News - Reduce Flooding

Mercer and TC Jester Basins Far Behind Schedule

4/13/25 – A quick check of the Mercer and TC Jester stormwater detention basin projects on Cypress Creek showed that, under current management:

One was supposed to finish last month, but is far from complete.
The other has had funding lined up for years, but won’t even go out for bid until the fourth quarter of this year.

They reminded me of Larry the Cable Guy. He’s the stand-up comic, whose famous hook line is “Git-R-Done^©.”

But sorry, Larry. This is no laughing matter. Let’s look at the two projects upstream from Lake Houston.

One of those holes in the ground will take twice as long to design and build as the Empire State Building. But that’s not all. Read on.

Mercer Basins near Hardy Tollroad and FM1960

Back in mid-2024, HCFCD told us that they hoped to complete the Mercer Stormwater Detention basin project by Fall of 2024. But when I checked in December, I found HCFCD was far from complete. And it’s still not done.

When you add up the times specified in the original contract plus change orders, HCFCD should have completed it weeks ago.

But as of today, it appeared as if contractors have made practically no progress in the last four months. They are still far from complete. Compare the pictures below with those I took in December.

*Mercer Detention Basins/South Pond as of 4/13/25*

*Mercer Detention Basin/North Pond as of 4/13/25*

*Looking S from over Cypress Creek at both basins. Intersection of Hardy Toll Road and FM1960 at top right.*

*There’s obviously a lot of dirt work to do before they start landscaping.*

Mercer Basins Should Have Been Done Two Weeks Ago

Here’s the timeline on this project.

8/4/23 – Contract was advertised to potential bidders
10/10/23 – Contract was awarded and called for completion in 348 working days.
12/23 – HCFCD issued Notice To Proceed to contractor (I don’t have an exact day, but let’s assume 12/31/23 to be generous).
9/19/24 – Change order added 37 days and $108k
12/10/24 – Change #2 added another 63 days and $105k
1/21/25 – Change #3 added eight more days and $16k.

Thus, given a Notice to Proceed in December 2023, the contractor should have finished the job in 456 days (348 + 37 + 63 + 8).

But 456 days expired 13 days ago.
Today is 469 days since Notice to Proceed

Commissioner Rodney Ellis won’t like this. These basins are in his Precinct 1. Now let’s look five miles farther upstream.

TC Jester East Basin Got Final Funding in February, but Won’t Be Bid Till Fourth Quarter

In September, 2023, HCFCD held a press conference celebrating the funding of the TC Jester Stormwater Detention Basins.

Later, the County decided to seek more money from the Texas General Land Office (GLO), which administers HUD funding in Texas.

GLO approved Harris County’s final application by February. But that project isn’t even scheduled to go out for bids until the fourth quarter of 2025!
HCFCD Bid Outlook

And that’s despite the fact that Commissioners Court approved an agreement with an engineering company in 2021 to provide design/build/construction-phase services. Come on folks. This is a hole in the ground!

*The TC Jester East Stormwater Detention Basin Complex will go in the big forested area in the center of the frame. Photo taken 4/13/25.*

This project started five years ago! So why wait until to the fourth quarter to bid it? Why wasn’t it ready to bid the minute GLO gave final approval? Can it even be completed before the deadline in May 2026?

TC Jester Timeline

Here’s its timeline:

9/14/21 – Preliminary engineering review (PER) completed and accepted by the county.
11/30/21 – Approval of agreement with engineering company to provide design/bid/construction-phase services
6/14/22 – Approval to submit the FEMA grant application (for Rep. Crenshaw’s earmark)
1/10/23 – Approval to accept FEMA grant of $9.95 million through TDEM. This is the earmark that Congressman Crenshaw secured.
9/19/23 – Approval to submit application to TWDB to receive the $12 million that Rep. Sam Harless secured
2/27/24 – Harris County Commissioners Court approved an escrow agreement, a requirement to receive TWDB funds
4/23/24 – Authorization to negotiate for materials testing. However, the record doesn’t show that the agreement has come back to Court yet. (Perhaps because they aren’t ready to go to construction.)
6/4/24 – Commissioners Court accepted $12 million from TWDB (the Harless funds)
3/27/25 – Commissioners Court accepted the CDBG-DR grant from the GLO for the construction of the East Basin.

One would like to think that, if they’ve been working on this since 2021, the design would be ready to bid. HUD set a deadline of May, 2026, to complete this project.

That gives HCFCD only a little more than a year…unless HUD grants an extension…to dig a hole in the ground that HCFCD began planning five years ago.

By comparison, the Empire State Building was designed AND constructed in less than three years!

And if it takes six years to finish the TC Jester Basin, that will equal the amount of time it took to build the first transcontinental railroad. But, of course, the civil war slowed the railroad down a bit.

