Winters Bayou Project Might Reduce Flooding, Increase Water Supply
According to ChatGPT, the 2025 Texas legislature this year devoted 2.7 times more money to increasing water supply than to mitigating flooding.
The water-supply funding aims to keep Texas growing, even as large sections of the state struggle with water shortages, drought, aquifer depletion and subsidence.
Dual-Purpose Funding
But some of the money allocated by the legislature to water supply can also be used for flood mitigation – if it serves a dual purpose, such as new reservoirs. This may be a way to reduce flooding and sustain growth at the same time.
Back in 2022, I wrote a story about a draft of the first State Flood Plan. The San Jacinto/Region 6 Flood Planning Group recommended a project far upstream on the East Fork called the Winters Bayou Detention Basin. In 2024, the North Houston Association identified it as one of the Association’s top priorities.
They chose the site for its ability to reduce flows in downstream damage centers, limited development within the footprint, and steep terrain that allows for increased storage volume.
But detention basins don’t qualify for water infrastructure funding under Texas Water Development Board SWIFT fund guidelines. SWIFT stands for State Water Infrastructure For Texas.
However, some changes in the name and design might make the Winters Bayou Project eligible.
Winters Bayou Project Might Qualify
Of all the projects listed in the San Jacinto Watershed Flood Plan, the Winters Bayou project was one of the largest.
A 54-ft tall concrete dam would create a 1.60-mile-long impoundment that captures runoff from Winters Bayou. It was conceived as a dry dam with five reinforced 10×10 concrete culverts and twin 300′ backup spillways that could hold 45,000 acre feet of floodwater (see page 180). To put that in perspective…
45,000 acre feet is about a third of the storage volume of Lake Houston.
The Houston region continues to grow at breakneck speed. And the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District is looking for new water sources to serve the area east of Lake Houston.
The Winters Bayou project is already in the Lake Houston watershed. And the City’s Northeast Water Purification Plant on Lake Houston could purify the water.
But could a water-supply reservoir still serve a flood-control purpose? Perhaps with a different design.
The project made it into the final version of the 2024 state flood plan – as a flood-mitigation-only project. But it ranked #82 in the state. And its projected $134 million cost means it won’t be done for decades, if ever.
Perhaps given the state’s new water-supply priorities, a dual purpose reservoir would rank higher and get built sooner. Plus, the sale of water might help generate revenue that defrays expenses.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/24/25 based on a suggestion from Kingwood flood fighter Chris Bloch
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