Newly elected State Representative Charles Cunningham has introduced a bill aimed at restoring sand mines to productive use after operators cease production. Cunningham filed HB1093 in December and it was referred to the House Natural Resources Committee on 3/2/2023. Aimed at Protecting Water Supply for 2 Million People HB1093 amends Section 28A of the Texas […]
On 2/28/23, I attended an excellent online FEMA seminar about building codes. It was a two-part presentation. Part One discussed how higher building codes can reduce damages from flooding. Part Two discussed building-code pushback. For example, despite all the flood damage in Texas, the State hasn’t updated its building codes since 2012 – even though the […]
The Lake Houston Gates Project is moving closer to reality with breakthroughs on the benefit/cost ratio, funding and endorsements. City of Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin and Chief Recovery Officer Stephen Costello provided updates on 2/27/23 at City Hall on the Lake Houston Gates Project. The wide-ranging, hour-long discussion covered several related topics. They […]
The controversial new Royal Pines subdivision that flooded a neighbor four times in two months has finally built a stormwater detention basin. The good news: The basin should capture water flowing from one direction toward the neighbor. The bad news: The height of the berm around the pond could back up water from the opposite […]
Harris County’s best hope to fully fund the 2018 Flood Bond just vanished into a political black hole. Watching the video of Commissioners Court on Tuesday made one dizzy. My head was spinning so quickly with all of the contradictions, that it reminded me of a Chucky horror movie. Almost 2 Years After Leaving the […]
Tuesday 2/21/23 at 5 P.M. will be your last chance to comment on Harris County’s proposed distribution of $750 million in HUD Flood-Mitigation funds. Harris County Community Services Department (CSD) will request Commissioners Court approval of its plan for allocating $750 million in HUD Harvey mitigation funds Tuesday. (See item 489 on the Agenda.) The […]
A Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) year-end spending report shows a continuing bond slowdown. The most recent spending update to Commissioners Court reflects all activity through the end of 2022. The big news to report is that there’s not much news to report. The December update showed that the San Jacinto Watershed received only […]
How do you find the best option to mitigate floodprone structures? What will work best in your particular situation? FEMA discusses many different options in an interesting brochure titled “Selecting Appropriate Mitigation Measures for Floodprone Structures.” The intended audience is for state and local officials. But don’t let that scare you. This brochure can also […]
According to a press release by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin, the City of Houston Police served an evidentiary search warrant at the Kingwood Central Wastewater Treatment Plant this morning, 2/17/2023. Inframark operates the plant. The City had received numerous complaints about foul odors in the area and found irregularities […]
Wayne Dolcefino, investigative journalist extraordinaire, has released another video about his and Jim McIngvale’s attempts to force Harris County to release public records pertaining to the 2022 election. Lina Hidalgo plays a starring role. And her performance reminds one of Shakespeare’s famous line from Hamlet, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The line implies […]