Trinity River Floodplain Tool

The Trinity River Basin, with nearly 11 million acres of land and over 715 river miles, is the largest river basin that begins and ends in Texas and the most populous basin in the state. The Trinity – called the Arkikosa by the Caddo peoples – serves as the water source to more than half of all Texans; water from the Trinity Basin drains into the Galveston Bay estuary system, considered one of the most productive ecosystems and commercial fisheries in the nation. The basin includes five major Texas ecoregions, from the Cross-Timbers and Blackland Prairie in the upper portions, through the Post Oak Savannah and Piney Woods in the middle section, to the Coastal Prairies and Marshes along the Gulf coast. Floodplain protection and restoration is an important strategy for supporting the health and resilience of communities and ecosystems in this important basin and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Trinity Floodplain Prioritization Tool is designed to help identify key opportunities for floodplain protection and restoration in the Trinity River Basin. Users are able to specify criteria related to water quality, wildlife habitat, carbon storage, current and future flood risk, and current and projected land use characteristics. The map changes in response to the user selections to identify sites that meet all the selected criteria and help identify the geographies where floodplain conservation is likely to have the greatest positive impact for the conservation and community priorities selected.