Entries by admin

The Wilderness Among Us

Houston, unlike most major cities, still boasts of vast wilderness areas nearby – largely because of the epic flooding problems they have. The wilderness among us somehow manages to attract people to an environment plagued by heat, humidity, frequent flooding and roaches as large as Buicks. Wilderness is restful. It rejuvenates the spirit. It anchors […]

West Fork Dredging Placement Area Filling Up

6/21/25 – Callan Marine’s San Jacinto West Fork dredging placement area near Luce Bayou is filling up…rather quickly. The City of Houston began its most recent dredging program with Callan on December 20, 2024 – six months ago. The goal: to move 800,000 cubic yards of sediment out of the river near the headwaters of […]

HCFCD to Unveil Final Design of Woodridge/Taylor Gully Project on July 1

6/20/25 – Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has announced that it will unveil the final design of the Woodridge/Taylor Gully Project in Kingwood on July 1. Based on preliminary engineering, HCFCD applied to the the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via the Texas General Land Office for a grant of $42 […]

First Houston Matching Grant Beautification Project in Kingwood Dedicated

6/19/25 – The first City-of-Houston Matching Grant Project designed to help beautify and reforest Kingwood was dedicated on Wednesday, June 18th. And City Council Member Fred Flickinger is working to make sure others will soon follow. Hopefully, the Bear Branch Trail Association (BBTA) Project in the median of Kingwood Drive just east of Woodland Hills […]

Flickinger Provides Updates on Lake Houston Gates, Dredging District

6/18/25 – While speaking to the Kingwood Executive Group this morning, Houston District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger reassured members that the project to add more flood gates to the Lake Houston Dam was on track. He said that the engineering and environmental survey work should be completed by the end of this year […]

HCFCD Briefs Community on Last Cypress Creek Major Maintenance Project

6/27/25 – In a virtual public meeting tonight, the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) briefed the public on the last Cypress Creek Major Maintenance Project associated with the 2018 Flood Bond. The project name: Cypress Creek Channel Rehabilitation and Stormwater Detention Basin, Main Stem, Batch 5. Batch 5 consists of two smaller packages: Currently, […]

In Praise of Education, Preservation as Flood-Mitigation Strategies

6/16/25 – Not many people understand the value of education and preservation as a flood-mitigation strategies. Leaving land near waterways in its natural state costs a tiny fraction of building giant detention basins after people flood. Plus the natural land provides recreation for people and habitat for wildlife. The people who built communities like Kingwood […]

Demolition of Old Westbound Lanes Begins on Northpark

6/14/25 – In the NorthPark Drive expansion project last week, the traffic switch originally scheduled for 6/6 finally happened on 6/10. Since then, demolition of the old westbound lanes on Northpark between Loop 494 and US59 has begun. In other Northpark news, contractors are laying rebar in preparation for a concrete pour between Public Storage […]

U.S. Disaster Assistance History Shows Constant Change

6/13/25 – We had a decentralized system of disaster assistance for almost 200 years before FEMA. But more than 60% of the U.S. population has never known life without FEMA. So my post about President Trump’s intention to dismantle the agency caused considerable fear and anxiety. This post may help reassure those people. While change […]

Harris County’s Appalling Lack of Transparency

6/12/25 – As Harris County begins setting its budget for 2026, a number of events have underscored the County’s appalling lack of transparency that involve billions of dollars in spending. For example: Projected $270 Million Shortfall and Tax Increase The County has a mandatory deadline of September 30, 2025 to set its budget for the […]