Romerica’s Preliminary Drainage Analysis Raises Many Questions

1/22/26 – Despite the City of Houston appealing my FOIA request for Romerica’s drainage impact analysis to the Texas Attorney General, this morning the City emailed both the analysis and a new general plan for Romerica’s proposed floodplain development to another Kingwood resident, Chris Bloch. Bloch shared his copies with me and they raise many questions.

First, Some Disclaimers

In fairness, before getting into concerns, let me state several things about the plans.

1. The consulting engineer clearly labeled the drainage analysis as preliminary.
2. Each page of the drainage analysis contains a disclaimer that says, “Note: The drainage plan is conceptual in nature and the final drainage design shall be in conformance with the latest City of Houston Infrastructure Design Manual.”
3. Page 3 states that:
   • All structures will have an elevation two feet above the 500-year flood level.
   • All proposed structures will be built on piers to reduce the need for fill.
   • Dirt excavated from detention ponds will be hauled away from the site.

Questions Raised by Plans

However, the preliminary drainage analysis raised more questions than it answered. For instance:

• It did not claim “no adverse impact” downstream. Why?
• The drainage impact analysis was dated 2/19/25 and approved by the City’s Floodplain Group on 3/3/25. Why the long delay before making them public?
• Why deny me the analysis, but give it to Bloch?
• A Public Works employee told me the plans were based on new, post-Harvey flood maps. But Page 2 states that they’re based on 2007 maps.
• With that in mind, the 2007 maps show virtually all of the proposed development in the 100-year floodplain. How much of that is now in the floodway? Neither Public Works, nor Harris County Flood Control District will reveal the new flood map for this development. Why the secrecy?
• The drainage analysis does not show roadways or trails which have the ability to back water up into existing neighborhoods. Why?
• The drainage analysis does not consider water draining into the area from Trailwood, Kingwood Lakes, Kings Forest or Kingwood Drive. Why? These wetlands already serve a flood-mitigation purpose that will likely be destroyed.
• The drainage analysis conflicts with promotional literature provided by the developer. The literature, for instance shows the road network being built up to 60 feet and pedestrian paths being built up to 71 feet.

Ground level varies throughout the development. According to the USGS National Map, it averages about 50 feet, ranging down to 46. So how much fill would it take to raise the roads 10-15 feet?

The general plan shows approximately 6,000 feet of roadway, with the streets alone being 60 feet wide . (6000L x 60W x 10H = 3.6 million cubic feet.) That’s 133,333 cubic yards of fill. Yet the analysis claims they need only 16,966 cubic yards of fill. And they won’t be getting it from the detention basins, because they say they’re hauling all that off.

So, how are they accounting for another 100,000+ cubic yards of fill? How will they raise the streets?

Next, where is the outflow analysis for the detention basins? None is provided. So, we can’t see whether they are adding or subtracting to flood peaks.

Dubious Benefit of Detention in Floodplain

And then there’s the biggest question of all. Will flood-plain detention that quickly goes under water in floods provide any flood-reduction benefit?

Floodplains already serve as stormwater storage during floods. FEMA considers floodplain storage already “spoken for.”

Still, detention basins are allowed in floodplains with certain provisions. Harris County requires basins to drain by gravity. But the bottom of these basins is 10 feet below the level of adjacent Kingwood Lake and 4.5 feet below the level of Lake Houston. So gravity alone will never drain these ponds in a flood. Pumps would be required. And electricity is often knocked out in floods.

And if new basins fill at the same time as the river, it provides zero peak flow reduction. That is why claimed floodplain detention is often illusory. Especially when the pre-/post- runoff ratio will increase almost 4X (Page 5).

Flickinger Wisely Pulls Variance Approval from Planning Commission Agenda

The City of Houston Planning Commission was scheduled to review a variance request today for Romerica. However, City Council Member Fred Flickinger wisely requested deferral of consideration until 2/5/26. That should give us more time to sort out these inconsistencies.

The variance request has to do with not connecting the east-west street to other streets on the east. That’s because there are no streets in that area. A Kingwood Country Club golf course surrounds Romerica’s property in that direction.

The delay gives us extra time to examine the rest of their plans.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/22/2026

3068 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.