20+ Infrastructure Projects Including Floodgates Discussed at Kingwood Town Hall

Updated on 10/2/25 with a new slide provided by the City on the timetable for the floodgate project.

10/1/25 – City of Houston representatives and their partners discussed the status of more than twenty infrastructure projects including more floodgates for the Lake Houston Dam at Council Member Fred Flickinger’s Kingwood town hall meeting on 9/30/25. Most of the projects had to do with flooding and drainage, but several had to do with the airport system.

*Hundreds packed the Kingwood Community Center as Flickinger kicked off the meeting.*

Overall, despite another delay in the project to add more floodgates to Lake Houston’s dam, it was one of the most positive, encouraging meetings in recent memory. Discussion topics included:

Three Lake Houston dam projects (Gates, Repairs, Replacement)
Two Kingwood Diversion Channel bridge replacements at Kingwood Drive and Walnut Lane
Neighborhood matching grants
Formation of the Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District
A new pedestrian bridge over Bens Branch at Kingwood Drive
Roadside ditch improvements along Chestnut Ridge in Forest Cove
Sand Creek Village drainage improvements
Multiple Kingwood Central Wastewater Plant improvements
SJRA’s Master Drainage Plan
Spring Creek Flood Control Dams on Birch and Walnut Creeks
A Pilot Sand Trap Project on the West Fork San Jacinto
A Regional Sedimentation Study
Lake Conroe/Lake Houston Joint Reservoir Operations Study
Regional Flood Planning
Flood Early Warning Systems
Six Houston Airport Improvements
Northpark Drive Expansion Project
Solid Waste Management Improvements
Houston Police Department also updated the community on crime.

In addition to Flickinger. other City Council Members in attendance included:

Twila Carter
Sallie Alcorn
Willie Davis
Julian Ramirez

*City of Houston District E Council Member Fred Flickinger*

Leaders from other organizations included:

State Rep. Charles Cunningham
SJRA Flood-Mitigation Manager Matt Barrett
Jim Szczesniak, Houston Airport Aviation Director
Larius Hassen, Houston Solid Waste Management Director
Casey Christman, TIRZ 10 Board Member
Craig Bellamy, HPD Captain

Additional Gates for Lake Houston Dam

In this post, to keep the length manageable, I’ll discuss three projects affecting the Lake Houston Dam.

I will then summarize other flood-related projects in several subsequent posts.

The City is designing an eleven tainter-gate solution that would increase discharge capacity from approximately 10,000 to 78,000 cubic feet per second.

Houston hopes to get design approval of the floodgates by May 2026 and start construction later that year. Construction could last 3+ years. That could take the project out to 2030 or even 2031 – if all goes well.

Benefits

the increased discharge capability would let Lake Houston shed water as fast has Lake Conroe has ever sent water downstream. This would facilitate joint reservoir operations and pre-releases to create increased storage capacity in both lakes before major storms strike.

That would, in turn, lower the maximum discharge rate from Lake Conroe and hopefully reduce flooding downstream.

The increased discharge rate would also help conserve water. While that sounds counter-intuitive, the higher rate means the City can wait until it is certain that approaching storms will strike the Lake Houston watershed before starting to release. And that reduces the likelihood of wasting water.

Change in Approach

Coastal Water Authority Board Member Dan Huberty spent much of his time at the microphone discussing floodgates’ delays. Huberty reminded the crowd of the original plan to put crest gates on the concrete spillway portion of the dam. But the City couldn’t find “a contractor in the world” willing to take on the risk because of the aging nature of the concrete in what was a 65-year-old dam at that time.

So, everyone involved (FEMA, the Army Corps, Public Works, Coastal Water Authority, City) decided to pivot. The focus shifted to adding tainter gates to the earthen, eastern portion of the dam.

According to Greg Olinger, CWA’s Chief Engineer, “In August of this year, we completed the preliminary engineering and 15% design. That involved quite a bit of field work, environmental assessments, geotechnical analysis, and structural testing of the embankment. We have developed an 11 tainter gate type of concept. Each is about 20 x 22 feet. And together they’ll pass up to 78,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) compared to the 10,000 CFS we can pass now.”

Next Steps

Olinger added, “Now, we’re going to move forward with what we call the detailed design, carrying it forward to the 30%, 60%, and 90% final-design stages that can then be packaged and submitted for permitting.”

He then described the extensive permitting process with the Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA and Texas Division of Emergency Management.

“All have to review the plans and provide the requisite permitting – an 18 month process,” Olinger said. “And then, we move forward into construction. The 30% design is due by the end of the year, the 60% by May of next year, and the completed design by the end of 2026.”

Several people from the crowd shouted questions about the impact that delays could have on costs. But Huberty refused to blow sunshine at them.

*Coastal Water Authority Board Member Dan Huberty*

“We’re telling you what the reality is,” he said. “This is how long it takes to be able to do a project of this size and scope. That’s just the way that it works.”

Dam Repairs and Replacement

The City and Coastal Water Authority have two additional related projects moving forward simultaneously. One addresses repairs to the dam. The other studies its eventual replacement.

Huberty said, “We also have a project for filling of voids and doing concrete repairs on what is now a 71-year-old concrete dam spillway.

“And then the third project is looking in a proactive way to the future as this dam reaches the end of its service life. What are the concepts and options available for either doing a robust rehabilitation of the dam or doing a complete replacement? And this is a project that’s further out.”

Lake Houston Dam Spillway — *Lake Houston Dam and Spillway were built in the early 1950s.*

All three projects are related according to one engineer I interviewed. Repairs and more floodgates could help prolong the life of the existing dam while a new one is planned and built.