5/4/25 – A bill by State Rep. Charles Cunningham (HB 1532) that would create a Lake Houston Dredging District has passed overwhelmingly in the House and moved to the Senate. The bill received 114 Yeas and 19 Nays in the House, but has yet to pick up traction in the Senate.
Perhaps no other bill is as important to the future of NE Harris County as this one. Please contact Senator Brandon Creighton who represents the Lake Houston area and ask him to sponsor HB1532 in the Senate.
Dredge used in Emergency West Fork Dredging program by Army Corps after Harvey
What HB1532 Would Do
Here is the engrossed version of HB1532. Engrossed means that it incorporates amendments added to the bill in the House before passage. So, it is the latest version as of this writing.
Lake Houston supplies water for more than 2 million people in the Houston region. But sediment buildups from sand mines and new development upstream continue to plague it. And that, in turn has contributed to widespread flooding.
Such sediment buildups have reduced the capacity of Lake Houston by almost 10% as the region’s population has grown by more than 500%.
Texas Water Development Board and US Census Bureau
While dredging since Hurricane Harvey has helped remove some of the sediment in the headwaters of the lake, we need a long-term, ongoing maintenance program to address new sediment that continues to come downstream with ever major rain.
The Committee Substitute of HB 1532 seeks to address this issue by creating the Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District. It will provide dredging and maintenance operations in the area that improve water flow and reduce sediment buildup.
A five-person board would govern the district:
One director appointed by the Houston City Council
Two appointed by Houston Public Works
One appointed by the Mayor
One appointed Harris County Commissioners Court
Dredging could take place only in Harris County; Montgomery County is not affected. The Lake itself; East and West Forks of the San Jacinto; Luce Bayou; and Caney Creek are all in bounds.
The District could also sign inter-local agreements with cities such as Humble, to address sediment in its channels that lead to the lake. However, the District could not charge other entities for the dredging it does under such inter-local agreements.
Provisions in the bill prohibit the District from degrading water quality in the Lake. And the District would have to obtain permission from Houston Public Works before doing any dredging.
Financing
The District could NOT levy taxes or charge a fee. But it could issue bonds secured by district revenue.
The bill authorizes the legislature to fund the district’s activities but caps appropriations at $25 million per fiscal year until September 1, 2027.
The bill requires the District to study methods of financing and to make the study’s results available to the public. Early talk around financing focused on beneficial uses of sediment removed from the lake and its tributaries.
For instance, the District could sell the spoils to developers who need to raise slabs or build up areas. Spoils could also be used in projects such as the Ike Dike or road improvements.
Please Help
HB 1532 does not:
Raise taxes
Levy fees
Affect people outside of Harris County
HB 1532 would:
Make the people and businesses of the Lake Houston area safer
Help restore the capacity of Lake Houston and its tributaries
As long as surrounding counties keep sending sediment downstream, the least they can do is support HB 1532.
Please email Senator Brandon Creighton or call his office at (512) 463-0104. Please ask him to sponsor HB 1532 in the Senate. It will only take a minute!
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/4/25
2805 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/SJR_288_016-e1746401725896.jpg?fit=1100%2C504&ssl=15041100adminadmin2025-05-04 19:03:392025-05-04 21:06:01Ask Sen. Creighton to Support Lake Houston Dredging District Bill
5/3/25 – A well-intentioned bill that just moved from the Texas House to the Senate could have dire unintended consequences in certain circumstances. One of the unintended consequences is increased flood risk.
State Capitol Building in Austin. Your future flood risk could depend on what happens here.
Bill Purports to Make Housing More Affordable
HB23 (and nearly identical companion bills SB2354 and HB2977) give developers the ability to privately hire engineers to approve the developer’s plans as a substitute for review by cities or counties. The intention: to speed up approvals of everything from plats to permits, thus lowering the costs of housing.
However, the bills are also a recipe for conflict of interest. It doesn’t take much imagination to see why. Moreover…
Corners could be cut that endanger public safety.
Neighbors would have no way to protest new developments that could adversely affect their property values.
And that’s only one barrel of the shotgun. The second barrel? Potential interaction with a law passed in 2023.
Land once promised as parks could be turned into apartments.
Forests could be leveled.
High-density development could clog quiet residential streets.
Increased stormwater runoff could increase flood risk.
The combination of HB23 and the 2023 ETJ law would remove governmental accountability and oversight from development. It would be like going to a basketball game without referees. The results might not be so pretty.
Homes could flood repeatedly because assumptions about floodplains and flood elevations fundamentally changed without oversight.
HB23 purports to make housing more affordable. But it also fundamentally changes the balance of power between developers, neighbors and government. It takes government out of the equation, leaving neighbors without protection.
An Amendment Could Help
If HB23 survives the Senate, at a minimum, the Senate needs to add language to HB23 (or one of its companion bills) that prevents developers from bypassing government reviews for plats and re-plats by removing their land from a city’s ETJ.
If a developer wants to re-plat land, that’s fine. But make them go through a government review that lets adjoining property owners and their HOAs have their voices heard.
As it stands, HB23 and its companion bills stifle protest.
The bills would also make government unaccountable.
How You Can Help
At this point in the legislative session, it looks like HB23 has a better chance of success than its companion bills. I am against HB23 and its companion bills as they stand.
At a bare minimum, they need to include amendments that preclude re-platting land without government approval.
