022, the project received $403 million from the 2021 Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act.
The Main Street bridge on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. Work is expected to start on the north channel of Panther Island in 2026. Christopher Torres ctorres@star-telegram.com
Meanwhile, the city of Fort Worth and Tarrant Regional Water District have been busy preparing the island for development to go hand in glove with the Army Corps’ flood control work. A March 2024 consultant’s plan envisions a 338-acre island, with a walkable business and entertainment district.
There is a lot of work to be done, both on flood control and development, but the island may finally begin to take shape in 2026.
The flood control bit
Construction is expected to begin this summer on the most visible part of the project — the 1.5 mile bypass channel. Work will start on the northern portion near the Main Street Bridge and is expected to take three years, Kate Beck, the water district program director, said during a Nov. 6 meeting of the Trinity River Vision Authority board.
This map shows the new bypass channel that follows a straighter path than the natural bend in the river at downtown. HR&A consultants
The southern half is still in the design phase. It will run under the Henderson Street and Westside Drive bridges before opening onto a section of the Trinity River across from City Hall.
The Corps has enough money for the design portion, but will need more for construction. The same is true for the Samuels Avenue dam, a pump station and three floodgates.
The Corps will also start work to restore some of the ecosystem of the Ham Branch stream in Harmon Park. The park is one of several so-called “valley storage” sites meant to hold back floodwater.
The restoration includes planting trees, grasses, and transforming an urban waterway into a natural channel, according to a project page on the Army Corps’s website.
Development on the island
The Tarrant Regional Water District put out a call on Oct. 16 looking for developers to purchase land around a section of the island’s internal canal system.
The district owns about 36 acres on the island that can be developed without waiting for the bypass channel. This initial section will focus on an area bordered by North Main Street to the west, Northwest Fifth Street to the north, Northwest Fourth Street to the south and the levee to the east.
However, the district wouldn’t turn down developers in areas outside that first canal zone, said Susan Alanis, the waster district program director.
The area in the initial phase will have all the necessary water, sewer and drainage pipes in place, so it’ll be easiest for developers to work there first, she said.
The water district set aside $12.4 million in its 2026 budget to build a section of canal in that area. It expects to start by the middle of 2026, according to water district documents.
The site of the Coyote Drive-In will be turned into a park. The pavilion will stay, but the rest of the area will be turned into a park, according to water district documents.
The levee along the West Fork of the Trinity River near the Main Street Bridge on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com
The pavilion is a real asset for the water district, Alanis said. It has a beer garden atmosphere, and will create the kind of fun atmosphere the district is looking for on the island, she said.
The city is still working on more sweeping updates to zoning rules on the island, but those won’t get a public airing until sometime in 2026, assistant city manager Dana Burghdoff said in the Nov. 6 meeting.
The canal will be near a 1.5 acre parcel owned by Austin-based developer Seco Ventures. The company bought 26 acres on the island in 2023, making it the island’s largest private landowner.
Seco started land planning for a 300-unit apartment complex at 508 N. Main St., which, once completed, will usher in a new era for Panther Island, founding partner Josh Needham said in an email the Star-Telegram.
He praised the work of the city and the water district to lay the groundwork for development on the island, saying it has created a clear path for Seco to secure the needed funding for its project in the coming year.
Seco is working with the city and other government agencies to set up a special taxing district to fund improvements on the island, Needham said.
“Panther Island is a place rich in history and character; we’re simply bringing that legacy back to life,” he said.
Beyond 2026
In the coming years, Panther Island will lean into its strengths around river and trail access and along with the new canals and future parks, Seco’s Needham said.
“With those advantages, our task is to build spaces that enable the lifestyle they make possible,” he said.
The company hasn’t released details for how it plans to develop those properties, but Needham shared a concept rendering from Lake Flato Architects showing a mixture of hotels, apartments, offices, a music venue and a grocery store.
Panther Island: District Concept Massing by Lake Flato Architects Courtesy of Seco Ventures
The construction of the other phases of the flood control project are still up in the air except work in Rockwood Park and along University Drive.
The Army Corps plans to dig out a section of Rockwood Park along the Trinity River for another valley storage site.
The road will be raised 12 to 15 feet to act as another buffer against floodwater escaping the river. The section is at risk during a major flooding event, so this will stop the road from being washed out.
