Entries by admin

Commissioners Approve Excavation Contract for Regional Detention Pond on Taylor Gully

In yesterday’s Harris County Commissioners Court meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a contract with Spring Sand & Clay LLC for excavation of a regional detention pond on Taylor Gully in Montgomery County at the Woodridge Village site. Preliminary Engineering Began in Early July Earlier this year, Harris County purchased Woodridge Village from Perry Homes for this […]

Triple PG Mines Ever Closer to HVL Pipelines

A flyover of the Triple PG mine in Porter revealed that the operator started mining right next to five pipelines carrying highly-volatile liquids (HVL). Previously, Triple PG mined next to a Kinder Morgan natural gas pipeline. Headward erosion subsequently exposed the pipeline during Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Storm Imelda. Another storm could do to the […]

Amazon Expands the Concrete Jungle

Amazon is building a new transportation center on the east side of I-69 just south of the Grand Parkway. Two months ago, this site was little more than dirt. Now, there’s a building with a roof, parking lots and detention ponds. I took all the pictures below on Sunday, 7/17/21. Amazon’s Prime Location Amazon’s location […]

Last Chance to Fight Subsidence: Comment Now

On Friday, July 23, 2021 – one week from today – the public comment period will close on the proposed Desired Future Conditions (DFCs) for the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District. DFCs represent goals for preserving a percentage of groundwater for future generations and preventing subsidence. A contentious debate has raged for years between those […]

Town Fighting for Survival Stonewalled By County, State Officials at Every Turn

In the last year, I have researched and written more than 50 posts that mentioned Colony Ridge, the controversial Liberty County development with suspect drainage practices. In the last six months, County and State officials have stonewalled requests for documents that could help prove or disprove Colony Ridge violations of the County’s own drainage regulations. […]

FM1485: What’s Wrong With This Picture?

I took this picture on May 26, 2021. It shows TxDOT construction of the new State Highway 99 (Grand Parkway) next to FM1485 in New Caney. The picture looks northeast toward Colony Ridge in Liberty County. The East Fork of the San Jacinto River flows under both bridges toward Lake Houston on the right. Note […]

HCFCD’s “Frontier Program”: A Collaborative Model for Future Flood Mitigation

Harris County Flood Control District’s (HCFCD) Frontier Program is an effort to avoid the problems of past development in newly developing areas. In the past, making developers solely responsible for flood mitigation on the land they owned likely resulted in small, expensive and suboptimal projects. Often, by the time shortcomings of their efforts became apparent, […]

New Caney ISD’s New West Fork High School Taking Shape

Between US59 and Sorters-McClellan Road, a few blocks south of Kingwood Drive, New Caney ISD High School #3 is finally taking shape. And it now has an official name: West Fork High High School. On January 1, 2021, contractors were just starting to pour concrete for the foundations and parking lots. According to the New […]

Lake Houston Dredging Starts Moving to East Fork

On Thursday last week, Stephen Costello, PE, the City of Houston’s Chief Recovery Officer, gave an update on Lake Houston dredging. Costello said that mechanical dredging was starting to move from the West Fork to the East Fork of the San Jacinto River. Next Phase of Dredging Starting This marks the beginning of the next […]