What’s wrong with this picture? I’m with you, Cable Guy. Git-r-done!

Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/13/25

2784 Days since Hurricane Harvey

I have offered to publish HCFCD‘s explanation as to why these projects are taking so long if it chooses to submit one.

“Git-R-Done” is a registered trademark of Git-R-Done Productions, Inc., the company of comedian Larry the Cable Guy (Daniel Lawrence Whitney).

Dredging Progress on Lake Houston and In Austin!

4/12/25 – Dredging is making progress on Lake Houston and in Austin.

The City of Houston’s most recent West Fork dredging program started last December near the channel south of Royal Shores. The channel connects the San Jacinto East and West Forks. Callan Marine is pumping the spoils through the channel, across the East Fork, up Luce Bayou to a placement area adjacent to the Luce Inter-Basin Transfer Canal.

I did a brief update about the expansion of the placement area in January. At the time, the dredge was still operation between the channel and the northern extremity of Atascocita Point. And Callan was doubling the size of the placement area.

Since then, the dredge moved about a half mile downstream toward FM1960. And Callan has filled the expanded placement area approximately one-third of the way up. Callan estimated the program would take a year. And that was about a third of a year ago.

In a separate but related effort, State Representative Charles Cunningham’s bill to create a Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District picked up some additional support and was considered by the House Natural Resources Committee on April 9. The Committee “reported it favorably”

Photos Taken Today Show Dredging Progress

My estimate on one-third complete is purely a guess based on the original timetable and a visual assessment of the placement area. See the photos below, all taken today.

*Looking south toward FM1960 Bridge.* *Dredge is in upper center.*

*Closer shot reveals dredge bit was submerged and the dredge was pumping.*

*Dredge was at left end of red line this morning and pumping to placement area in red box in upper right.*

This program uses money left over from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Emergency West Fork Dredging Program. Therefore, dredging is restricted to the West Fork.

*Map of current dredge plan. Today, the dredge was operating slightly NW of the #4 position.*

The dredge you saw above is pumping spoils approximately four miles to the northeast. Dredging “spoils” are the materials, including sand, silt, clay, and other organic matter, removed from the bottom of the Lake.

Below is a photo of the placement area for the spoils.

*Looking E toward Dayton and Liberty. Luce Bayou Inter-Basin Transfer Canal (left) and placement area (right).*

Spoils enter at lower left via a pipeline. Water carrying the sediment then works its way through the maze of compartments in the pond and circles back to where it entered. The closer shot below shows the dirt spreading out. Eventually it will be hard enough to build homes on.

*The maze slows down the speed of the water and allows dirt to drop out of suspension.*

*Higher shot shows a “delta” forming within the pond.* *Before this operation is complete, bulldozers will spread the dirt around evenly.*

*Spoils enter the pond through the pipe on the right. De-silted water exits the pond just a few feet away. It returns to Lake Houston through the canal in the upper right.*

Progress on Cunningham Bill to Create Lake Houston Dredging/Maintenance District

The immensity of this task dramatizes the need for State Rep. Charles Cunningham’s bill (HB1532) to create a Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District. The project above covers only a tiny portion of the lake, which is losing capacity due to sedimentation.

Cunningham’s bill would create a permanent dredging district for Lake Houston.

In March, the bill picked up three additional sponsors: Armando Walle (District 140), Harold Dutton, Jr. (District 142) and Valorie Swanson (District 150).

On 3/19/25, the House Natural Resources Committee heard testimony on the bill. See video starting at approximately 1:23 here.

On 4/9/2025, the House Natural Resources Committee reported it favorably as substituted and recommended it be put on the Local & Consent Calendar.

That’s good news. You can follow the bill’s progress here.

We still have a long way to go. But so far, so good.

For More Information on Dredging

See these related posts:

2025/01/15 New West Fork Dredging Program Off to Fast Start

2024/12/21 West Fork Dredging Spoils Being Deposited Near Luce IBT Canal

2024/12/20 City’s New Dredging Program Launched

Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/12/25

2783 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Proposed Romerica Development Raises Red Flags

4/11/2025 – By Chris Bloch – The proposed Romerica development would have a negative impact on the neighborhoods of Kingwood Lakes, Trailwood, Deerwood Cove and the Barrington. The Romerica development could even contribute to ﬂooding the intersection of Kingwood Drive and Woodland Hills Drive.

The potential negative impacts result from a combination of factors. They include:

The design of surrounding stormwater infrastructure built during the 1970s
Increases in expected rainfall since then
The current outfall location of area storm and sanitary sewers on Romerica property
An increase in impervious cover from the proposed new development
The fact that the new development would be built in an area that collects water naturally
Fixed elevations of surrounding lakes.

