HCFCD Construction Spending Continues to Plummet

10/26/25 – Harris County Flood Control District construction spending has plummeted in recent years along with total spending. And a leading indicator – construction contract awards – doesn’t show much hope for improvement anytime soon.

Numbers Tell the Story

I’ve posted before about the decline in total spending. It ramped up sharply after voters approved the flood bond in the third quarter of 2018. But then it started dropping relentlessly. The decline largely coincided with a management change made by the Democratic-controlled commissioners court.

The last bar on the right includes only three quarters. But at the current rate, 2025 will equal about $166 million – down about a third from 2024.

Total spending includes many activities besides construction. But flood risk isn’t reduced until construction is finished. And we see a similar decline in construction spending that started when HCFCD management changed at the start of 2022.

But the graphs above only show activity in the rear-view mirror. Looking forward, the picture is equally bleak.

Approved Bids: A Leading Indicator for Construction

Few new projects have had construction contracts awarded in the past year. Of the 16 construction contracts awarded in the previous four quarters, 14 have been for maintenance to existing assets.

Only two, both in White Oak Bayou, have been for new capital assets – the Yale and Arbor Oaks Stormwater Detention Basins. See below.

All of the rest simply restore functionality. So…

The prospects for flood-risk improvement in the immediate future look bleak for the vast majority of the county.

HCFCD awarded the construction contract for Arbor Oaks in Q2 this year. But excavation had not yet started as of late September 2025.

Deadline Rapidly Approaching for Grants Totaling $321 Million

The Texas General Land Office (GLO) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved 11 projects for Community Development Block Grants in the Disaster Relief category (CDBG-DR).

The 11 projects including Arbor Oaks total $321 million dollars. But to get the money, HCFCD must complete the projects by February 28, 2027, to meet HUD’s deadline.

However, construction will need to be completed by December 2026 – thirteen months away – because it generally takes two to three months to administratively close out CDBG grants.

But according to HCFCD’s most recent bid outlook, flood control won’t even advertise eight of the 10 remaining projects until next year. And another slipped off the radar altogether.

Phase II of the Brookglen Stormwater Detention Basin received authorization to use government funds in August 2024. Yet HCFCD doesn’t even anticipate advertising it for bids until November 2025 – 15 months. That’s more time than HCFCD has to complete construction.

Little time remains to complete projects of this magnitude. And HCFCD has not explained how it will complete them before the deadline. HUD has already said they will not grant any more extensions.

This represents a real risk. Harris County residents could lose $321 million of Federal funding for important flood damage reduction projects.

Hidalgo Says Audit Revealed Contracting Irregularities

Meanwhile, according to a Houston Chronicle story published on 10/22/25, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo “called for renewed scrutiny of the Harris County Flood Control District after a recent audit found transparency issues in its contracting process.”

The Chronicle reported that Hidalgo said, “What we found was there was no paper trail. There was no qualifications, information, selection committee, evaluation scoring — no documentation whatsoever.”

The Chronicle story added, “Flood control initially promised to reform its contracting process by August 2024, but has since asked for multiple extensions.”

Sound familiar?

No Apparent Sense of Urgency

HCFCD had only four items on the agenda for the 10/30/25 Commissioners Court meeting. Not one of the four items had to do with any of the ten CDBG-DR projects above. One involved a contract name change; the other three involved small property acquisitions.

HCFCD has billions of dollars waiting to be used. But at this moment, not one new capital improvement project is being bid.

And yet earlier this year, HCFCD’s executive director received a pay increase of $90,000 to $434,000.

Call me old fashioned, but I believe in “pay for performance.” I wonder what metrics Hidalgo used to recommend such a bump in pay. How can someone get paid so much to accomplish so little?

Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/256/25

2980 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.