Last night, I posted some statistics about Lake Conroe levels after the SJRA started the release during Hurricane Harvey. Tim Garfield and R.D. Kissling, two top geologists, now retired from one of the world’s largest oil companies, have looked at the release from a downstream perspective. Last year, they put everything they learned into this […]
Two affidavits in a lawsuit filed against the SJRA for flooding downstream residents during Harvey contain statistics that raise several troubling questions about the operation of gates during the storm. Did the SJRA wait too long to begin releasing water in significant volumes? As a consequence, did it create an unnecessarily high peak discharge? Did […]
The current draft of the Region H Statewide Water Plan contains a recommendation that many of those who flooded during Harvey may take issue with. On page 18 of the executive summary, there’s an overview of the recommendation. It requests that “… the State consider legislation clarifying the liability exposure of reservoir operators for passing […]
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has launched a new website called the Texas Water Newsroom. Water Supply and Flood Planning TWDB is the state agency responsible for water supply and flood planning, financing, and research. The agency helps ensure Texans plan and prepare for the perpetual threat of water scarcity and water surplus in […]
Every once in a while, thoughts collide in a way that makes you see the world more clearly. Such a collision happened today. I suddenly realized that Texas, the state that leads the nation in billion-dollar, weather-and-climate related disasters, also has many developers plus city and county officials pushing back against higher minimum drainage standards […]
In April, Harris County Commissioners directed the County Engineer and Executive Director of the Flood Control District to recommend minimum drainage standards for all communities in Harris County. The idea: to protect the County’s $2.5 billion flood bond investment. Lax standards in one place could undermine mitigation projects in another. High-Level Recommendations In May, the […]
Sunday morning at 8 a.m., Perry contractors we’re busy working on Woodridge Village detention ponds. This came after a Saturday when they stopped working after 6 p.m. Surprisingly, this came even as the threat from Tropical Storm Cristobal moved farther east. Woodridge Village was implicated in flooding Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest twice last […]
I always associated the word “Riviera” with a coastal region in France and Italy on the Mediterranean. But being a student of language, I frequently look up words that I think I know. Much to my surprise, I learned that the word has a second meaning. It also applies to any coastal region with a […]
One thousand and twelve days ago, Hurricane Harvey destroyed the Forest Cove townhomes between Hamblen and the West Fork San Jacinto. Yet most still stand – mute reminders of Harvey’s fury and mankind’s folly. They illustrate: a) the need to re-engineer business processes surrounding buyouts and b) rethink multi-family housing in flood-prone areas. The Love […]
Within the Forest Cove Townhome complex, currently being bought out by Harris County Flood Control, two wells, and three oil and gas storage tanks have been abandoned. The operator, Noxxe Oil and Gas, LLC went out of business in February this year for failure to pay franchise taxes. At least one of the wells has […]