Water Resources
Water is essential for societies to flourish, and our firm was founded to help communities provide safe drinking water, maintain sanitary treatment systems and control dangerous flood waters. We continue to apply comprehensive, environmentally responsible best practices to a wide range of projects that can maximize water quantity and quality while minimizing cost and energy use. Our innovations have helped clients address their challenges through pioneering reservoirs, treatment processes, spillway designs, water filtration methods, erosion control techniques and reuse/alternative supplies.
Integrated Water Resource Planning
Water resource planning empowers community leaders and water managers with a greater understanding and practical solutions for their water supply challenges today and in the future. For utilities, a strong customized water planning strategy will convert resource challenges to opportunities, support system adaptability and resiliency, and mitigate uncertainties. For communities, it will enhance quality of life, protect natural resources, and create a long-term legacy of resource management.
In 1894, Freese and Nichols founder John Hawley became one of Texas’ first water consulting engineers. Since then, our firm has provided actionable answers to clients’ water, wastewater, and stormwater management issues using integrated water resource planning techniques.
- Surface water supply modeling, development and permitting
- Climate resilience
- Groundwater science and planning
- Storage and conveyance
- Resource recovery and advanced treatment
- Stormwater management
- Demand management and conservation
- Environmental science, permitting and regulatory compliance
Project Gallery
Long-Range Water Supply Plan
North Texas Municipal Water District
Joint Regulatory Plan Review
Harris-Galveston Subsidence District
Cherokee Nation Drought Resilience Study
Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma
Water Resource Study, Phase 1
Alliance Regional Water Authority
Kaw Reservoir Raw Water Master Plan Update
City of Ponca City, Oklahoma
Aquifer Storage and Recovery Demonstration Study
Tarrant Regional Water District, Texas
Bois d’Arc Lake
North Texas Municipal Water District
Water Rights Permitting for System Operations Permit
Brazos River Authority, Texas
Raw Water Supply Master Plan
San Jacinto River Authority, Texas
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Bois d’Arc Lake Receives Excellence Award from U.S. Society on Dams
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Building Resilience in Rural Water Systems
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Dams and Levees
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.
Start a Dams and Levees Project
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
Bois d’Arc Lake Dam and Reservoir
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 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
Clear Creek Spillway Replacement
City of Duncan, Oklahoma
Plum Creek Watershed Flood Retarding Structure No. 6 Rehabilitation
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Related Materials
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Bois d’Arc Lake Receives Excellence Award from U.S. Society on Dams
Innovations, News
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Supporting Dam Operation Permit Renewals
Blog Posts
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Stormwater and Flood Resilience
Freese and Nichols helps guide federal, state and local entities through all steps of a stormwater and flood risk reduction program, applying expertise in the latest modeling approaches, effective design and policy development. We believe in responsibly managing stormwater and flood risk to improve the quality of life in our communities – now and in the future. We integrate environmental responsibility, technical excellence and enhanced service to deliver scalable, innovative and comprehensive solutions.
Start a Stormwater and Flood Resilience Project
Specific Services
Stormwater Management
- Stormwater drainage master plans
- Stormwater infrastructure
- Capital Improvement Programs (CIP)
- Stormwater utility fees
- Regulatory compliance
- Water quality controls
- Design criteria manuals and ordinances
- Floodplain management and development reviews
- Asset management
- Guidance manuals and toolkits
Flood Risk and Mitigation
- Regional and state flood planning
- Floodplain modeling and mapping
- FEMA letters of map change (LOMCs)
- Flood mitigation
- Flood warning and flood forecasting
- Dam design and rehabilitation
- Levee design and accreditation
- State and federal grant programs
- Detention/Retention
- Flood analytics
- Coastal storm risk reduction
- Risk and vulnerability assessments
- Post flood forensic analysis
- Resilience planning
Nature-Based Solutions
- Stream restoration and stabilization
- Wetland restoration and creation
- Sedimentation analysis
- Fluvial geomorphology
- Bioengineering bank stabilization
- Natural channel design
- Green infrastructure and low-impact development
- Erosion assessments
- Floodplain connection and restoration
- Coastal restoration
- Natural breakwaters, oyster reefs and living shorelines
Project Gallery
Stephenson Park
City of Edmond, Oklahoma
West Irving Creek
City of Irving, Texas
Chimneystone Drainage Improvements
City of Sugar Land, Texas
Louisiana Watershed Initiative
Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
Turtle Creek Stream Restoration
City of Austin, Texas
Exploratory 2D Flood Risk Study
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services, North Carolina
Memorial Park Central Connector
Memorial Park Conservancy, Houston, Texas
Glade Creek at Vinyard Park Stream Restoration
Roanoke County, Virginia
Arlington Heights Drainage Improvements
City of Fort Worth, Texas
Cooley Creek and Lightning Creek Flood Risk Studies
Oklahoma Water Resources Board
Fort Hood Drainage Master Plan
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Hurricane Florence Response
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
Program Management for Watershed Studies
City of Fayetteville, North Carolina
Related Materials
Related Links
Coastal Resilience and Navigation Services
Coastal communities are facing serious challenges such as erosion, sea level rise, increased storms and storm surges, and more frequent natural disasters.
