Building resilience starts with understanding risk.
Flooding and drainage projects are ultimately about protecting people, property, infrastructure, and communities. Delivering them means understanding more than where water goes. It requires navigating watersheds and natural resources, environmental regulations and permitting, funding requirements, community priorities, and the very personal ways flood risk affects the people who live and work within a project area.
Hollaway supports flood mitigation and drainage projects of all scales: from watershed studies and major bond programs to channels, detention, levees, drainage improvements, and voluntary buyouts.
Our environmental, communications, and creative teams work alongside flood control districts, cities, river authorities, engineers, and communities to identify constraints early, navigate environmental review and permitting, communicate complex flood risk information clearly, and create meaningful opportunities for public participation.
Our Capabilities
Environmental Planning + NEPA
We help flood risk reduction and drainage teams identify environmental considerations early and develop clear, defensible documentation to support project development and decision-making.
- Feasibility and environmental constraints studies
- NEPA documentation (Categorical Exclusions, Environmental Assessments, and Environmental Impact Statements)
- Section 4(f) evaluations
- Section 106 and cultural resources coordination
- Socioeconomic and community impact analyses
- Hazardous materials initial site assessments (Phase I ESAs)
- GIS and environmental data analysis
- State and federal agency coordination
Natural + Water Resources
Our scientists evaluate the natural systems within and surrounding flood risk reduction projects to help clients understand potential impacts, permitting needs, and opportunities for environmentally responsive solutions.
- Wetland and stream delineations
- Clean Water Act Section 404 and Section 10 permitting support
- Protected species surveys
- Migratory bird, eagle, and freshwater mussel surveys
- Mitigation planning and coordination
- Ecosystem restoration support
- Field investigations and technical documentation
- State and federal agency coordination
Public Involvement + Stakeholder Engagement
Flood risk is personal. We help project teams communicate clearly about what is being studied, what is known, what is still being evaluated, and how communities can meaningfully participate in the process.
- Public involvement, communications, and engagement strategies
- Messaging and branding development
- Stakeholder identification
- Community and property owner outreach
- Public meetings and hearings
- Virtual and hybrid engagement
- Elected official and agency briefings
- Multilingual community engagement
- Public comment management and documentation
- Issues, crisis, and opposition communications
- Program and project communications
- Disaster response and recovery communications
Creative + Digital Communications
Flooding, drainage, and watershed information can be highly technical. Our creative team helps make it understandable through visual storytelling, interactive tools, and accessible project communications.
- Project websites and digital engagement platforms
- Interactive mapping, StoryMaps, and informational presentations
- Project videos and animations
- Drone photography and project documentation
- Public meeting and hearing exhibits
- Infographics, fact sheets, project collateral, and educational materials
- Flood risk and technical information visualization
Construction Environmental Compliance + Management
Our environmental support continues beyond planning and permitting, helping flood risk reduction and drainage teams maintain environmental compliance as projects move toward construction and implementation.
- Pre-construction environmental surveys
- Environmental inspection and monitoring
- Permit compliance support
- Protected species and habitat monitoring
- Construction-phase environmental documentation
- Agency coordination and compliance support
Experience Before, During + After the Storm
Hollaway’s flooding and drainage experience extends beyond individual infrastructure projects.
Our team has supported major flood risk reduction programs, watershed studies, federal feasibility efforts, drainage improvements, and disaster response and recovery initiatives across the Texas Gulf Coast and throughout the state. We have worked with communities before projects are defined, during major planning and environmental processes, and as improvements move toward implementation.
We also understand that flood risk communication carries a particular responsibility. Maps, models, alternatives, and technical analyses can directly affect how people understand the risks facing their homes, businesses, and communities. We help our clients communicate that information accurately, clearly, and with the context people need to meaningfully participate in decisions about their future.
That combination of technical understanding, environmental expertise, and community-centered communications helps our clients move from understanding risk to building resilience.
