City of Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin will host a Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Town Hall meeting tonight. Tuesday, February 25, 2020 Meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. Kingwood Community Center 4102 Rustic Woods Kingwood, Texas 77345 Focus on Capital Improvement Projects During this meeting, residents will hear from Mayor […]
Multiple Choice Quiz So what made this water turn color? This is definitely a hard one: TACA is promoting Sherwin-Williams. It’s a Slurpee® and snow cone waste pit. All the left-over food coloring that Randall’s couldn’t sell at 95%-off wound up here. The country of Gabon is advertising tourism. Cyanobacteria are taking over the pit. […]
After 2.5 years of examining photos and videos of the so-called “dikes” in sand mines, I have come to believe that some are designed to fail. In some cases, mines cause them to fail. In most cases, the “dikes” are not really dikes. They’re just the edges of pits that miners have excavated. Or roads […]
In the last month, workers made progress on pipeline bed repairs to two area sand mines. But repairs at one sand mine look substantial. At another, they look superficial. Triple PG in Porter is still edging into the danger zone. Exposed by Erosion When Mining Came Too Close In December and January, I posted about […]
What causes street flooding? At the risk of clarifying the obvious, rain accumulates faster than storm sewers and drainage ditches can carry it away. A Lack-Of-Capacity Issue Most streets are actually designed to be part of the flood retention system in any community. That’s because most storm sewers can only handle a two-year rain (about […]
In a marathon meeting last night, the SJRA modified the seasonal lowering program for Lake Conroe. The adopted motion does not exactly follow the City of Houston’s last-minute compromise recommendation. It delays lowering the lake to 199.5 feet until after September 1 to accommodate boaters and businesses on Lake Conroe. The City had recommended lowering […]
Tonight, the SJRA board will decide whether to continue the temporary seasonal lake lowering policy until other flood mitigation measures can be put in place. Last night, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner proposed a compromise. Instead of lowering Lake Conroe to 199 feet in the fall, he suggests lowering it to 199.5, but would lower it […]
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Public Works Director Carol Haddock have sent a compromise proposal to the SJRA board on the eve of the meeting that will decide the fate of their seasonal lake lowering policy. Details of Original Proposal The original policy has received heavy pushback from Lake Conroe people who claim its destroying […]
Earlier this month, the City of Houston released an epic 186-page report called “Resilient Houston.” Defining Resilience: The First Challenge After Harvey, one heard lots of talk about “resilience.” Frankly, it became the cliché of the day in many circles. One could not go to a seminar or public meeting without hearing someone spout the […]
The Lake Houston Area Grass Roots Flood Prevention Initiative sent out this reminder via email. It contains information about the last SJRA Board meeting before they vote on whether to continue Lowering Lake Conroe seasonally. I’m posting it here, too, in case you aren’t on their mailing list and want to learn how you can […]