Mercer Stormwater Detention Basin Nearing Completion

12/4/25 – The new 512-acre-foot Mercer Stormwater Detention Basin Project at FM1960 and the Hardy Tollroad is finally nearing completion. The project – originally expected to take a year – took more than three and a half.

Mercer basin timetable — *From Rodney Ellis presentation to Community on June 29, 2022.*

The impending completion is good news. But the length of time it took is not. It raises serious questions for hundreds of millions of dollars of other projects with tight deadlines imposed by the federal government.

Before we get to that, let’s first look at Mercer.

Mercer Project Announced in June 2022

In June 2022, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis announced the start of the Mercer project next to Mercer Botanic Gardens. He said the twin basins would be done on an expedited basis and take a year.

Photos taken this afternoon show that the excavation work appears to be done, but the landscaping work remains. Specifically, the sides and perimeters of the basins need to be planted with grass to retard erosion.

Close examination of the photos show that recent rains have already washed a significant amount of dirt from the slopes into the bottom of the twin basins.

The first photo shows the two Mercer basins from over Cypress Creek.

*Looking S at Mercer Basins. Hardy Tollroad in upper right. FM1960 at top of frame.*

Notice how the north basin is partially grassed in. The south basin has no landscaping yet. Neither basin has grass on the perimeter roads or back-slope interceptor swales.

*Closer view of south basin (top) also shows erosion on slopes of north basin (bottom).*

*Reverse angle shows erosion on slopes of north basin also. Note collection of sediment at bottom of ramp (lower right).*

*Looking N from over FM1960. Wider shot shows erosion in foreground. Luckily, contractor has not yet demobilized equipment.*

Implications for Other Projects with Tight Deadlines

As I write this, HCFCD is gearing up to construct eleven other projects related to HUD/GLO Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) grants. They total almost a third of a billion dollars. All eleven must be completed before February 28, 2027 – just 15 months from now.

Yet most of the projects won’t be advertised for bids until the first quarter of next year. And two of the projects won’t even be bid until the second quarter of next year according to HCFCD’s most recent Bid Outlook Calendar published on 10/15/25.

One is the $32.8 million East TC Jester Stormwater Detention Basin. The other is the $29.4 million Kluge Stormwater Detention Basin (not even shown on the calendar). Both fall into Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s Precinct 3.

Ramsey has requested “discussion and possible action on the Harris County Flood Control District Construction Bid Calendar.” See Item 495 on the 12/11/25 Commissioners Court agenda.

According to sources in the Flood Control District, it typically takes 3 to 6 months from the time a project is first advertised until dirt starts flying. That would not leave much time to complete the disaster relief projects. Accordingly…

HCFCD Requests $17 Million for Outside Help

Also on the agenda for December 11 are five items relating to staff augmentation for HCFCD. Items 299, 302, 303, 304, 305 request “engineering services to provide program management, project management, construction management, and inspection services for the development and implementation of CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT projects.” They include five engineering companies and total $17 million: