HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – For years, Harris County first responders have had to leave the region to receive specialized swiftwater rescue training. That is about to change.
County officials broke ground Friday on a new Swiftwater Rescue Training Facility at 1731 Hugh Road. The center will give deputies, constables, firefighters and other emergency personnel a place to practice water rescues, entrapment avoidance, swimming skills and team coordination in controlled conditions.
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The facility is designed to address a problem local agencies are facing. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and Sean Williams, assistant director of capital improvements for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, said the swiftwater training facility near Austin has closed, while other options require responders to travel across Texas or out of state.
“For so long, we’ve really been unprepared, trying to figure things out on the go,” Gonzalez said. “Now we’ll have the training up front where we can train our personnel in real-life situations.”
That lesson became especially clear during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
As floodwaters overwhelmed parts of the county, first responders rushed into neighborhoods to rescue residents. Many were working under dangerous conditions without consistent access to hands-on swiftwater training nearby. Officials said many first responders had to learn on the go.
Harvey showed officials that courage and equipment are not enough on their own. Responders also need a place to practice how to use that equipment, move through dangerous water and coordinate with other agencies before a crisis begins.
The new facility will include a deluge tank that helps trainees transition from flood conditions into a swiftwater environment, officials said. It will also allow responders to train with equipment they may use during an actual emergency, including high-water vehicles and boats.
“Having this in our backyard, having this resource, we can train them day and night,” Williams said. “We can also simulate night during the day.”
The center is expected to train as many as 1,600 people each year, including personnel from partner agencies across the region, Gonzalez said. Williams said it will be about twice the size of the county’s previous training space and could serve law enforcement, fire departments, military personnel and other agencies.
That local access could make a real difference. Instead of spending several days traveling to training, responders could complete instruction closer to home and return more quickly to patrol and other duties. Agencies could also schedule training more regularly, helping maintain a larger pool of certified responders.
Part of a broader effort
The project is part of a broader expansion of flood-rescue training in the Houston area. A separate $104 million facility known as STORM Ranch is being developed in Mission Bend by the Community Volunteer Fire Department and Harris Fort Bend ESD 100.
That project is designed as a large, multi-scenario training complex with swiftwater channels, a boat-rescue pond and an urban village where buildings can be flooded for rescue exercises. Its developers have also said the facility will offer basic flood-preparedness training for civilians.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office facility and STORM Ranch are separate projects with different scopes. But together, they could give the region more ways to train responders locally and improve coordination before the next hurricane or flood.
“Other events, [first responders] have gone into, and they’ve had training on the job during the event, unfortunately,” Williams said. “The safety of our officers is the safety and the result of our residents as well.”
The county project is funded through voter-approved bonds and supported by Harris County Commissioners Court, the Harris County Office of the County Engineer and the Sheriff’s Office.
For most residents, the facility may not be top of mind until the next major flood. But that is the point.
“We want to make sure that every first responder, not only here but across the region, can really be prepared and have the training and tools they need to successfully and effectively conduct rescues,” Gonzalez said.
Officials said they expect to complete the project by mid-2027.