Mercer Basin Delays Illustrate Risk To Eleven Projects with HUD Funding

4/20/2026 – On April 10, 2026, the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) announced that it finally completed its Mercer Stormwater Detention Basin – two years after the originally scheduled completion date.

Mercer’s delays underscore the risk associated with eleven similar projects with a firm completion deadline just 314 days away – 2/28/2027. They involve a third of a billion dollars in US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) administered by the Texas General Land Office (GLO).

Harris County Commissioners have tried to understand whether the projects could miss the deadline and jeopardize the funding. But HCFCD’s executive director, Dr. Tina Petersen, has not supplied them with sufficiently detailed information to assess the risk. Her high-level reports mask logistical red flags with vague generalities.

For example, she says:

The TC Jester East Basin project is “in construction.” But aerial photos show that no actual construction equipment is onsite, only a construction trailer. Clearing has not yet even begun.
She says the Isom Street Basin on Halls Bayou is “out for bids.” But she does not address how her department will meet the same deadline, ten months away when such projects usually require one to two years.

As a consequence, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo says she has “lost confidence” in Petersen. And Commissioners Court unanimously adopted a resolution demanding specifics about how HCFCD will complete all CDBG projects.

So, let’s look at some specifics.

Mercer Basin Had Multiple Delays

The Mercer Basin sits between Cypress Creek and FM1960 immediately east of the Hardy Tollroad. It features two dry-bottom compartments that provide an estimated 512 acre-feet of stormwater storage. It had multiple delays totaling two years, but is now finished. See the photos below taken April 19, 2026

*Looking west along FM1969 (l) at southern compartment of Mercer Basin, with second basin in upper right.*

*Looking NW at northern compartment and Cypress Creek. Hardy Tollroad cuts through upper part of frame.*

*Spillway lets water overflowing from Cypress Creek into basin.*

*A culvert connects the northern and southern basins so that floodwater from the creek can use both for storage.*

HCFCD began the project in 2022. Construction was to have begun in Spring 2023 on an expedited basis and should have finished by April 2024. But it actually finished in April 2026. See the timetable below.

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

In July 2024, I went to photograph the completed basin and discovered contractors had not yet started digging. They were still clearing the land. So, I decided to return regularly.

At that point, HCFCD said they hoped to finish construction before the end of that fall.
In December 2024, I found they had not finished. Construction was going slower than expected.
A full year after the original deadline, in April 2025, the project was still far behind schedule.
By December 2025, it still wasn’t complete.
On April 10, 2026, HCFCD called it “substantially” complete.
On April 19, 2026, I finally verified completion – two years late.

Playing Beat the Clock for Other Projects

That experience doesn’t bode well for 11 other CDBG-DR projects that HCFCD now has in development with a firm expiration date on funding – February 28, 2027 – just ten months away. To be more precise, there are only…

314 days left on the shot clock!

Now you know why Harris County Commissioners and the County Judge put a full court press on HCFCD Executive Director Dr. Tina Petersen in their 4/19/26 Commissioners Court meeting.

Petersen presented a vague, high-level status report. For instance, it said the TC Jester Stormwater Detention Basin project was “in construction,” but not what percentage of construction was complete. When I photographed it on 4/19/26, I saw no construction equipment – only a construction trailer. Not one tree had been cleared yet. And that basin is much larger than the Mercer Basin which took three years to build. See below.

*Looking E across TC Jester at large forested area where new basin will wrap around small existing basin (middle right)*

HCFCD announced that the TC Jester project would start construction “soon” back on December 5, 2025 – four and a half months ago. Now the federal deadline is just 10 months away.

The Isom Street Project also uses CDBG-DR funds. It involves clearing an area near Halls Bayou adjacent to two existing detention basins, creating a new detention basin, and then connecting all three.

*Isom Street Project on Halls Bayou. Existing basins on the left and right will connect with new one in the treed area.*

The Isom Project has the same 2/28/27 deadline, but it is even less far along than TC Jester. Petersen told Commissioners Court it was “in bidding.”

At this point, it’s not clear how HCFCD will meet the deadline. And county commissioners need that clarity.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/20/2026

3156 Days since Hurricane Harvey

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