HCFCD Confirms Kingwood Diversion Ditch Project Fully Funded Through Construction

3/28/26 – At the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) Board Meeting on 3/26/26, HCFCD Executive Director Tina Petersen updated the board on a number of Lake Houston Area projects including the Kingwood Diversion Ditch. She confirmed it is fully funded – through construction.

However, design of the Diversion Ditch Project has not yet started. It should begin in April and finish by the end of 2027.

A year ago, the preliminary engineering study estimated the cost of the project at $40.7 million. Current estimates put the cost at $43 million, according to Petersen.

*Page 18 from Dr. Petersen’s Presentation*

Features Included in PER Recommendation

The preliminary engineering report published last year recommended:

A diversion structure at the intersection of the Diversion Ditch and Bens Branch to reduce the volume flowing into Bens Branch
Channel conveyance improvements to the Diversion Ditch
A new outfall to the West Fork San Jacinto River, just west of Woodland Hills Drive/River Grove Park
A stormwater detention basin on the south side of the San Jacinto West Fork.
Bridge replacements at Kingwood Drive, Walnut Lane, Deer Ridge Estates Boulevard and the pedestrian bridge at Lake Village Drive

The bridges at Northpark Drive will also be rebuilt, but as part of the Northpark Expansion Project.

Kingwood Diversion Ditch — *Looking N at the Kingwoodwood Diversion Ditch from over the Walnut Lane Bridge*

Relationship to Bens Branch Flooding

The Diversion Ditch splits off of Bens Branch near St. Martha Catholic Church north of Northpark Drive.

Stormwater flow to Bens Branch will be restricted by pipes. That will force more stormwater into the expanded Diversion Ditch. In the process, that would take enough stormwater out of Bens Branch to improve it from a 2-year level of service to a 100-year level.

Bens Branch and Kingwood Diversion Ditch — *Red Diagonal = Bens Branch. White = Kingwood Diversion Ditch. Green = new outfall to river.*

Diverting water from Bens Branch is important because Bens Branch runs through Kingwood Town Center where 12 people died from Harvey flooding.

Crenshaw Connection

Ironically, funding obtained by US Congressman Dan Crenshaw back in 2024 to widen the bridge shown above at Walnut Lane saved this project from the chopping block – even though it was ranked the most important project in Kingwood by the Kingwood Area Drainage Analysis.

Crenshaw requested funding for the Walnut Lane Bridge in 2023. Congress awarded it in 2024. Then in 2025, the Democratic members of Harris County Commissioners Court passed a motion to reallocate all funding from projects that fell below the top quartile of their equity prioritization framework to projects in the top quartile. That was because inflation had eaten up 25-30% of the purchasing power in the 2018 Flood Bond.

Ramsey to the Rescue

At the time, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey PE warned that killing projects in Quartiles 2, 3 and 4 could have dire unintended consequences. The Diversion Ditch project fell into Quartile 3.

After the Democrats saw how much partnership funding they would lose by killing projects in the lower quartiles, they relented. In their next meeting, they voted to exempt projects in the lower quartiles that already had partnership funds committed.

That breathed new life into the Kingwood Diversion Ditch project because it included widening of the Walnut Lane Bridge which Crenshaw had already secured funding for.

HCFCD spokesperson Emily Woodell confirmed the Diversion Ditch funding today. “It was categorized as a partnership project during the bond update presented to commissioners court in August [2025] which means it is fully funded through construction.”

For Updates on Other San Jacinto Watershed Projects

See the video of the SJRA Meeting on 3/26/26 starting at about 1:05:18 into the meeting. Dr. Petersen’s presentation runs roughly 25 minutes to 1:30:00.

It covers a lot of territory including the history of HCFCD, status of the bond program, partnership funding, maintenance programs, gauges, the flood-warning system, and more.

Other capital improvement projects in the Lake Houston Area that she discusses include: