Partial Kingwood Diversion Ditch Funding Up For Approval Thursday
10/12/26 – Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has 44 items on the 10/15/26 Commissioners Court Agenda. Among them, a request to approve a $5 million grant from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) for drainage improvements to the Kingwood Diversion Ditch. See Item 432.
TWDB authorized the grant to HCFCD in January this year. State Rep. Charles Cunningham obtained it during the 89th Legislative Regular Session. By itself, the $5 million won’t come close to funding the entire Diversion Ditch Project. But it will play an important part in the larger funding picture.
On 3/26/26, former HCFCD Executive Director Dr. Tina Petersen, told the San Jacinto River Authority Board that the entire project will cost approximately $43 million and is fully funded through construction. At the time, Petersen estimated that construction would start in April 2027 and finish before the end of 2027.
Scope, Location Funding of Project
The scope includes four bridge replacements, a new diversion structure, 4.2 miles of channel work, and a new outfall that bypasses River Grove Park. See Page 18 of Petersen’s presentation.
Additional funding for Diversion Ditch improvements will come from Congressman Dan Crenshaw’s 2023 earmark to replace the Walnut Lane Bridge shown below. Crenshaw’s earmark helped rescue the project from oblivion in 2025 when the Democratic members of Harris County Commissioners Court passed a motion to reallocate all funding from projects that fell below the top quartile of their equity prioritization framework to projects in the top quartile.
However, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey PE warned of unintended consequences associated with that plan, i.e., the loss of federal funding already committed, such as Crenshaw’s. Crenshaw requested the funding in 2023. Congress awarded it in 2024.
Diverting water from Bens Branch is important because Bens Branch runs through Kingwood Town Center where 12 people died from Harvey flooding.
Complementary Project
The Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority/TIRZ 10, also plans to build a detention basin and expand the Diversion Ditch north of Northpark Drive in Montgomery County. Spending Harris County money outside Harris County has encountered political resistance among some Harris County Commissioners in the past even though it could save Harris County lives.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/12/26
3331 Days since Hurricane Harvey
