4/22/26 – Today was the last straw. I have concluded that Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) is broken. I’ve been writing for several days about Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) projects supposedly “under construction” that aren’t. Some people might call that: But I suspect we all can agree that it’s certainly misleading and […]
4/21/26 – Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has taken more than 4 years to spend about 4% of the $322 million that HUD allocated to HCFCD for Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR). That figure is carved out of a larger total ($868 million) that also includes CDBG Mitigation funds. Former Texas […]
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. The one-year construction project turned into three years before it was over. Mercer’s delays underscore the risk associated with eleven similar projects with […]
4/18/2026 – I have written thousands of articles about drainage, flooding, governance, and infrastructure projects since Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Reporting on these topics triggered a flood of emotions: anxiety, frustration, exasperation, enlightenment, disappointment, empathy, sadness and hope. After writing yesterday’s post about the most recent Harris County commissioners court meeting, I added “anger” to that list. Potential […]
4/17/2026 – Harris County Commissioners Court erupted into open hostilities yesterday when County Judge Lina Hidalgo publicly blasted Dr. Tina Petersen, head of the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD). This issue had to do with the potential loss of close to a third of a billion dollars in federal Community Development Block Grants for […]
4/16/2026 – Join volunteers from around Kingwood for “Median Madness: Round 7” this Saturday, 4/18/2026, starting at 8:30 AM along Kingwood Drive at Trailwoood Village Drive. Help trim back underbrush. Remove vines. Improve traffic safety. And beautify Kingwood. While you have fun. Exercise. And make friends. All at the same time. The event will last […]
4/15/2026 – In the quest the build the first all-weather evacuation route from Kingwood, there’s still much work to do. But contractors have made significant progress on Northpark in the last few weeks. The two ponds that bracket Northpark Drive at the US59 entrance are getting deeper. Meanwhile, the bridge abutment east of the railroad […]
4/14/26 – The San Jacinto Watershed received only 1% of all HCFCD spending in Q1, despite being the county’s largest watershed and having the worst flooding. Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has published updated spending figures for 2018 Flood Bond Projects through the end of the first quarter of 2026. Analysis also revealed: Separately, […]
4/13/26 – Since Hurricane Harvey in 2017, I’ve documented how numerous factors contribute to flooding. Individually, none is unique. You see them in operation everywhere around the world. But collectively, their impacts can “stack” in a way that degrades margins of safety and resilience – in some areas more than others. Progressively Eroding Margins of […]
4/12/26 – Numerous human and geologic factors drive flood risk. Where they exist in combination, flood risk degrades the most. One of the most important “lessons learned” since Hurricane Harvey has been how A) extreme population growth in B) a flat river basin with C) a constrained outlet … combine to increase flood risk. Extreme […]