Sand-Mine Breach Triggers Erosion Threatening Widow’s Home
Kelly Callahan is a retired widow who loves fishing, kayaking and living near nature. That’s why she bought a home near the San Jacinto West Fork. Callahan accepted the flood risk. However, she didn’t expect that the man who bought the sand mine behind her wooded lot would partially drain the dredge pond into the river. Where a small creek flows across part of her property, the sudden drop in the pond’s elevation triggered what geomorphologists call “headcut erosion.”
About Headcut Erosion
Headcut erosion happens where flowing water reaches an abrupt, near-vertical drop. The falling water scours the base, causing the overhanging soil and plant roots to collapse. That forces the “waterfall” to rapidly migrate upstream. In Kelly’s case, it could soon threaten her home. Instead of fixing the sand-pit dike, the mine’s new owner has offered to buy the widow’s land for below-market value. I talked with her at length about her situation and options. But first, some pictures that illustrate what happened.
Impact on Widow
Rehak: You investigated this property pretty thoroughly before buying it.
Callahan: Yes, I even talked to the sand-mine foreman. Never on God’s green earth did I think that somebody would purchase it and then lower the pond and cause all of this damage.
Rehak: What did the new owner do?
Callahan: He hired someone to cut through the dike surrounding the mine. He said it was to prevent flooding the homeowners on our street. But the dike completely blew out and 10-20 feet of water from the pond went downstream with a tremendous amount of sand.
Rehak: You were dealing with some medical issues at the time?
Callahan: I had horrible sciatica and could barely walk. So, I couldn’t see what was going on back there until recently.
Rehak: What happened when he saw all the damage he caused?
Callahan: He started coming to me and saying “It’s eroding back there. You need to get some fill and fix it.
Rehak: Did you?
Callahan: No. He caused the problem.
Rehak: What happened the other day when you got 4.5 inches of rain in a few hours?
Callahan: He showed up unannounced and trudged back to his pond. When he came back, he said, “Kelly, we got a $100,000 problem now. You didn’t put any fill back there.” I said, “That’s a band-aid and I’m not going to do it. It’s just going to erode again.”
Rehak: What did he say to that?
Callahan: He said, “As far as I can tell, in two and a half years, it’s going to be all the way up to your house.” (At this point, Callahan breaks down into tears.) “It’s already travelled over a hundred feet. My guess is that it’s already 20% of the way to your house.” And again he asked, “Did you ever get someone with heavy equipment to come out and give you a quote?”
Rehak: You talked to Montgomery County Engineering instead.
Callahan: Right. Every department I talked to advised me why I shouldn’t. Had I been band-aiding this, I would have been fined by the MoCo permitting office. They were requiring me to hire an engineer and get a permit. The new owner of the former mine has the same problems.
Rehak: It doesn’t sound like you’re responsible for this. Headcut erosion happens when there’s an abrupt drop in a stream bed. That happened when the mine owner cut through the berm and lowered his pond. He created a miniature waterfall migrating upstream. That’s why they call it headcut.
Callahan: My son thinks he’s just trying to get my property on the cheap.
Rehak: Where do you go from here?
Callahan: I don’t want to move back to the suburbs. After being out here, you can’t really go back to that. I cry every day. It breaks my heart.
Posted By Bob Rehak on 6/21/26
3218 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.
