It’s been 25 years in the making, and it’s all coming together now. As the Central City Flood Control Project moves toward its next major phase, the Tarrant Regional Water District’s Operations department is making way, and TRWD is introducing an important “first”: an inaugural service center at Old Decatur Road and Northwest Loop 820, just a quick drive from downtown Fort Worth, that will bring Operations together with other essential areas.
TRWD is engaged with federal, state, and local partners, including the City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, the Texas Department of Transportation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and Streams & Valleys, in a plan to proactively bring needed flood protection to Fort Worth. Fort Worth is one of the country’s fastest-growing cities, with a population that has expanded from around 350,000 when the Trinity River levees were originally built in the early 1960s, to more than 1 million people today. With increased community development has come the need for increased flood protection during major storms. The Central City Flood Control Project addresses that need.
The project dates back to 2001, when a task force was established to investigate Fort Worth’s aging levee system. The project was publicly introduced in 2003, and technical feasibility studies for a river bypass channel were conducted. The project – a major undertaking with a key component that will reroute 1.5 miles of the Trinity River just north of the Tarrant County Courthouse in downtown Fort Worth – was started by TRWD and USACE in 2004. When completed, the Central City Flood Control Project will deliver flood protection, environmental cleanup of the Trinity, and recreation for more than 3,000 acres of Tarrant County land.
These changes – creating a new, straighter, man-made channel across the Trinity, rather than around its path in the downtown area – are designed to protect more than 2,400 acres of Fort Worth neighborhoods from the highest level of flooding. To make way for progress, TRWD Operations will relocate. Giving up the old space means the start of something exciting and new, both for the city and for TRWD.
Time for change
“Excavation is estimated to start in early 2027, so it’s time for us to get out of the way,” said TRWD Chief Operations Officer Darrell Beason. “The bypass channel will provide a tremendous amount of protected area, as well as an opportunity for a Panther Island riverwalk rivaling San Antonio. It’s an exciting time. The channel is about to begin its next journey for all the people who live and spend time around the river.”
TRWD broke ground on the new service center in mid-April.
In addition to Operations, the service center will house a primary administration building serving as the morning gathering point for floodway staff before they make their way out into the field; a multi-use conference area that can serve as an operations center for any emergency in the region; central purchasing warehouse space; mechanic and fleet maintenance space; and a welding and fabrication shop for building and maintaining just about anything needed for the Trinity Trail bridges, signs, pavilions and handrails, and for maintaining the more than 300 miles of large-diameter (over 6 ft.) pipelines needed for the Integrated Pipeline (IPL) project between TRWD and Dallas Water Utilities, along with the Richland Chambers and Cedar Creek legacy systems.
The new service center’s location at Loop 820 will make it easier for moving TRWD’s vehicles and heavy equipment onto wider freeways rather than through smaller city streets, Beason noted, although some equipment, like tractors used for mowing, will stay at a small satellite hub closer to the river where they’re regularly deployed.
When completed, the service center will also become home for TRWD’s recreation and events staff and all the supplies needed for community events like Mayfest, Fort Worth’s Fourth, Trinity Flyfest, TRWD Trash Bash cleanups and more.
“This event warehouse will bring our supplies together in one place, with an intelligent layout that will improve efficiency and safety in storing and moving items as needed,” Beason said.
IT, HR and more
A TRWD gas station and heavy-equipment car wash will be located at the new service center, with sufficient fuel storage to carry through during emergency situations. There will be parking space for rolling equipment, and infrastructure will be put in place for TRWD electric vehicle charging in the future.
Human Resources will have a satellite office at the service center, and the District’s IT data center will move to the new compound, in a hardened shell building designed to maintain safe, continuous operations through even the most serious weather conditions and outages.
A new microwave tower at the service center will ensure solid radio communication between the center and all the District’s pump stations, reservoirs, and administrative offices.
Jim Lane Law Enforcement Facility
Bringing it all together will be a new 911 dispatch and law enforcement center monitoring TRWD properties and assets across 11 counties, named in honor of the legacy, leadership, and community contributions of longtime attorney and civic leader James Warren “Jim” Lane.
The new Jim Lane Law Enforcement Facility recognizes a man who dedicated his life to public service, serving on the TRWD Board of Directors for 16 years, and on the Fort Worth City Council for six terms.
“During that time,” it was noted at the April 21, 2026, TRWD Board meeting, Lane “was a staunch advocate for his city, neighbors, and line of duty public servants, devoting decades of commitment to bettering Fort Worth and serving the people of Texas; and his leadership and vision contributed to meaningful and lasting improvements that continue to benefit residents across the region, including the Central City Flood Control Project, Panther Island development plans, and the expansion of recreational opportunities through Tarrant Regional Water District.”
“Jim was larger than life and such a proponent for law and order,” Beason said. “He meant so much to our officers.”
Future forward
During construction of the new service center, some TRWD staff will move to temporary portable space so that work on the Trinity bypass channel can move through.
“We will compress to the north end of the property where Operations is now,” Beason said, “until the new operations center is complete in early 2028.”
“This 21st-century facility will bring together a lot of areas that have been housed in different spaces and give us a much-needed update to the current Operations site that’s been in use for over 60 years,” he added.
“I can’t wait to see what blossoms from this new location.”
