Before Perry Homes bought the ill-fated land now known as Woodridge Village, it hired a company called Terracon to sample soils and submit a geotechnical analysis. Their objective: to see whether the land was suitable for residential development. Perry also hired LJA Engineering to analyze drainage. However, it appears that LJA did not consider Terracon’s […]
Triple PG Sand Development, LLC and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed to a temporary injunction on Friday, November 25, 2019. The giant mine between Caney and White Oak Creeks agreed to stop dredging while it finds a way to engineer permanent fixes to its dikes. The dikes have breached repeatedly in numerous places. And […]
Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m., most of America had already physically or mentally checked out for the long Thanksgiving holiday. Those still at work were making shopping lists or travel arrangements. Those still trying to DO work, found it harder and harder. Clients had left for vacation. Telephone calls went unanswered. Suddenly the calculus had […]
Chapter 9 of the Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual discusses development in flood plains. Perry Homes and LJA Engineering somehow “overlooked” many of the points in this chapter. A flood plain ran through the property, but FEMA had not yet mapped it. LJA used that as an excuse to claim none existed. Unfortunately, physical boundaries […]
This morning, I was talking to a friend, John Knoezer, about flooding in Elm Grove when he suddenly blurted out, “You know, the National Flood Insurance people should sue Perry Homes and turn that Woodridge Village into a giant detention pond.” I knew John had a genius for heating and air conditioning. But I had […]
Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) reports that it is buying out a handful of low-lying homes on Fieldtree Drive in Northshire where the City of Humble could soon build a pocket park. The area flooded badly during Harvey. Northshire lies between Deerbrook Mall and the San Jacinto River west of the hotels that line […]
Lake Conroe residents organizing opposition to the SJRA’s lake lowering policy have found it easy to “blame” Kingwood for their inconvenience. Kingwood is an affluent community in another county. But the Lake Conroe people ignore more than 1100 homes between Kingwood and Lake Conroe in Montgomery County (MoCo) that also flooded. The lake lowering reduces […]
At its February 2020 board meeting, the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) Board of Directors will consider NOT lowering Lake Conroe during the spring and fall rainy seasons. Lake Conroe residents have mobilized to protest the lowering which they see as a costly inconvenience. They have started spreading disinformation about the policy. The SJRA Board has […]
Efforts have started already to lobby against the seasonal lowering of Lake Conroe again next year. They seem to be organized and inspired by the Lake Conroe Association again. I understand that the lowering inconveniences some Lake Conroe residents, especially boaters who live in areas like Grand Harbor where the water depth is shallow to […]
Note: This is the third in a five part series about What Went Wrong in Woodridge Village that may have contributed to flooding in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest. It focuses on Detention Ponds. Section 7 of the Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual cautions, “The introduction of impervious cover and improved runoff conveyance serves […]