Save the Date: Floodgate Meeting on July 8, 6 PM at Kingwood Community Center
Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin announced a meeting Thursday, July 8, 2021, at the Kingwood Community Center (4102 Rustic Woods) to provide updates on adding more floodgates to Lake Houston. The program to discuss the Lake Houston Dam Spillway Improvement Project will start at 6:00 p.m. The event will conclude at 7:45 p.m.
Floodgate enhancement was one of the three essential elements of the flood reduction strategy after Harvey. The other two were dredging and additional upstream detention.
Moving into Final Engineering
In its March 10th board meeting, the Coastal Water Authority (CWA) accepted the recommendation of a preliminary engineering report to add one thousand feet of crest gates to the uncontrolled spillway portion the Lake Houston Dam. The additional release capacity would let operators shed water faster before, during or after major storms to reduce the risk of flooding.
At the CWA March meeting, directors also approved $4.4 million to begin Phase II of the project. Phase II calls for Black & Veatch to proceed to final engineering of the floodgates and a coffer dam to protect the work area during construction.
Additional Protection for 5,000 Structures, 35,000 Residents
The spillway improvement project will increase outflow capacity of the Lake Houston Dam, bringing it closer to that of the Lake Conroe Dam. Faster releases from Lake Houston floodgates in advance of storms will prevent or reduce upstream flooding, protecting about 35,000 residents and 5,000 structures.
This project is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. A FEMA grant provides $4.3 million for the initial phase and positions the city to receive $42.7 million for construction.
Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin, Houston Public Works, and Coastal Water Authority have been working together under the direction of Chief Recovery Officer Stephen Costello to plan this public forum to discuss the progress of the floodgates.
Format of Meeting
Black & Veatch, the project engineers, will make a brief presentation followed by a short Q&A session and breakout sessions. The breakout session will let the community engage directly with project management staff and engineers in small groups to ask more detailed questions.
For more information, please contact the District E office at (832) 393-3008 or districte@houstontx.gov.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/8/2021 based on information from Dave Martin
1379 Days since Hurricane Harvey