Construction on the section of University Drive is expected to take 18 months, and is expected to start sometime in 2029 to line up with the completion of the northern section of the bypass channel.
In the meantime, the city plans to build a new access road to help traffic bypass the construction site.
The access road will curve behind the businesses that sit on the blocked section of North University Drive and dump traffic out onto Jacksboro Highway just north of the Super Star Car Wash, according to a presentation at the Nov. 6 TRVA board meeting.
Construction of the access road will start in 2026, and take about a year to complete.
This story was originally published January 2, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
Harrison Mantas has covered Fort Worth city government, agencies and people since September 2021. He likes to live tweet city hall meetings, and help his fellow Fort Worthians figure out what’s going on.
LIVINGSTON, Texas – Construction crews are working around the clock to make repairs to the Lake Livingston Dam after near-historic rainfall caused damage to the dam.
The Lake Livingston Dam, built in 1969, suffered scouring and erosion in the stilling basin (the pool just after the spillway) and east training wing wall (along the side of the pool after the spillway) following a record discharge of water from the dam.
According to documents filed with federal regulators, 124,000 cfs of water was being sent over the spillway and down the Trinity River.
The Trinity River Authority, which oversees Lake Livingston and the dam, then spoke with KPRC2 about the repairs being made.
Lake Livingston is the state’s third-largest lake and plays a major role in providing drinking water for the City of Houston and surrounding counties. Houston Public Works says roughly 70% of the city’s daily drinking water comes from the Trinity River downstream of the Lake Livingston Dam.
Leaders of the Trinity River Authority say they are targeting “critical areas of concern” for repair ahead of any tropical systems, including Hurricane Beryl.
On Monday the General Manager of the Trinity River Authority says a massive operation to pump concrete more than two feet underneath the water will begin.
All work at the dam should be wrapped up by the end of the month.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
Near-historic rainfalls resulted in flooding throughout SE Texas. Along the Trinity River, communities were hit hard with the flow being released from the Lake Livingston Dam.
According to data obtained by KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding, the dam set a record for water flowing from its spillway at 124,000 cfs.
Last Friday the Trinity River Authority issued the potential failure watch after discovering damage to the dam as a result of the high flow event.
It took nearly a week for leaders at the Trinity River Authority to explain what happened and the repairs needed to strengthen the dam, which recently received an unsatisfactory assessment, the lowest rating, during a May inspection filed with the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers.
According to documents filed with federal regulators, the dam has several different damages from the flooding.
The first problem was discovered on May 10 during an evaluation by an engineering firm, according to documents filed with the Federal Energy Regulator Commission.
As a result, the Trinity River Authority activated its Emergency Action Plan (EAP) on May 16 for a “Non-Failure (Abnormal) Condition.” This issue was outlined to be a partial failure of the left downstream training wall as well as erosion adjacent to the training wall.
A training wall is a wall that guides the flow of water. This training wall is downstream, or on the spillway side of the dam.
Fast forward to June 26 and another special inspection yields an even more concerning find. After several unsuccessful attempts to inspect the dam, crews discovered an alarming concern in the “stilling basin.”
A stilling basin is an area on the downstream side of a spillway that helps break the turbulent flow of water.
“Trinity River Authority (TRA) staff closed all spillway gates for a short time to allow for closer inspection and depth measurements in the stilling basin,” engineers wrote in a June 26th report filed with federal regulators. “These inspections and measurements revealed significant scour in the stilling basin that threatens the integrity of the dam. This is an emergency condition that requires immediate action.”
It’s this call for immediate action that prompted the “Potential Failure Watch.”
Since then the Trinity River Authority has been working to fix the issues.
According to Trinity River Authority General Manager Kevin Ward, crews discovered that the force of the water removed all of the rip rap, a layer of large stones, and clay the whole way to the apron of the dam.
“Under current flow there is no threat,” Ward told KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding on a phone call late Wednesday.
Ward went on to explain that repairs are already in progress.
Roughly 100 truckloads of large rock are being brought in daily as crews work around the clock.
On top of that, crews already began pumping concrete to fix the training wall erosion noted in the mid-May findings.
If all goes well, crews will begin pumping additional concrete into the bottom of the dam’s stilling basin to begin permanent repairs from the flooding.
With Hurricane Beryl potentially making an impact in SE Texas, Ward says crews are attacking the most critical areas of concern first so they can weather the storm.
