DRIP is hiring a new Program Director!
Disaster Resilience Information and Partnership (DRIP) Program
Technical Assistance for Under-Resourced Texas Communities
About
Originally launched in 2022 as a Texas Legislature-funded pilot, the Disaster Resilience Information and Partnership (DRIP) program was developed in partnership with Texas communities to support locally driven flood resilience. The program focused on improving access to flood-risk data, strengthening community understanding of risk, and supporting evidence-based mitigation and planning decisions.
Following new legislative funding for IDRT in 2025, the DRIP program is being expanded and institutionalized—building on the collaborative, community-centered model shaped during the pilot phase.
Our Mission
DRIP’s mission is to empower under-resourced Texas communities with digital tools and training to make informed disaster mitigation decisions, secure funding, and reduce future losses.
DRIP Program Relaunching in 2026
DRIP will relaunch in 2026 as a permanent program within the Texas A&M Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas (IDRT).
The relaunched DRIP program will continue to support under-resourced Texas communities facing chronic or acute flooding through:
- Improved access to and understanding of flood-risk data
- Training and technical assistance
- Community engagement and partnership opportunities
IDRT is currently preparing for the relaunch, including hiring a full-time DRIP Program Director and establishing a Rural Leaders Advisory Council to ensure community priorities and perspectives guide the program’s future direction.
Additional details about program offerings, partner opportunities, and timelines will be shared in the coming months. We encourage interested communities and partners to check back soon or contact drip@tamu.edu for updates.
DRIP is hiring a new Program Director
Our Work
Beginning in 2022, DRIP collaborated with ten partner communities experiencing chronic and acute flooding events across six diverse regions in the state to develop products, such as customized flood risk maps, for all the partner communities.
Two DRIP communities, Fort Hancock and Wise County, were selected for additional, customized projects to serve as proof-of-concepts that could be expanded to other locations in the future – the Wise County Flood Depth Surface Elevation Visualization Project and the Hudspeth County/Fort Hancock Community Flood Knowledge Collection Project.
Through our past work, we have:
- Connected with a diverse group of under-resourced communities through interviews and focus groups to identify flood mitigation data needs and develop the overall DRIP program from the ground up.
- Traveled across the state, and held more than forty meetings with county and city officials and staff about their flood data challenges and needs.
- Identified a clear initial need in all communities to assemble and visualize the best available flood risk data for each community.
- Scoped two in-depth data analytics and technical assistance projects to complete during the initial funding period.
Want to know more? Email us at drip@tamu.edu to join our mailing list.
DRIP's Key Partners:
Wise County Flood Depth Surface Elevation Visualization
The DRIP team provided Wise County with high resolution flood hazard map products based on the most current flood frequency studies. This tool, which consisted of both interactive and paper-based maps, allows county administrators to visualize and/or extract flood depth and elevation data over particular areas or points of interest, and assists with decision making as well as policy and scenario planning.
Hudspeth County/Fort Hancock Community Flood Knowledge Collection Project
This project focused on developing a process to collect community-held knowledge (such as photos; verbal descriptions of water lines and dates of major storms leading to flooding; and verbal identification of areas/locations prone to flooding, etc.) to inform mapping and modeling products. The main product was a systematic collection of data focused on documenting and describing flooding in this flash-flood vulnerable community, and a GIS Data Viewer.
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