Proposed Romerica Development Raises Red Flags

4/11/2025 – By Chris Bloch – The proposed Romerica development would have a negative impact on the neighborhoods of Kingwood Lakes, Trailwood, Deerwood Cove and the Barrington. The Romerica development could even contribute to flooding the intersection of Kingwood Drive and Woodland Hills Drive. 

The potential negative impacts result from a combination of factors. They include:

• The design of surrounding stormwater infrastructure built during the 1970s
• Increases in expected rainfall since then
• The current outfall location of area storm and sanitary sewers on Romerica property
• An increase in impervious cover from the proposed new development
• The fact that the new development would be built in an area that collects water naturally
• Fixed elevations of surrounding lakes.

During heavy rains, a combination of these factors would back water up through sewers farther and faster into surrounding neighborhoods where structures have already flooded.

Let me explain how each of these issues contributes to the others. Together, they increase flood risk for surrounding homes and would also increase the potential for floodwater blocking Kingwood Drive and Woodland Hills Drive during evacuations.

Design of Surrounding Infrastructure Outdated

Back in the 1970s, engineers did not build infrastructure to current Atlas-14 rainfall standards. Standards for expected rainfall have increased twice since then – after Allison in 2001 and after Harvey in 2017. 

So, the existing storm sewers in Kingwood Lakes and Trailwood are already overtaxed. And that has contributed to flooding of structures during heavy rains. There is simply not enough conveyance capacity in storm sewers to safely handle the volume of rainfall we now know that we will get.

Water Backing Up from Outfalls

Multiple storm sewer networks currently outfall to the Romerica property. As water levels rise at an outfall, the capacity of the sewers to convey stormwater from the neighborhoods is reduced.

During heavy rains, the lost capacity of the storm sewers causes streets and homes in the affected neighborhoods to flood.

Increases in impervious cover that come with high-density development on the Romerica property would back water up even further and faster into those sewers. That would elevate flood risk for surrounding homes.

Increased backwater levels would also result in higher water levels at the Kingwood Drive/Woodland Hills intersection. This is a critical intersection in Kingwood. High water at that location limits access into and out of much of Kingwood.

Property Already Collects Stormwater

The Romerica property is already extremely low compared to surrounding property. So, it naturally collects stormwater. During heavy rains, such as we received last May, photographs show that water reached the canopy of trees on the property.

Elevation profiles on the USGS National Map clearly show both low elevation as well as the nature of the property in question. It’s swampy and forms a sort of natural detention basin. And that’s why Friendswood never developed it.

Moreover, the impervious cover that comes from additional development would contribute to even higher water levels on Romerica’s property. And those higher levels would back water up – father and faster – into the storm and sanitary sewers that serve surrounding villages.

Construction of access drives and buildings on the property would reduce the volume of stormwater that can be absorbed on the property. This will result in even higher water levels on the property and Lake Kingwood.

Surrounding Lakes Not Far Below Romerica’s Elevation

Romerica property is already extremely low compared to surrounding areas. It forms a sort of natural detention basin just two or three feet above the level of surrounding lakes. So, during heavy rains, the Romerica property floods badly.

The water-surface elevation of Lake Kingwood is 47 feet. It discharges into a second lake at 46 feet. And that discharges into a third at 45 feet. Weirs control the elevation of all three lakes. 

During heavy rain events, it is common for the lake levels to rise 3 to 4 feet. And during extreme events, such as Hurricane Harvey, they rise even farther. The water surface level of Lake Kingwood during Harvey rose by approximately 12 feet!

So homes facing Lake Kingwood all flooded 6 to 8 feet. And Kingwood Lakes is much higher than Romerica!

The property of the proposed Romerica development has an average elevation less than 52 feet. During any significant rain event, the vast majority of the property will be submerged by flood waters from the stormwater discharge outlets and water spilling over from Lake Kingwood.

And that would back up water in those storm sewers.

What It Would Take to Develop Romerica’s Property Safely

The design of surrounding stormwater and sanitary sewers that lead to Romerica’s property did not anticipate high-density development on that property.     

Additional runoff from added impervious surface would require considerable modifications to existing utility services at the expense of the City…which doesn’t have the money.

Safe development of the Romerica property would also require:

• A new bypass drainage channel from the west end of Lake Kingwood south to the Diversion Ditch 
• A new storm sewer main to divert stormwater from South Woodland Hills and Trailwood into the bypass drainage ditch
• Limiting discharges into Lake Kingwood
• A longer weir on the west end of Lake Kingwood to help control water levels in the lake. 

In my opinion, this development should not receive a permit. Instead, the property should be developed as an additional stormwater detention facility site and drainage channel.

Guest editorial by Chris Bloch, a flood activist who has studied Kingwood drainage issues for decades. Bloch holds 12 patents which fundamentally changed the way power plants, and petrochemical plants are commissioned

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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.