Harris County Breaks Ground on Its First Swiftwater Rescue Training Facility

Watch on KHOU 11Harris County leaders break ground on new facility to train for swiftwater rescues

Harris County officials broke ground in August 2026 on a dedicated Swiftwater Rescue Training Facility at 1731 Hugh Road in north Houston. It will be the county's first facility built specifically for water rescue training. When it opens, deputies, constables, firefighters and partner agencies across the region will be able to train close to home.

Until now, Harris County personnel have had to travel outside the region for swiftwater instruction, which limited how many responders could be certified each year. The new facility is expected to train up to 1,600 people annually.

What's Being Built

The roughly 9,400-square-foot building is designed around an indoor, above-ground training tank measuring 40 by 80 feet. A deluge feature will take trainees from flood conditions into a moving-water environment. The setup supports work with high-water vehicles and rescue boats, as well as night-condition training during daytime hours.

• Water rescue technique and entrapment avoidance
• Swimming proficiency under realistic conditions
• Problem-solving and team coordination drills
• Vehicle and boat-based rescue scenarios

The project is funded through Harris County's voter-approved 2022 public safety bond. PGAL is the architect and Kitchell is the construction manager. The county expects it to be complete in 2027.

Why It Matters

Houston-area responders know the stakes firsthand. During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, many deputies carried out water rescues with little formal swiftwater training to fall back on. Since then, the Sheriff's Office has steadily expanded its flood-rescue capabilities, adding airboats and building out specialized certification for its deputies.

A permanent indoor training site changes the equation. Agencies don't have to wait for a river to run high or a flood to hit. They can rehearse the hardest scenarios on schedule, in clean water, with the current, depth and conditions set for the drill.

Fathom Tanks and Harris County

Fathom Tanks has worked alongside the Harris County Sheriff's Office for years. In 2020, Fathom trained more than 40 HCSO deputies toward swiftwater rescue certification at its indoor tank facility in Georgetown, Texas. That training put them through high-volume current, simulated storms and night operations.

Harris County's investment reflects a shift Fathom has championed since 2021: the most effective water rescue training happens indoors, year-round, in a controlled environment where every repetition is realistic and every trainee goes home safe.