During heavy rains, a combination of these factors would back water up through sewers farther and faster into surrounding neighborhoods where structures have already flooded.

Let me explain how each of these issues contributes to the others. Together, they increase flood risk for surrounding homes and would also increase the potential for floodwater blocking Kingwood Drive and Woodland Hills Drive during evacuations.

Design of Surrounding Infrastructure Outdated

Back in the 1970s, engineers did not build infrastructure to current Atlas-14 rainfall standards. Standards for expected rainfall have increased twice since then – after Allison in 2001 and after Harvey in 2017.

So, the existing storm sewers in Kingwood Lakes and Trailwood are already overtaxed. And that has contributed to flooding of structures during heavy rains. There is simply not enough conveyance capacity in storm sewers to safely handle the volume of rainfall we now know that we will get.

Water Backing Up from Outfalls

Multiple storm sewer networks currently outfall to the Romerica property. As water levels rise at an outfall, the capacity of the sewers to convey stormwater from the neighborhoods is reduced.

During heavy rains, the lost capacity of the storm sewers causes streets and homes in the affected neighborhoods to flood.

Increases in impervious cover that come with high-density development on the Romerica property would back water up even further and faster into those sewers. That would elevate flood risk for surrounding homes.

Increased backwater levels would also result in higher water levels at the Kingwood Drive/Woodland Hills intersection. This is a critical intersection in Kingwood. High water at that location limits access into and out of much of Kingwood.

Property Already Collects Stormwater

The Romerica property is already extremely low compared to surrounding property. So, it naturally collects stormwater. During heavy rains, such as we received last May, photographs show that water reached the canopy of trees on the property.

Elevation profiles on the USGS National Map clearly show both low elevation as well as the nature of the property in question. It’s swampy and forms a sort of natural detention basin. And that’s why Friendswood never developed it.

N to S Elevation Profile from USGS National Map shows Romerica land significantly lower than Kingwood Lakes and Barrington.

W to E Elevation Profile from USGS National Map also shows Romerica land significantly lower than surrounding areas.

Moreover, the impervious cover that comes from additional development would contribute to even higher water levels on Romerica’s property. And those higher levels would back water up – father and faster – into the storm and sanitary sewers that serve surrounding villages.

Construction of access drives and buildings on the property would reduce the volume of stormwater that can be absorbed on the property. This will result in even higher water levels on the property and Lake Kingwood.

Surrounding Lakes Not Far Below Romerica’s Elevation

Romerica property is already extremely low compared to surrounding areas. It forms a sort of natural detention basin just two or three feet above the level of surrounding lakes. So, during heavy rains, the Romerica property floods badly.

The water-surface elevation of Lake Kingwood is 47 feet. It discharges into a second lake at 46 feet. And that discharges into a third at 45 feet. Weirs control the elevation of all three lakes.

During heavy rain events, it is common for the lake levels to rise 3 to 4 feet. And during extreme events, such as Hurricane Harvey, they rise even farther. The water surface level of Lake Kingwood during Harvey rose by approximately 12 feet!

So homes facing Lake Kingwood all flooded 6 to 8 feet. And Kingwood Lakes is much higher than Romerica!

The property of the proposed Romerica development has an average elevation less than 52 feet. During any signiﬁcant rain event, the vast majority of the property will be submerged by ﬂood waters from the stormwater discharge outlets and water spilling over from Lake Kingwood.

*Romerica swamp with 5- to 12-inches of water after only two inches of rainfall in the last month.*

*If that swamp gets much higher, it could reduce the conveyance of this storm sewer outfall from NE Trailwood Village.*

And that would back up water in those storm sewers.

What It Would Take to Develop Romerica’s Property Safely

The design of surrounding stormwater and sanitary sewers that lead to Romerica’s property did not anticipate high-density development on that property.

Additional runoﬀ from added impervious surface would require considerable modiﬁcations to existing utility services at the expense of the City…which doesn’t have the money.

Safe development of the Romerica property would also require:

A new bypass drainage channel from the west end of Lake Kingwood south to the Diversion Ditch
A new storm sewer main to divert stormwater from South Woodland Hills and Trailwood into the bypass drainage ditch
Limiting discharges into Lake Kingwood
A longer weir on the west end of Lake Kingwood to help control water levels in the lake.

In my opinion, this development should not receive a permit. Instead, the property should be developed as an additional stormwater detention facility site and drainage channel.

*Chris Bloch presenting his research to the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority board and City Council Member Fred Flickinger on 4/10/25.*

Guest editorial by Chris Bloch, a flood activist who has studied Kingwood drainage issues for decades. Bloch holds 12 patents which fundamentally changed the way power plants, and petrochemical plants are commissioned

2782 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.