San Jacinto Watershed Spending by HCFCD

Details of HCFCD Spending in San Jacinto Watershed Since Harvey

10/20/24 – My latest FOIA request revealed some surprising details about Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) spending in the San Jacinto Watershed and how it contrasts to the Brays Bayou Watershed.

For several years, I have tracked HCFCD spending by watershed and project phase on a quarterly basis. I have discovered tremendous disparities in flood mitigation funding across the county.

From high to low, the ratio varies by more than 1000:1. The types of activities also vary greatly from watershed to watershed. The Brays and San Jacinto Watersheds make illuminating examples.

San Jacinto Watershed Vs. Brays

Out of the county’s 23 watersheds, the San Jacinto ranks in the bottom half of total funding since Harvey. Despite being the county’s largest watershed and having the most severe flooding, it comes in at #13 in terms of dollars received.

The San Jacinto Watershed received approximately $40 million between Harvey and the end of the third quarter in 2024. That’s less than 2% of the total $2.03 billion HCFCD has spent since Harvey.

Compare that to Brays Bayou where Commissioner Rodney Ellis lives.

Brays has received 10% of all the money spent by HCFCD since Harvey – $202.4 million out of $2.03 billion. That’s more than five times as much as the San Jacinto.

The totals show an impressive difference. But they don’t tell the whole story.

71% of Brays spending has gone into construction activities that actually reduce flood risk.

Meanwhile, the San Jacinto watershed received a fifth as much in total dollars. And one tenth as much went into construction that actually reduces flooding.

Data from FOIA Request

Details of San Jacinto Spending: Where Money Went

Drilling down even deeper into the data, I discovered that virtually all of the San Jacinto “construction” spending was classified as maintenance. In other words, the construction dollars went toward repairing the insufficient infrastructure that resulted in the county’s worst flooding. Very little went toward construction of new capital improvement projects.

On a sad note, HCFCD reported spending $230 on true capital-improvement construction in the San Jacinto Watershed. That’s not a typo. We’re not talking about thousands or millions. We’re talking about just a little more money than the default withdrawal from most ATMs.

That was for the Excavation and Removal (E&R) Project on the Woodridge Village property. HCFCD later cancelled the E&R project when it applied for HUD grants for Woodridge and Taylor Gully improvements.

E&R contracts give contractors the right to sell dirt excavated from detention basins in exchange for a nominal fee, usually $1,000. They make their money, not from HCFCD, but from developers, homebuilders and road builders who buy the dirt at market rates.

The single largest expenditure in the San Jacinto Watershed since Harvey was for the purchase of the Woodridge Village property itself for $13,994,735.

Spike in middle of graph is purchase of Woodridge property. Other spike in 2022 was dredging.

Here’s a breakdown of $40 million in spending against all significant projects.

Spending in San Jacinto Watershed Since HarveyAmount 17Q3 – 24-Q3
Purchase of Woodridge Village $13,994,735
Unspecified Maintenance Projects, most classified as construction$8,303,416
County’s Share of Dredging (East and West Forks)$7,278,626
SJRA’s San Jacinto River Basin Master Drainage Plan $2,777,980
Bens Branch Conveyance Improvements (maint)$1,788,949
Panther Creek Feasibility Study$1,744,343
Kingwood Diversion Ditch Preliminary Engineering$872,759
Baytown Storm Sewer Improvements Design Study $810,869
Taylor Gully Preliminary Engingeering Study $584,179
Atascocita Preliminary Flood Reduction Study$541,186
Drainage Study for Watersheds East of Lake Houston$298,534
Deer Park Project(s)/Design and Right of Way$213,089
SJRA’s River Basin Sedimentation Study $162,500
Indian Shores Partnership Project$130,000
SJRA’s San Trap Location Study$128,820
Redesign of Failed Sheet Pile Wall/Location Not Specified)$118,799
Boggy Gully Study$42,280
Lake Houston Gates Study$23,547
USACE Support on West Fork Dredging $9,265

$7.2 million of the HCFCD money spent in the San Jacinto Watershed since Harvey has gone toward studies. That’s almost twice as much as the $3.7 million spent on studies in the Brays Watershed during the same period.

The engineering studies are necessary to qualify for grants which might eventually lead to construction projects that mitigate flooding. But since the studies exist only on paper, they don’t actually reduce any flooding. At least, not until they qualify the area for funding.

For instance, none of the studies that HCFCD partnered with the SJRA on (River Basin Master Drainage Study, Sedimentation, Sand Traps) have advanced to the construction phase yet.

Less than $2 Million Per Quarter with Two Exceptions

Here’s how San Jacinto Watershed funding breaks down over time.

Tall blip in middle contains Woodridge purchase. Blip in Q3 22 includes county’s share of dredging.

The thing that chaps me most about all this is Commissioner Rodney Ellis continually harping about how Kingwood gets all the money. He has convinced low-income people throughout the county that areas with high-dollar homes get all the money. The opposite is true according to the data.

Meanwhile, Ellis is pushing funding from just about everywhere else into the watershed where he lives.

Such heavy-handed politics make me skeptical about the 63% tax increase being proposed by HCFCD.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/20/2024

2609 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.