Leaders Share Status of Local Flood-Mitigation Projects
9/17/24 – Yesterday, five leaders who represent the Lake Houston Area met to discuss the status of local flood-mitigation projects. The representatives included:
- U.S. Congressman Dan Crenshaw (TX-02)
- State Representative Charles Cunningham (TX HD-127)
- Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey, P.E. (Precinct 3)
- Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger (District E)
- Dr. Tina Petersen, P.E., Executive Director, Harris County Flood Control District
The combination of leaders from all levels of government underscored the cooperative nature of local flood-mitigation projects. Such projects usually involve federal funding which local sources use to actually build the projects.
Woodridge Village/Taylor Gully History
As the site for their press conference, they chose Woodridge Village in Montgomery County. Woodridge was the failed Perry Homes development that flooded hundreds of homes in Elm Grove twice in 2019. The City of Houston and Harris County eventually purchased the site in 2021 to build a flood-mitigation project on it. The project would help reduce flood risk along Taylor Gully, which drains the site.
Later in 2021, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) signed an excavation and removal (E&R) contract with Sprint Sand and Clay. The contract let Sprint remove up to 500,000 cubic yards of dirt and sell it at market rates. If all 500,000 cubic yards had been removed, it would have doubled the stormwater detention capacity on the site. However, after excavating 156,478 cubic yards, HCFCD terminated the contract in 2023.
The termination coincided with applications for funding to the Texas General Land Office (GLO) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to mitigate both Woodridge and Taylor Gully.
The E&R contract termination was mandatory under HUD rules. Why? Simple. A project cannot change while it is being estimated and evaluated.
Woodridge/Taylor Gully Project Today
The combined Taylor Gully/Woodridge Village project involves funding from multiple sources:
- U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw secured federal funding for Taylor Gully improvements in March 2022.
- The Texas Water Development Board approved additional state funding.
- Still pending: GLO/HUD CDBG-MIT funding.
According to Dr. Tina Petersen, the Flood Control District “should hear soon” about the status of the District’s Woodridge and Taylor Gully applications.
A department spokesperson added, “As of now, we’re looking at combining Taylor Gully and Woodridge to move them forward more quickly. We’re working with the General Land Office on the schedule for this project. And the biggest driver of that schedule is environmental due diligence and permitting work.”
- Expand a portion of Taylor Gully and lining it with concrete.
- Build yet another stormwater detention basin on Woodridge Village holding 412 acre-feet.
- Replace the culverts at Rustling Elms with a clear-span bridge.
Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey PE stated that the combined projects will cost $55 million to complete.
Crenshaw-Related Projects
Congressman Dan Crenshaw has a hand in almost all local flood-mitigation projects. He kicked off his part of the program citing some startling statistics. Recently, more than 763,000 Harris County households have requested FEMA assistance totaling $460 million in relief. Among them were the hundreds of homes along Taylor Gully.
Crenshaw also alluded to other local flood-mitigation projects:
- $222 million used to dredge the San Jacinto River
- A new dredging project (see below).
- $8 million used to reinforce the existing Lake Houston dam structure
- Eight community project funding grants
- An early flood-warning system, including a cellular communication program funded by FEMA
- News tools to increase more precise calculation of flood risks
- Buyouts and home elevations, such as those in Forest Cove.
Crenshaw concluded, “These projects are exactly what the appropriations process and government funding should be supporting: serious, targeted projects that will help communities recover from past storms and protect them from future storms.”
He added, “These projects actually save taxpayer money because we’re avoiding more costly recovery efforts in the future by mitigating the damage before it happens.”
Ramsey and Importance of Maintenance
Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Ramsey, an engineer by trade, explained the flood-mitigation process. He thanked Crenshaw for funding the studies that are allowing many projects, including the Kingwood Diversion Ditch, to move forward. It, too, is pending final construction funding.
Ramsey also provided an overview of Edgewater Park development. After Harvey, the county purchased land next to the West Fork east of US59. The county is turning it into a recreational facility, complete with a boat launch, hiking trails and a dog park. Ramsey said, “It is in final design now. We will be moving to construction. The money has been identified. So that’s an enhancement that we can look forward to.”
Finally, Ramsey underscored the importance of providing more maintenance funding for HCFCD to help remove debris from streams and ditches, such as Bens Branch. He urged voters to approve more maintenance money for HCFCD in the November election. As the amount of land HCFCD must maintain has increased, the money to maintain it has decreased.
Cunningham and the Big Picture
State Representative Charles Cunningham also emphasized the value of cooperation among different levels of government.
“I was pleased to get $50 million for the flood gates in the last session,” he said. That allowed us to get an additional $50 million from FEMA. So, that was $100 million total.”
He also referred to the importance of the first Texas state flood plan. “There are 30 million Texans in the state and the flood plan is addressing the needs of 5.5 million flood-prone people.”
Flickinger Leads with Gates and Dredging
Among the local flood-mitigation projects that District E City Councilman Fred Flickinger discussed:
- Dredging
- Flood gates for the Lake Houston Dam
- The Coastal Water Authority
- Debris removal.
The City and its partners have already dredged 4 million cubic yards of sediment since Hurricane Harvey, he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that it is the removal of that sediment that actually kept Kingwood from flooding during this last flood event in May.”
Flickinger said another 800,000 to 1,000,000 cubic yards will soon be removed – once Beryl recovery efforts are out of the way. He said the next dredging program should start in December.
He also expressed hope that the addition of former State Representative Dan Huberty to the Coastal Water Authority Board will help accelerate the addition of more floodgates to the Lake Houston Dam.
Flickinger provided a list of 58 drainage improvement projects totaling $55.8 million since Harvey. They ranged from under $20,000 to more than $30 million. While most have been completed, two are still ongoing. Frankly, most of these flew beneath my radar. But I did cover many of them, such as repairs to the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge.
Petersen: Capital Projects Require More Maintenance Dollars
HCFCD executive director Dr. Tina Petersen alluded to the Woodridge/Taylor Gully Project where the press conference took place. She underscored how the project would increase stormwater detention and channel capacity.
“They (the combined projects) represent substantial investment in the Kingwood area and will reduce the risk of flooding for hundreds of structures in this area,” she said.
But, she also reminded people that, “Adding storage like this project (Woodridge), will require maintenance work to make sure that our storm systems are functioning as intended.” It was another allusion to the upcoming HCFCD ballot item.
GLO Perspective
HUD funding through the GLO is necessary to finance the Woodridge/Taylor Gully projects. The decision on grant applications has not yet been made. However, a GLO spokesperson emphasized how much better their relationship is with Houston these days under Mayor John Whitmire. “And HCFCD is fantastic to work with,” she added.
But she also emphasized the importance of getting the environmental assessment right for the Woodridge/Taylor Gully project. “We don’t want to fix one problem only to create another downstream. Also, if we do discover a problem during the assessment, we can correct it before it goes into bidding and construction when it would require change orders and new funding approvals.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/17/2024
2576 Days since Hurricane Harvey