Freese and Nichols’ national coastal experts work closely with our clients to develop and implement resilience strategies with a holistic approach considering the unique needs of each community. We help protect built infrastructure and focus on natural and nature-based solutions such as dune restoration, wetland conservation, and living shorelines that can enhance the inherent strength of our coasts.
Our solutions promote long-term resiliency, preservation, and protection of our coasts for future generations.
Agency Partnerships
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- Texas General Land Office
- Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority
- Cities, ports and NGOs
Specific Services
Planning and Asset Management
- Vulnerability assessments
- Hazard mitigation plans
- Zoning and urban planning
- Asset management services
- W/WW master planning
- Stormwater/flood master planning
- Coastal watershed studies
- Dredged material management plans
Modeling
- Compound flooding modeling
- Wave/storm surge/numerical modeling
- Fluvial stormwater modeling in coastal watersheds
- Hydrodynamic and coastal sediment transport modeling
Engineering, Design and Management
- Design
- Geotechnical services
- Program and construction management
- Fluvial/riparian restoration
- Dredging and dredged material management
Engineering, Design and Management Project Types
- Levees
- Floodwalls/seawalls
- Jetties/breakwaters
- Revetments
- Pump stations
- Natural channels
- Channel geometries improvements
- Stormwater structures
- Hard armoring solutions
- In-bay terraces
- Marshes and island restoration
- Beaches and dunes
- Other living shorelines
Environmental, Permitting and Remediation Services
- Wetlands assessments
- Environmental permitting
- Regulatory compliance
- Monitoring
- NEPA compliance assessments
- Environmental impact statements
- Natural resource management plans
- Mitigation banking
- Beneficial use of dredged material (BUDMAT) solutions
- Plastics Remediation services
Ecosystems Services
- Habitat restoration
- Marsh creation
- Terracing
- Beach and dune restoration
- Sediment management
- Living shorelines
Navigation Tools
- Beneficial use of dredged material
- Channel geometries improvements
- Dredged material management plans
Project Gallery
Bahia Grande Rookery Island and Wetland Restoration Preliminary Design
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Lavaca Bay Receiving Water Monitoring Program
Formosa Plastics Corporation
Schicke Point Shoreline Protection
Schicke Point Restoration Partners
South Texas Gateway Terminal
Buckeye Partners LP
Coastal Texas Restoration Study Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement
Texas General Land Office
Innovative Water Supplies/Reuse
With increasing demand for clean water, traditional sources have given way to a broader focus on innovative water management strategies that consider reuse, desalination, groundwater storage and other options. Drawing upon the expertise of our water, wastewater and stormwater teams, Freese and Nichols helps communities provide a secure water supply through customized, innovative solutions. We assist with planning, design, water rights, environmental permits and state financing.
- Indirect Potable Reuse (IPR): Led numerous planning studies and designs to deliver safe and effective augmentation of drinking water supplies using Indirect Potable Reuse.
- Direct Potable Reuse (DPR): Designed, permitted and started up the first DPR facility in North America.
- Water Reuse Planning: Assisted with dozens of evaluations and implementations of water reuse as a supplemental source.
- Upgrades: Extended operation of the second DPR project in North America through addition of ultraviolet (UV) disinfection.
- Seawater Desalination: Served as owner representative for the first municipal seawater desalination plant in Texas.
- Brackish Groundwater Desalination: Evaluated and piloted nanofiltration membranes as an energy-efficient alternative to reverse osmosis membranes for brackish groundwater desalination.
- Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR): Led a drinking water well prototype, including design, permitting support, construction, water quality evaluation, infrastructure configuration and testing.
Project Gallery
Desalination Siting, Permitting and Owner’s Representation
City of Corpus Christi, Texas
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Conserving Water by Monitoring Smart Meter Data
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Freese and Nichols Wins Excellence Award for Innovative Flood Planning
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