On February 20th of this year, approximately 1,000 plaintiffs filed a 118-page lawsuit against 55 sand mining companies in the San Jacinto River Basin. Plaintiffs allege that the miners harmed them by decreasing the capacity and depth of Lake Houston and its tributaries by wrongfully discharging and negligently allowing the release of materials into waterways. […]
Ever wonder how high your slab is compared to the elevation of your street? Or where water is likely to collect in a neighborhood? The US Geological Survey (USGS) has given us a quick and easy way to lean more about elevation. While the site says the elevations are not as good as a survey’s, […]
This morning, a For-Sale sign went up in Kings Harbor on vacant land between Chimichurri’s and the construction I reported in July. Houston Area Realtors (HAR.com) shows this property listed for sale at $1,600,000.00. After Harvey, Harris County Appraisal District valued it at $650,000. Now that most Harvey damage in the area has been repaired […]
County Judge Lina Hidalgo has asked for your opinion on the composition and by-laws of a new Community Resilience Task Force. The purpose of the task force is to make recommendations on how to allocate flood-bond spending to help minorities, low income households, and other socially vulnerable groups … even more. Argument for Social Vulnerability […]
The San Jacinto Regional Watershed Master Drainage Plan (SJMDP) partners will host a virtual public meeting on August 13, 2020. The purpose: to provide information about study’s progress, and encourage public participation and input. Goals of Project The SJMDP study began in April 2019 to identify flood mitigation projects that can be implemented in the […]
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis, and Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia are pushing the idea of a Community Resilience Task Force focused on helping socially vulnerable neighborhoods receive a higher percentage of the $2.5 billion flood bond. However, zip codes that rank in the top 50% of the CDC’s Social […]
On 7/23/2020, consultants for the San Jacinto River Basin Master Drainage Plan gave the SJRA Board and the public a first look at a draft of the plan. The final report is due out at the end of August. The draft shows the broad outline of the team’s efforts. Draft Shows Broad Outline of Recommendations […]
After three months of histrionic, apocalyptic debate about SJRA’s policy of seasonally lowering Lake Conroe, the lowering turned out to be neither the end of the world, nor the salvation of the Lake Houston Area. Simply put, no megastorms tested the policy. So there was no proof that it succeeded or failed. Instead, regular smaller […]
The New York Times ran a story on flood-bond spending, but forgot to look at where the budget to date has gone. The story by Christopher Flavelle was titled, “A Climate Plan in Texas Focuses on Minorities. Not Everyone Likes It.” It outlined arguments on each side of the equity debate in flood-bond spending. From […]
Imagine you pull up to a stoplight and two needy people approach you for a handout. You want to help, but have only $1 in your pocket. Do you give the dollar to the person who has not eaten for the longest time? Or to the person from the zip code with the highest percentage […]