Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) will soon start building the new Mercer Stormwater Detention Basin, a large flood-risk reduction project along Cypress Creek adjacent to Mercer Botanical Gardens. HCFCD issued a notice to proceed to the contractor in December 2023 and the contractor is now mobilizing. Combined 512 Acre Feet in Two Basins The […]
On 12/13/23, Texas General Land Office (GLO) Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D. announced the approval of Coastal Erosion Planning & Response Act (CEPRA) funding for a Bolivar Peninsula Beach and Dune Restoration project. The beach-restoration project seeks to: According to the GLO, the CEPRA funds – initially aimed at an engineering study – will provide both economic and coastal resilience […]
Looking back at 2023, we got lucky. A lack of extreme rainfall masked a slowdown of flood-mitigation spending and massive clearcutting of wetlands and floodplains. Had we been hit by a hurricane instead of a drought, who knows what would have happened. Have we lost our sense of urgency about flood mitigation? Did the drought […]
On October 30, 2023, the Technical Mapping Advisory Council (TMAC) recommended that FEMA implement six flood mapping changes. The objectives: SFHA and FPA Definition Recommendations FEMA currently defines a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) as land “subject to a 1 percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.” The SFHA may contain several […]
Despite occasional hurricanes and biblical rainfalls, there’s no place I’d rather live than the Lake Houston Area. Where else can you find all the amenities of Houston next to so much nature? Below are some of my favorite photos taken here over the years. And then there are the spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Dr. Charles […]
12/20/23 – Legal woes are mounting for Colony Ridge. Today, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed suit against the controversial Liberty County developer and the companies they own or control. The government filed a complaint against land development companies Colony Ridge Development, LLC and Colony Ridge BV, […]
A new study of “climate migration” by the First Street Foundation looks at how flood-risk information affects real-estate sales. It found that the availability of high-resolution data affects home buying, sometimes in surprising ways. The foundation’s mission is to make climate-risk data accessible, easy to understand and actionable for individuals, governments, and industry. It estimates […]
According to a December 15 press release by the Texas Water Development Board, Phase 1 of Houston’s new Northeast Water Purification Plant expansion is nearing completion. Phase 1 will supply 80 million gallons per day of treated surface water to the residents of Harris County, Fort Bend County and City of Houston. Two more phases […]
Inflation has reduced the 2018 Flood Bond’s purchasing power. The general rate of inflation during the last five years adds up to 20%. That could potentially eliminate one fifth of the projects in the flood bond. It’s a serious concern for the people whose mitigation projects have been put at the end of the line […]
For residents of flood-prone areas such as Northpark South, only the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) stands between a river and ruin. But ironically, efforts to staunch financial hemhorraging are making NFIP flood insurance unaffordable for many with low incomes. That creates an uncertain future for developments and people in or near floodplains. Moreover, Congress […]