7/31/2026 – For the last few years, I’ve posted about the slowdown in the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD). Based on a tip, I recently explored contract awards taking up to 20 months to get through the Purchasing Department. So, the slowdown appears to extend beyond just HCFCD. Bonfire, the County’s purchasing portal, shows […]
7/30/2026 – A new 4-minute video shows flood destruction in communities immediately downstream from the proposed 5,300-acre Scarborough development at the confluence of the San Jacinto West Fork with Spring, Cypress and Turkey Creeks. It illustrates the risks of development in that area. It is one of the most flood-prone properties in the San Jacinto […]
7/29/2026 – The allure of living near water is both primal and spiritual. Water is soothing, refreshing, sustaining, beautiful, comforting and necessary. For much of human history, people HAD to live near water. Rivers became cradles of civilization. But occasionally, river flooding also brings destruction. And when modern engineering and infrastructure made it possible to […]
07/28/2026 – Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has released new figures showing where it has spent money through 2026 Q2. The County has spent only $49.15 million dollars in the entire San Jacinto Watershed since passage of the 2018 Flood Bond eight years ago. That compares with $367,450,000 worth of projects advertised for the […]
07/27/26 – New spending figures are available from Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) through the end of 2026 Q2. This quarter marks the end of Dr. Tina Petersen’s administration and the start of new Executive Director Marcus Stuckett’s. In that sense, it represents (pardon the pun) a watershed moment. HCFCD spending data shows that […]
7/25/2026 – Last Thursday, a meteorological fluke spared the Lake Houston Area from the worst of Tropical Storm Bertha. Others nearby were not so lucky. The lopsided nature of Bertha, the collapse of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) at Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD), the potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in […]
7/24/26 – This week’s Northpark Drive expansion update includes news on the bridge, Loop 494, traffic lights and the entry ponds. No-one ever said building the first all-weather evacuation route from Kingwood would be easy. But the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority/TIRZ 10 took on the job which has entailed coordinating the work of multiple utilities […]
7/23/26 – One of the leading conservation groups in the area, the Bayou Land Conservancy (BLC), has lined up against the proposed 5,300-acre Scarborough development at the confluence of Spring Creek and the San Jacinto West Fork. BLC joins a growing list of people and organizations opposing the floodplain development, which one of the area’s […]
7/22/26 – (Updated at 3pm to correct funding figures.) Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger reported this morning that engineering for the Lake Houston Gates Project is now 90% complete. Speaking before the Kingwood Executive Group at the Kingwood Country Club today, he added that we now know the true cost of a workable plan […]
7/20/2026 – Federal, State, County and City officials gathered today for the official groundbreaking of the Taylor Gully/Woodridge flood-mitigation project. The ceremony took place against the backdrop of an excavator and a parade of trucks already hard at work. For added drama and to underscore the project’s urgency, the groundbreaking happened while the second tropical […]