San Jacinto Received Only 1% of HCFCD Spending in 2026 Q1

4/14/26 – The San Jacinto Watershed received only 1% of all HCFCD spending in Q1, despite being the county’s largest watershed and having the worst flooding.

Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has published updated spending figures for 2018 Flood Bond Projects through the end of the first quarter of 2026. Analysis also revealed:

No Kingwood or Huffman Area projects have reached the construction stage yet
Spending on Lake Houston Area projects continues to lag other watersheds throughout the county.
HCFCD’s years-long spending slowdown may be stabilizing

Separately, Dr. Tina Petersen, PhD, HCFCD’s executive director, recently announced several positive developments for projects on Cypress Creek, the East Fork and Lake Houston Dam.

Let’s look at the funding analysis first. The screen captures below come from the HCFCD Activity Page and speak for themselves.

Overall Spending Slowdown Stabilizing

The chart below shows incremental spending for ALL watersheds since the start of the flood bond in 2018. But the far right shows only one quarter for this year so far. If the first quarter were annualized, it would approximately equal 2025 year-end spending.

*Incremental spending after 2026 Q1 for all watersheds.*

However, all phases of activity have declined dramatically since the management change at HCFCD in 2021.

Where the Money Went in Q1

The chart below shows the San Jacinto Watershed ranked 14th versus others. Of the $52 million total dollars spent, more than half of the watersheds received less than $1 million each. Only five watersheds received more than $2 million. The Cypress Creek Watershed received $22 million (36% of the total). That $22 million was three times more than the next largest watershed – White Oak at $6.76 million.

*Q1 2026 spending for all watersheds totaled only $52 million.*

Petersen attributes construction delays to “getting the funding in place.”

San Jacinto Spending Slowed, Too

Looking closer at the San Jacinto watershed, we can see it dropped sharply. But part of the apparent drop has to do with the fact that you are only looking at one quarter so far for the first quarter of 2026.

*Incremental spending for the San Jacinto watershed since 2018*

In Q1, HCFCD spent only $524,000 in the entire San Jacinto Watershed. Of that, $491,000 came from partners. Only $33,000 came from HCFCD’s bond or budget.

*Breakdown of 2026 Q1 spending in San Jacinto Watershed.* *Dark blue represents partner spending.*

But the most significant takeaway should be the volume of spending in the watershed compared to the total for all watersheds during the quarter…

$.052 million is exactly one one-hundredth of $52 million.
Q1 San Jacinto spending vs. total for all watersheds

And that’s for the county’s largest watershed – where the worst flooding occurred during Harvey. See below.

worst first — *Chart showing feet above flood stage of 33 gages of misc. bayous in Harris County during Harvey.*

Total and Construction Spending

Overall, HCFCD and its partners have spent almost $2.2 billion to date.

*Total spending by watershed associated with the 2018 flood bond*

But most of that has been on upfront studies, engineering and right-of-way acquisitions. Of the total $2.2 billion spent so far, only $1 billion has been on construction – 36%.

*Construction spending through 2026 Q1 from 2018 flood bond.*

Among watersheds, the San Jacinto ranks 13th on construction spending (not including County-Wide Spending) since 2018. White Oak ranks #1 with $148 million. To date, the San Jacinto watershed has received $21.5 million – one seventh of the construction dollars received by White Oak.

Status of Kingwood/Huffman Projects

Only three projects are active in the Lake Houston Area.

The Kingwood Diversion Ditch is still in engineering. It is fully funded and includes:

Additional channel capacity
A new diversion structure at the confluence with Bens Branch
Four bridge replacements
A new outfall to the San Jacinto West Fork south of Deer Ridge Park.

Petersen says construction could start as early as 2027.

She expects the Taylor Gully and the Woodridge Stormwater Detention Basin Project to start construction in May 2026. It is also fully funded and includes:

New stormwater detention basin
Bridge replacement at Rustling Elms
Channel widening and deepening

The Luce Bayou Watershed will receive a new detention basin near FM2100 and the Huffman-Cleveland Road to support regional drainage improvements. Construction plans for the fully funded project are nearing completion, according to Petersen.

Status of Lake Houston Gates and East Fork Detention

Farther upstream on Cypress Creek, Petersen said she expects to finally start construction on the TC Jester East Basin soon. HCFCD also claims to have finished construction on the Mercer Basin on Cypress Creek near the Hardy Tollroad.

When I met with Petersen and State Representative Charles Cunningham last week, she also addressed:

A $20 million Inter-Local Agreement with the City of Houston for new Lake Houston Gates. It is on the 4/16/26 Commissioners Court Agenda. See Item 126.
San Jacinto East Fork stormwater detention basins. It’s unlikely any will be built. But “we’ve identified several locations along the East Fork, where if someone wants to sell their property, we will buy it … and we will get FEMA funding to do that.”.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/14/26

3150 Days since Hurricane Harvey