If you agree, during the next commercial break email the authors of these bills:
Legislation should create predictable outcomes, not unintended consequences.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/3/25
2804 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/capitole_1024.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=17681024adminadmin2025-05-03 20:51:412025-05-04 12:27:59Unintended Consequences of Legislation Could Increase Flood Risk
5/2/25 – Because of heavy rains on Friday, City Council Member Fred Flickinger’s Median Madness event on Saturday 5/3/25 has been cancelled and will be rescheduled. A new date is not yet available.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/2/25 at 10 PM
2802 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Median-Madness-Cancelled.jpg?fit=1100%2C786&ssl=17861100adminadmin2025-05-02 21:45:572025-05-02 21:45:58Median Madness Event Rained Out, Will Be Rescheduled
Ask Sen. Creighton to Support Lake Houston Dredging District Bill
5/4/25 – A bill by State Rep. Charles Cunningham (HB 1532) that would create a Lake Houston Dredging District has passed overwhelmingly in the House and moved to the Senate. The bill received 114 Yeas and 19 Nays in the House, but has yet to pick up traction in the Senate.
Perhaps no other bill is as important to the future of NE Harris County as this one. Please contact Senator Brandon Creighton who represents the Lake Houston area and ask him to sponsor HB1532 in the Senate.
What HB1532 Would Do
Here is the engrossed version of HB1532. Engrossed means that it incorporates amendments added to the bill in the House before passage. So, it is the latest version as of this writing.
Lake Houston supplies water for more than 2 million people in the Houston region. But sediment buildups from sand mines and new development upstream continue to plague it. And that, in turn has contributed to widespread flooding.
While dredging since Hurricane Harvey has helped remove some of the sediment in the headwaters of the lake, we need a long-term, ongoing maintenance program to address new sediment that continues to come downstream with ever major rain.
The Committee Substitute of HB 1532 seeks to address this issue by creating the Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District. It will provide dredging and maintenance operations in the area that improve water flow and reduce sediment buildup.
A five-person board would govern the district:
Dredging could take place only in Harris County; Montgomery County is not affected. The Lake itself; East and West Forks of the San Jacinto; Luce Bayou; and Caney Creek are all in bounds.
The District could also sign inter-local agreements with cities such as Humble, to address sediment in its channels that lead to the lake. However, the District could not charge other entities for the dredging it does under such inter-local agreements.
Provisions in the bill prohibit the District from degrading water quality in the Lake. And the District would have to obtain permission from Houston Public Works before doing any dredging.
Financing
The District could NOT levy taxes or charge a fee. But it could issue bonds secured by district revenue.
The bill authorizes the legislature to fund the district’s activities but caps appropriations at $25 million per fiscal year until September 1, 2027.
The bill requires the District to study methods of financing and to make the study’s results available to the public. Early talk around financing focused on beneficial uses of sediment removed from the lake and its tributaries.
For instance, the District could sell the spoils to developers who need to raise slabs or build up areas. Spoils could also be used in projects such as the Ike Dike or road improvements.
Please Help
HB 1532 does not:
HB 1532 would:
As long as surrounding counties keep sending sediment downstream, the least they can do is support HB 1532.
Please email Senator Brandon Creighton or call his office at (512) 463-0104. Please ask him to sponsor HB 1532 in the Senate. It will only take a minute!
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/4/25
2805 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Unintended Consequences of Legislation Could Increase Flood Risk
5/3/25 – A well-intentioned bill that just moved from the Texas House to the Senate could have dire unintended consequences in certain circumstances. One of the unintended consequences is increased flood risk.
Bill Purports to Make Housing More Affordable
HB23 (and nearly identical companion bills SB2354 and HB2977) give developers the ability to privately hire engineers to approve the developer’s plans as a substitute for review by cities or counties. The intention: to speed up approvals of everything from plats to permits, thus lowering the costs of housing.
However, the bills are also a recipe for conflict of interest. It doesn’t take much imagination to see why. Moreover…
And that’s only one barrel of the shotgun. The second barrel? Potential interaction with a law passed in 2023.
Changing Plats Already Approved
In 2023, the legislature gave developers the right to opt out of a city’s Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ). Once a developer, such as Ryko has left the ETJ, it could change plats at will with the developer’s hired gun running the show. And nearby homeowners would have no recourse or even an opportunity to protest.
The combination of HB23 and the 2023 ETJ law would remove governmental accountability and oversight from development. It would be like going to a basketball game without referees. The results might not be so pretty.
Homes could flood repeatedly because assumptions about floodplains and flood elevations fundamentally changed without oversight.
HB23 purports to make housing more affordable. But it also fundamentally changes the balance of power between developers, neighbors and government. It takes government out of the equation, leaving neighbors without protection.
An Amendment Could Help
If HB23 survives the Senate, at a minimum, the Senate needs to add language to HB23 (or one of its companion bills) that prevents developers from bypassing government reviews for plats and re-plats by removing their land from a city’s ETJ.
If a developer wants to re-plat land, that’s fine. But make them go through a government review that lets adjoining property owners and their HOAs have their voices heard.
The bills would also make government unaccountable.
How You Can Help
At this point in the legislative session, it looks like HB23 has a better chance of success than its companion bills. I am against HB23 and its companion bills as they stand.
At a bare minimum, they need to include amendments that preclude re-platting land without government approval.
If you agree, during the next commercial break email the authors of these bills:
And don’t forget Governor Greg Abbott.
Legislation should create predictable outcomes, not unintended consequences.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/3/25
2804 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Median Madness Event Rained Out, Will Be Rescheduled
5/2/25 – Because of heavy rains on Friday, City Council Member Fred Flickinger’s Median Madness event on Saturday 5/3/25 has been cancelled and will be rescheduled. A new date is not yet available.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/2/25 at 10 PM
2802 Days since Hurricane Harvey