Time is Enemy of Flood Mitigation

Everyone says, “It’s not if, but when we will flood again.” Most people would therefore deduce that “Time is the enemy of flood mitigation.”

The Maryland Reminder

We were reminded of that this week with the horrific images of flash floods raging down Main Street of a small Maryland town. It was the town’s second so-called “thousand-year storm” in 22 months. Just two weeks ago, the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded the state and county more than $1 million to pay for projects aimed at reducing the flood risk in areas around Main Street. The project had barely begun when the second storm hit, wiping out the town again and killing at least one person. Luckless residents lamented how they had already spent their life savings to fix up their homes and businesses after the first flood.

Reason for Count-Up Calendar on This Site

Yes, time is the enemy. That’s precisely why I have put the count-up calendar at the top of every page on this website and why I sign off every post with the number of days since Hurricane Harvey.

I would urge you to do the same every time you contact friends, colleagues and representatives. Remind them how long it’s been. Don’t let people forget.

Official Start of Hurricane Season

Today is the official start of another hurricane season. Already one tropical storm, Alberto, narrowly missed us before the season even began. So where do major flood mitigation projects stand for our area?

Where Major Projects Stand

The Army Corps of Engineers delayed the opening of bids for the West Fork dredging project until June 12. They expect the project to take through the end of the year … just to go from River Grove Park to the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge.

The TCEQ is still trying to decide whether to allow the SJRA to lower the level of Lake Conroe during the peak of hurricane season … which, if historical averages hold, would amount to a whopping 4.8 inches (because evaporation usually lowers Lake Conroe already by more than 1.5 feet due to evaporation).

Harris County plans to issue a $2.5 billion flood bond on August 25th, the anniversary of Harvey. Harris County Flood Control is currently defining projects within that fund and soliciting community input on them. (Please come to the Kingwood meeting at the Community Center on June 14 at 6pm.)

Flood gate additions for Lake Houston? See below.

The Flood-Gate Gauntlet

The City of Houston and Harris County Flood Control hired a consultant to evaluate the idea of adding more flood gates to Lake Houston to increase the discharge capacity during floods.

Then the city filled out a three-page Notice of Intent for the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM). TDEM is part of the Texas Department of Public Safety. A Notice of Intent is like an application to fill out an application! The TDEM uses it to evaluate eligibility of an application before the City goes to all the time and expense of actually filling out the real application.

In May, Houston City Council Member Dave Martin notified the public in his newsletter that, “The Notice of Intent was recently approved by the Texas Division of Emergency Management. The City of Houston is now working diligently to complete this application and submit for selection.”

Currently Working on Application

Stephen Costello said, “TDEM has approved the gates project to go to the application phase. We are meeting with Tetra Tech this week (May 7) to discuss timing of application preparation and submittal. Either way we plan on having all resilience projects applications submitted no later than end of August.”

The City must still submit the real application to TDEM. TDEM prioritizes applications based primarily on benefit/cost analysis. TDEM sends those that provide the most benefit for the buck to the Federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) within FEMA. FEMA, of course, is within the Department of Homeland Security.

Submittal Hopefully before End of August

Dave Jackson, Chairman of the State Hazard Mitigation team at DPS, has stated that Texas will send $1.2 billion worth of recommended projects to FEMA by August 25th, the anniversary of Harvey.

“If TDEM approves the project application, TDEM then prepares the grant paperwork for City of Houston acceptance,” says Matt Zeve of Harris County Flood Control who has recently submitted 15 other mitigation projects himself. “That’s when the local match is actually encumbered.” HMGP projects work on a 75/25 split. That means that if the gates cost $47 million, the City must put up almost $12 million that becomes legally reserved for the project.

Grant Approval and Lining Up Funding

It’s unclear at this time where those matching funds will come from. If they come from Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds, those funds have not yet been released by the Federal Government and probably won’t be until November. The CDBG-DR, of course, is administered by yet another agency of the Federal Government – Housing and Urban Development. However, at least one Federal official thinks the City may also be able to use some funds left over from debris cleanup for the match.

Engineering and Construction

Once the monies are committed and plans approved, the Army Corps of Engineers, part of the Department of Defense, gets involved! I am told that the Corps would approve the engineering of the new flood gates.

Shepherding projects such as this one through the federal gauntlet requires constant supervision. Ted Poe and our senators have asked all departments involved to expedite the project. However, Ted Poe retires at the end of this year and either Todd Litton or Dan Crenshaw will replace him. Both would be freshman legislators.

And don’t forget time for environmental studies and comments.

Ted Poe’s Chief of Staff is optimistic though. “With luck, construction could begin in two years,” said Tim Tarpley.

The Case for Process Re-engineering

If ever I saw a classic case for the need to re-engineer business processes, this is it. For the gates, A TIME-SENSITIVE PROJECT, we have involved or will involve:

The City of Houston
Consultants
The Mayor
City Council Members
City Engineer
The Texas Division of Emergency Management
The Texas Department of Public Safety
The Governor of Texas
Federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
FEMA
Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Department of Defense
Community Block Grant Development Disaster Recovery Fund
Department of Housing and Urban Development
U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Senate
Cabinet Secretaries
Agency Heads
Countless staff members at every entity above
Environmentalists

Could we possibly make this multi-jurisdictional morass more complicated? A Rubic’s Cube has fewer facets!

After Pearl Harbor, it took approximately 3.5 years to win World War II. Anyone want to bet on how long it will take to add flood gates to Lake Houston?

Posted June 1, 2018 by Bob Rehak

276 Days Since Hurricane Harvey