Entries by admin

New TCEQ Sand Mining BMPs Ignore Pit Captures

12/13/24 – Proposed new Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Best Management Practices (BMPs) for sand mines ignore what miners are supposed to do in the case of pit captures. “Pit capture” happens when a river breaks through the dikes of a sand mine. It can have serious consequences including, but not limited to: Identifying […]

Educating People About a Healthy Floodplain Environment

12/12/24 – Karastin Katusin gets people to see, touch, and experience a healthy floodplain environment, so they will want to protect such places.  Katusin is a geologist and educator by training. She is also the Community Conservation Manager for the Bayou Land Conservancy, one of the leading environmental organizations in southeast Texas. Her mission: connecting people […]

Kingwood’s East End Park: Beautiful Flood Protection

12/11/2024 – One of the most popular parks in Kingwood is KSA’s East End Park. Tens of thousands of people visit this 158 acre, dog-friendly nature park each year. It’s spectacularly beautiful – filled with towering pines, tall-grass meadows, wetlands, boardwalks, wildlife, and miles of hiking trails. Members of the Lake Houston Nature Club and […]

Northpark Expansion Still Making Progress Despite Holidays

12/10/24 – Halfway between Christmas and New Year’s, Harper Brothers Construction is still making progress on Northpark Expansion. The pace appears to have slowed somewhat. But that’s because of the current focus on subsurface drainage. Installing reinforced concrete box culverts takes significantly longer than work above ground. It appears that all of the old westbound […]

Addicks-Barker Litigation Update

12/9/2024 – Testimony concluded today in the latest appeal of the Addicks-Barker lawsuits arising out of Hurricane Harvey. During Harvey, homes both upstream and downstream of the Addicks and Barkers Reservoirs flooded. Residents allege that the Army Corps’ management of gates on the reservoirs contributed to flooding their homes. The cases have wended their way […]

Dredge Still in Starting Blocks

12/8/24 – Callan Marine moved its dredge down the San Jacinto West Fork to a location between Atascocita Point and Royal Shores more than two weeks ago. But it hasn’t moved yet. Reasons for the delay are unclear at this point. Still Anchored in Same Spot This morning, the rain let up long enough to […]

Bayou Land Conservancy Volunteers Protect Nature’s Flood Protection

12/7/24 – One of the leading environmental groups in the Houston region is the Bayou Land Conservancy (BLC). Their motto: “We preserve land along streams for flood control, clean water, and wildlife.” Last year, BLC volunteers logged thousands of hours maintaining and improving natural areas and trails that help others appreciate nature’s wonders. One such […]

Can Cypress Creek Stormwater Detention Offset SJRA Releases from Lake Conroe?

12/6/24 – When you look at Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) spending figures, it’s clear they are making a major flood-mitigation investment along Cypress Creek. At the end of the third quarter this year, HCFCD had spent more than $190 million on Cypress Creek projects since Hurricane Harvey. That was enough to rank it […]

Tsunamis, Storm Surge Demonstrate Power of Moving Water

12/5/2024 – Tsunamis are huge waves caused by earthquakes. Storm surge is a huge wave caused by hurricane winds. Both have unimaginable destructive power. West Coast Tsunami Warning This Morning This morning, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Northern California. That caused the National Weather Service to issue tsunami warnings from Oregon down to San Francisco […]

System Capacity Maps for Harris County Channels Reveal Widespread Problems

12/2/24 – System capacity maps for each of Harris County’s 23 watersheds show widespread problems and raise questions about whether the county’s most severe needs are confined to historically underserved areas. Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) released the maps in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. What “System Capacity” Means System […]