Montgomery County Engineering Letter Blasts Ryko’s Drainage Study
5/6/25 – ReduceFlooding has obtained an uncharacteristically blunt letter via a Freedom of Information Act request to Montgomery County’s Engineering Department. The letter blasts Ryko’s Drainage Study for its proposed 5,500-acre development deep in the floodplains near the confluence of four major streams across US59 from Kingwood.
Overview of Drainage Study Objections
The letter, which brims with frustration, strongly objects to Ryko’s Preliminary Drainage Impact Study based on safety concerns. It then lectures Ryko’s engineers about their responsibility to protect the public and goes on to address seven specific concerns.
The author of the letter has since left the Montgomery County Engineering Department after James Noack, who was Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner at the time, reportedly objected to the letter’s objections.
Letter Later Rescinded
A month later, Montgomery County’s Director of Engineering Services sent a second letter to Ryko’s engineers. The terse, three-sentence letter rescinded the first letter and said that the head county engineer would re-review the drainage study.
Montgomery County did not supply any additional details regarding the re-review. Nor did it supply the drainage study submitted by Ryko (although I separately received a copy from Harris County).
Noack was voted out of office last year and replaced by a new Precinct 3 Commissioner, Ritch Wheeler. In a town hall meeting last month, Wheeler said he tried to buy the land from Ryko, but the company wanted an outrageous sum of money for it – more than four times the appraised value. Harris County also reportedly tried to buy the land, but could not afford Ryko’s price either.
Litany of Safety Objections
The first letter to Ryko’s engineers is a classic for its lack of ambiguity. It states that the deceased County Engineer, Dan Wilds, “provided a considerable amount of objection to this development over the years.”
“The most obvious objection,” it continues, “being that that this proposed development is located at the confluence of four major streams: Turkey Creek and Cypress Creek, Cypress Creek and Spring Creek, and finally Spring Creek and the West Fork of the San Jacinto River.”
“Given both the history of this development and a sincere concern for the safety of the public, I can in no way approve this preliminary drainage study nor should anyone as the risk is too high.”
Red and underlined emphasis was in original letter.
The letter then reminds the two engineers for Ryko of their responsibilities under Section 137.55 of the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (TBPELS). The regulations outline the duty of engineers to protect the public by ensuring their work does not endanger health, safety, property, or welfare. This includes preventing unsafe practices.
The letter concludes with a litany of concerns about the drainage impact study and the proposed development. The last concern states, “The County Engineer’s office believes that any development in the subject area, at the confluence of Spring Creek and the San Jacinto River, will be at a higher risk of flooding during extreme events and thus should be avoided.”
To See the Original Letters
For a printable PDF of the first letter, click here. For the second letter rescinding the first letter, click here.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/6/25
2807 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.
If any responsible parties have opposing or additional points of view on this subject, I will be happy to publish them.
