Harris County Engineering Developing Drainage Master Plan

9/25/26 – At the 9/22/26 Meeting of the Harris County Community Flood Resilience Task Force, Harris County Engineering discussed its effort to develop a drainage master plan for the county. The presentation discussed the project’s purpose, the team’s organization, regions within the county, the process, next steps and a public viewer.

Here is the presentation by Steve Albert with the engineering firm DCCM. Drainage and water resource engineering are among their core specialties. And Albert acts as a consultant on the Drainage Master Plan, which he said is a little more than halfway complete.

Focusing on Unincorporated Harris County Neighborhoods

The plan will recommend neighborhood flood reduction projects in unincorporated Harris County areas not covered by previous or ongoing drainage projects. That includes roughly two-thirds of the county’s approximately 1,800 square miles.

Responsibilities

The Office of the County Engineer under Dr. Milton Rahman leads the effort. DCCM serves as program manager over four vendors that each cover about a quarter of the county: AECOM (Region 1, northwest), Michael Baker International (Region 2, south), HR Green (central), and LAN (east). A $12.5 million Texas General Land Office (GLO) grant originally funded the project.

Project Phases

The project has six phases and is currently in the prioritization phase.

Data collection includes flood claims and predicted flooding from the County’s new MAAPnext modeling. Mr. Albert noted that Precinct 3 contains a large share of the unincorporated area and is therefore likely to have more projects.

Focus on Neighborhood Drainage, Street Flooding, Mobility Impacts

While Harris County Flood Control focuses on bayous, Engineering focuses on getting water to them.

Mr. Albert explained the plan focuses on smaller, more frequent storm events and neighborhoods whose local drainage systems cannot convey water to the bayous, since many communities experience flooding well outside formal floodplain boundaries. Street flooding and mobility impacts are a key concern.

Equal Distribution of Projects Throughout County

So far, 200 project areas have been identified (50 per region). Each has a focus-area data sheet describing location, watershed, estimated cost, and expected benefits.

Of those, 60 projects (15 per region) will undergo enhanced modeling to develop realistic project costs. Enhanced modeling is expected to be complete in January 2027, with the final report issued before March 2027 for Commissioners Court approval.

Project Online Viewer

Mr. Albert demonstrated the project’s public online viewer. It includes:

Layers for the four regions
The 200 identified project areas
Watershed boundaries
The Harris County channel system
Current effective FEMA floodplains (with the current 500-year floodplain serving as a proxy for the future 100-year floodplain)
HCFCD detention basins
Municipal utility districts (MUDs)
Government facilities
An address search function.

He walked through how users can add comments directly to the map. The viewer will remain open for comments through approximately the end of October.

*Welcome screen from online public viewer*

The hexagons shown on the map do not represent projects. Mr. Albert explained they represent roughly 200-acre units used to score flood potential. The 200 displayed represent the highest-scoring areas in the county. Note the large cluster in Atascocita.

Mr. Albert explained that projects are sized by local drainage area and may span several hexagons.

No Funding Identified Yet

Projects will generally range from $1–20 million and target more frequent (1- to 2-year) storm events.

There is currently no funding for any of the projects identified to date. However, a future bond program has been discussed.

The intent of the drainage plan is to give precincts an engineering-based list from which to select projects. It will be based on:

Local knowledge and priorities
Ability of projects to reduce flooded homes
Flooded roadway length

What Types of Comments Can Residents Submit?

Mr. Albert said comments can be as simple as reporting backyard or street flooding from a small rain event. Or they might identify specific intersections or routes that become impassable.

To see video of his presentation go to the Harris County Community Flood Resilience Task Force website. The meeting lasted two hours. Mr. Albert’s presentation starts at 31 minutes.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/25/26

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