Guess where the wetlands were? Today, I flew over Northpark Drive and Sorters-McClellan Road near the San Jacinto West Fork. I photographed a new development called Northpark South. Much of this land is in the floodplain. And much was also classified as wetlands for sixty years. Can you guess which portion? Here’s what the area […]
Today, Harris County joined the growing list of governmental agencies looking into Colony Ridge. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have already concluded their investigations and filed Federal lawsuits against the troubled developer. On December 29, 2023, the New York Post reported that the Internal Revenue Service, Army Corps […]
Foot dragging by utilities has set the Northpark expansion project back years. What none seems to understand is that this isn’t just a normal road expansion project. It’s about creating a reliable, all-weather evacuation route for 78,000 people. The utilities see the project as a headache. Traumatized residents see it as a lifeline. And that’s […]
On Tuesday, 1/9/24, Harris County Commissioners court will consider a motion by Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey, P.E. to monitor the potential flooding, housing, and environmental impacts of Colony Ridge on Harris County. (See Item 282 on the Agenda.) Ramsey submitted a similar item for the 10/10/23 session of Commissioners Court. The Court took no […]
The Northpark Drive expansion project understandably slowed during the holidays. But Northpark tree moving started in earnest this week. Contractors have returned and started moving trees to clear the areas where two detention ponds will be excavated at 59. In other news: To learn more about each of these items, see below. Moving Day Arrives […]
Back in November 2023, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) terminated its excavation and removal contract with Sprint Sand and Clay. The 2021 contract called for Sprint to remove up to 500,000 cubic yards of material from Woodridge Village. Had the full amount been excavated, it would have more than doubled the stormwater detention basin […]
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 […]