SARA and the San Antonio Fire Department will hold a news conference Wednesday to discuss the FloodWorks system. It was developed in the United Kingdom and is operational via a “user-friendly, interactive website” at the San Antonio Emergency Operations Center at Brooks City-Base, officials said.
“We're doing the technology development; their role is the response,” Russell Persyn, SARA's watershed engineering manager, said of the joint project with the fire department.
The system, installed late last year and run through tests in the spring, uses historical flood data and weather forecasts to plan a day before a potential flood, with real-time radar updates from the National Weather Service helping responders track developments during a storm.
“It adds to preparation prior to the event,” Persyn said.
SARA has spent $2.1 million on the system, with the city committing $20,000 annually from its EOC budget for software maintenance.
The system, which provides a color-coded map to calculate at-risk areas and major and minor flooding, is programmed for 142 flood-prone locations identified by the fire department. It can be expanded to include more sites, and data from electronic gauges. The locations include low-water crossings on local roads, as well as major highways and access roads that have flooded in the past.
An initial pilot program begun about three years ago focused on Salado Creek, long known to cause heavy flooding in the eastern part of the city, providing a “proof of concept” for the citywide system, Persyn said.
The 142 locations in the system include 46 along the upper San Antonio River; 30 along Leon Creek; 20 near the Medina River; 20 along Salado Creek; and 13 each near the Cibolo and Martinez creeks.
The system was purchased through Innovyze, a global provider of analytics software with corporate headquarters in Broomfield, Colorado, that serves utilities, government agencies and engineering organizations.
The system also has been used in London, northern Belgium and local communities in Ireland and Egypt.
©2014 the San Antonio Express-News
