Harris County Shuts Down Fill Operation in Cedar Bayou Floodplain

2/25/26 – According to Precinct 3 Director of Engineering Eric Heppen, P.E., PMP, Harris County has issued a cease-and-desist order to the owner of property in the Cedar Bayou floodplain where TXDoT contractors were depositing dirt excavated from the Luce Bayou watershed.

*Dirt excavated in upper left was being trucked to Cedar Bayou floodplain in massive quantities.*

floodplain fill — *One of two truck lines at excavation site. Approximately 20 dump trucks were filling up at detention basin under construction adjacent to FM2100.*

*From there, a parade of the trucks deposited it in the Cedar Bayou Floodplain before making another round trip.*

Precinct 3 Project Manager Jason Hains said trucks stopped depositing the fill yesterday afternoon, 2/24/25. Nearby residents say they did not see trucks entering or leaving the property today.

TXDoT Comment

One reader, Chris Summers, who complained directly to TXDoT received this reply this afternoon from TXDoT’s North Harris Assistant Area Engineer Nyemb Nyemb, PE. Mr. Nyemb said, “Our construction and environmental teams are looking into it now. We also have a meeting with Harris County tomorrow and will address this matter with them directly. TXDoT contractors are required to comply with all applicable floodplain and environmental regulations, and any confirmed violations will be corrected.”

Summers, who reported the illegal dumping, said, “TXDoT may not have known where their fill dirt was going, but should have.”

Violation of Harris County Floodplain Regulations

The fill operation violated Harris County Floodplain Regulations adopted by Commissioners Court in 2019 in response to Hurricane Harvey. During Harvey, almost half of the Harris County homes flooded were outside of any known floodplain. In part, that’s because of the cumulative impact of such unauthorized dumping during almost twenty years since Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. And that’s a large part of the reason why Section 4.07(e) now says:

“Any reduction in floodplain storage or conveyance capacity within the 0.2 percent or 500‐year floodplain must be offset with a hydraulically equivalent (one‐to‐one) volume of mitigation sufficient to offset the reduction. The reduction may result from development or the placement of fill within the 0.2% floodplain or 500‐year floodplain.”

“Such mitigation shall be within the same watershed and shall be provided on the same property or within the same hydrologic sub‐watershed or at an alternate site meeting the approval of the County Engineer. A full hydrological and hydraulic analysis must be submitted to support a request for mitigation outside the boundaries of the property being developed. This requirement does not apply to Coastal Areas where floodplain fill mitigation is not an issue.”

What Property Owner Must Do

According to both Heppen and Hains, the owner of the property in the floodplain must:

Stop accepting fill
Come up with a plan to remove fill already deposited there.

That’s going to be a big order. The fill reached treetop level in places and covered approximately six acres.

Reportedly, the owner did not plan to build anything on the dirt, but planned to sell it. He referred to the dirt as “temporary.”

But Heppen emphasized that that still did not relieve the owner of the need to develop a mitigation plan, which he did not do. Nor did it relieve him of the burden of acquiring a permit, which he did not have.

Loss of Floodplain Storage Incremental and Cumulative

Heppen emphasized that the loss of floodplain storage is incremental and cumulative.

He referred to the displacement of floodwaters. For every cubic yard you place in the floodway, that’s one less cubic yard for the storage of floodwaters.

“That’s why it’s prohibited,” Heppen said. “If enough people do it, eventually you erase the safety margin above the floodplain for surrounding homes.”

Heppen thanked readers for bringing this to the County’s attention and for filing complaints.

Could State Criminalize Such Behavior?

Heppen also said that the county may work with the state next year to pass a law against such fill activity. The thought: to make such dumping a criminal, not a civil offense. That changes the whole “What if I get caught?” equation. Instead of a slap-on-the-wrist fine, a criminal record might disqualify someone from getting future jobs.

Passing such a law would surely be an uphill battle. But that also speaks to the widespread nature of the problem.

One other engineer I talked to suggested, “The problem is going on all over Harris County.” Another said, “It puts everyone at risk.”

If You See Such Dumping…

If you see a recurrence of such dumping here or anywhere in Harris County, please report it to me. I’ll help document it and get it to the proper authorities.

They prohibit the addition of fill to floodplains without 1:1 compensatory mitigation in the same floodplain, and preferably on the same property.

It’s OK for people to excavate a pond or detention basin on their property, and use the excavated dirt to elevate other parts of their property. The golden rule: Just don’t bring fill INTO a Harris County floodplain.”

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/25/26

3102 Days since Harvey