All permanent repairs are forecast to be completed by July 22.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
HOUSTON – A Lake Livingston Dam is now being watched for a “potential failure.”
The Trinity River Authority, which oversees Lake Livingston, the dam and the Trinity River, shared the declaration on Friday.
Crews discovered that the spillway has been “adversely impacted by the recent heavy rainfall and flooding,” according to a release shared with KPRC 2.
The Trinity River Authority has not provided additional information into the damage to the spillway or what prompted the declaration.
“Although there is no immediate danger of either failure or breach of the dam, the potential does exist however remote it might be,” the statement reads.
Although Lake Livingston are more than 80 miles away from downtown Houston, millions of people could be left dry if something were to happen to the lake’s supply of water.
The City of Houston relies on water that flows from Lake Livingston, over the dam and into the Trinity River for drinking water.
More than three million people use the water from the river every single day, according to the Houston Department of Public Works.
“The City of Houston draws raw water for the East and Southeast Water Purification plants from the Trinity River pump station, 35 miles downstream of the Lake Livingston dam,” a Public Works spokesperson told KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding on Saturday. “These two water purification plants serve more 3 million customers in the Greater Houston Metropolitan area with water.”
This isn’t a few drops of water being pulled from the Trinity River.
Every day roughly 806 million gallons of water is pumped from the Trinity River and used for drinking water, according to a 2020 presentation to Houston City Council.
That equates to roughly 70% of the city’s daily water supply.
Simply put—it’s a lot of water.
It’s so much that if for some reason the spillway were to fail or even be closed entirely for repair, we could be in big trouble.
The City of Houston Public Works provides water not only for city residents but people across Harris County as well as three surrounding counties.
“If the Lake Livingston Dam operations were compromised and storage was not available, the pump station would continue to draw water from the Trinity River,” a Public Works spokesperson said. “There may be potential disruption of water pressure and supply during times of peak water demand and low flow of the Trinty River. Additional water conservation measures may need to take place at that time.”
The City of Houston does get water from other sources to keep up with the demand of 172 billion gallons of water a year, according to statistics provided by Public Works. That’s enough to fill the Astrodome four times, every single day.
However, there’s one problem. They wouldn’t have enough water to make up for the potential loss if the Trinity River is not able to provide any water.
“The alternative water source from Lake Houston via the West Canal is not a sufficient supply of water to keep the entire service area supported the Trinty River free of potential disruptions,” a Public Works spokesperson said.
While the Lake Livingston Dam is under a “potential failure watch,” the Trinity River Authority says the risk for failure is “remote.”
KPRC 2 has asked for additional information regarding the damage to the spillway. The Trinity River Authority has not responded to our request.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
[ad_2]
Gage Goulding, Oscar Chavez, Marcus Gutierrez, Katie Brown
HOUSTON – Just as many families are getting ready to put last week’s flooding in the rear-view mirror, Mother Nature is gearing up another storm that could dump several inches of rain on already saturated areas.
Another round of showers is forecast to move through the Houston area later in the day on Monday.
Some areas could see several inches of rain, including neighborhoods north of I-10. Many of those communities are still cleaning up from the most recent flooding.
“Yes, we washed up. But it stunk so bad,” said Sharon Hambrick.
It was a flood that nearly rivaled that of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
In its wake is streets lined with debris and cars flooded out.
A visible water line on the seats of a car left behind in flood waters in the Forest Cove neighborhood of Kingwood in Houston, Texas on May 12, 2024. (Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)
“t flooded, maybe 3 or 4 days, and it hasn’t flooded since like 2017,” said Glenn Sutton.
Gage: “We could see a healthy amount of rain, does that worry you at all that give you PTSD or Déjà vu?”
Glenn: “No. I’m okay. You know, it’s not going to rain 20 inches like it did the other day, I don’t think. But no, I’m okay.”
Sharon: “Yeah, especially my husband. He’s very worried. He always gets jumpy and, you know, should we do this anymore because of our age? We’re up in age.”
Simply put – some of these neighborhoods are like a soaked sponge.
Any more water and the ground might not be able to absorb it, resulting in flooding.
While this rain won’t even come close to what we just went through, it’s a knee jerk reaction that still has those that went through the heartbreak a little nervous about any kind of rain.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
