Two Lake Houston Floodplain-Fill Investigations Launched
8/24/26 at 5PM – After quick-thinking residents spotted TXDoT contractors dumping fill in the Lake Houston floodplain on Friday night, August 21, local authorities leaped into action and stopped the operation by mid-day on Saturday, August 22, 2026.
On Sunday, August 23, a silt fence was installed improperly on the property. And today, Monday, August 24, Houston Public Works launched an investigation. Here’s the latest.
Flickinger Visit Stops Dumping
Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger visited the dump site on Saturday.
Floodplain fill reduces stormwater-storage volume during floods. That increases flood risk for others. As a consequence, City regulations prohibited such fill in 2018.
Landowners can move dirt within the floodplain. But they cannot bring dirt INTO the floodplain from outside of it. That reduces stormwater storage.
Shortly after Flickinger’s visit, neighbors reported that the TXDoT contractors stopped their fill operation, and that the landowner would likely be forced to pay a fine and remove the fill dirt.
Ineffective Silt Fence
After Saturday’s post pointed out that there was no silt fence around the fill, the next day, someone installed a laughably ineffective silt fence. It didn’t even reach the ground. So, so rain could easily wash silt under the bottom edge of the fence.
Best practices for silt fence installation recommend burying the bottom edge of the fabric at least six inches in a trench on the uphill side of fence supports, then back-filling the trench. See the diagram below, compiled by ChatGPT.
City Investigation Issues Red Tags
Houston Public Works investigators visited the site this morning. At 5PM today, they issued this statement, “The Floodplain Management Office inspection team issued red tags on the affected parcels this morning and contacted the trucking contractor. As of this afternoon, one of the onsite red tags was not found when we returned. We’ll continue to follow up.”
Public Works says it will issue a more detailed report tomorrow morning and has requested TXDoT’s cooperation in stopping the floodplain filling.
TXDoT Response to County Investigation Request
Meanwhile, Harris County Precinct 3 also asked TXDoT to look into recurring problems like this. TXDoT contractors are excavating the dirt from a large detention basin four miles north as mitigation for the FM2100 expansion project.
Eric Heppen, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s head engineer, shared this statement from Nyemb Nyemb, P.E., North Harris Assistant Area Engineer for TXDoT.
Nyemb said, “We recognize that this has been a recurring concern and will be meeting with the contractor as soon as possible to address the matter and reinforce compliance with all applicable requirements.”
“If it is determined that material was improperly dumped in this area, the contractor will be required to remove it and restore the site.”
Nyemb Nyemb PE, TXDoT manager for North Harris County
Nyemb continued, “Failure to comply with project requirements and corrective measures could result in project enforcement actions. The TxDOT project team will work and investigate the reported activity and take appropriate action if any project-related material is found to have been placed without the required approvals, authorizations, or permits.”
Unfortunately, we’ve heard that before from Mr. Nyemb.
Who Owns the Floodplain Property Being Filled?
Harris County Appraisal District Records show that Lake Houston Lighthouse, L.L.C. owns it. However, Texas Secretary of State records show that the LLC last filed a required Public Information Report in 2022 and went through a tax forfeiture in February 2024. So presumably, the individual owners lack a corporate veil to protect them from liability.
Both of the LLC’s managing members list their address at a single residence on Page Lane – the street immediately south of the channel shown above.
How to Stop Floodplain Fill
Engineers tell me such activity goes on all over Harris County. How can we stop it? Previously, there was talk about criminalizing such behavior. Currently, it is a civil offense.
Heppen said that the county may work with the state in the next session to pass a law against such fill activity. Making it a criminal offense 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 or permits.
If we want to reduce damage in the next flood, we must do more than pay lip service to floodplain preservation.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/24/26
3282 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.
