Water Resource Design

Freese and Nichols’ expertise in water resources covers the complete project life cycle – from planning, design and construction management to operation, maintenance and regulatory compliance for heavy civil infrastructure such as dams and reservoirs, levees, canals and flood protection systems. Our team integrates multiple engineering disciplines to fully support your needs, including geotechnical, structural, hydrology and hydraulics, civil design, coastal, mechanical, electrical and emergency management.

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Specific Services

Planning and Analysis
  • Water supply and flood control feasibility assessments
  • Geological and geotechnical investigations
  • Seepage, settlement and foundation modeling
  • Hydrologic modeling, including flood and PMF studies
  • Hydraulic modeling, including breach analyses and inundation mapping
  • Risk management and risk-based decision making
  • Gate and reservoir operation plans
Design Services
  • Dams: earthen, concrete gravity, slab-and-buttress, masonry
  • Levees: embankments, floodwalls, closure sections, interior drainage
  • Embankments: foundation remediation, seepage, stability
  • Spillways: uncontrolled, gates and hoists, labyrinth and piano key, outlet works
  • Rivers and canals: water control structures, drop structures, armoring
  • Specialty services: dewatering systems, terminal storage reservoirs, anchoring, reservoir dredging, dam decommissioning
  • Instrumentation and monitoring programs
Regulatory Compliance
  • Dam and levee safety inspections
  • Emergency action plans and tabletop exercises
  • Operation and maintenance plans
  • Comprehensive facility reviews
  • Potential Failure Modes Analysis (PFMA)
  • State and federal dam safety agency coordination
  • Environmental permitting

Project Gallery

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Bois d’Arc Lake Mitigation Program Phase Two

North Texas Municipal Water District

Dry Comal Creek Flood Retarding Structure

Comal County, Texas

Knight Flume Replacement Design

Gulf Coast Water Authority, Texas

Lake Brazos Labyrinth Weir

City of Waco, Texas

Lake Delton Dam Repair

Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Lake Ralph Hall Dam

Lake Ralph Hall and Leon Hurse Dam

Upper Trinity Regional Water District, Texas

Upper Brushy Creek Dam 7

Upper Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District, Texas

Toledo Bend Dam Gate Rehabilitation

Toledo Bend Project Joint Operation, Texas and Louisiana

Lewis Creek Dam Spillway Improvements

Entergy Corporation

Liberty County Levee Repairs

Liberty County Water Control Improvement District No. 5, Texas

Plum Creek Watershed Flood Retarding Structure No. 6 Rehabilitation

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Integrated Pipeline Project Kennedale Balancing Reservoir

Tarrant Regional Water District, Texas