RV Resort Pumping Stormwater Into Edgewater Park, Bringing in Fill

Lakewood Cove residents reported yesterday and today that contractors at the Laurel Springs RV Resort are pumping stormwater from their detention pond into Precinct 4’s Edgewater Park. The reports are true. And it’s a permit violation.

I also found contractors bringing in fill from the outside that I thought was going to be “cut” from the detention pond. All photos below were taken on 1/18/22.

Pumping From Pond onto Neighboring Property

The approved permit plans clearly state that “Stormwater runoff shall not cross property lines.”

*Stamp on many pages of approved Laurel Springs RV Resort plans.*

I guess at some point the water in the pond ceased being runoff. Now it’s just a nuisance. The plans said pond water would be pumped into the City storm sewers. Hmmmm.

*Photographed from Laurel Springs Lane looking west.*

*Here’s an aerial photo looking toward Laurel Springs Lane.*

*Check out all the muck being washed into the woods. Those woods belong to Harris County Pct. 4. That’s part of new Edgewater Park.*

Note the lack of silt fences in the two photos above. Plans clearly state that silt fences will be installed to keep silt from escaping the property. Double Hmmmm!

Bringing in Fill instead of Moving It From Within the Site

As I photographed the pumping, I noticed a parade of dump trucks bringing in fill, dumping it, and leaving as a bulldozer spread it out and another machine quickly compacted it.

*Looking NW toward Lowes in top center. Note dump truck depositing fill – one of many that I watched.*

*The area where they deposited fill just north of the pond corresponds to the plans. See below.*

*Detail from mitigation plan showing NW corner of pond and fill area. For full plan, click here.*

From text on the image above, I assumed that the job was to be a routine “cut and fill” operation. Maybe I shouldn’t have assumed.

Cut and Fill is an industry standard in floodplains. It means you move dirt from one part of the site to another. So, there is no additional fill brought into the floodplain. The fill area above appears to be in the .2% annual chance floodplain, according to the old FEMA map below. However, the developer did not mark the .2% chance floodplain on plans.

*FEMA floodplain map. Aqua = 1% annual chance. Brown = .2% annual chance.* *It appears the northern part of the detention pond (not shown on this old satellite image) cuts between the aqua and brown areas.*

For the record, Chapter 19 of Houston’s Code of Ordinances currently does not prohibit bringing fill into the .2% annual chance floodplain. See Section 19.34.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/18/2022

1603 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

Pumping From Pond onto Neighboring Property

Bringing in Fill instead of Moving It From Within the Site

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