Correction: The Dredging District Bill was not voted on in the full Senate on Tuesday. It is now one of the bills placed on the Senate’s Notice of Intent for Wednesday. This is a procedural step indicating readiness for Senate floor consideration, though it is not a guarantee.
5/27/2025 – The Texas Senate may get a chance to consider HB1532 after all. If approved and signed by the governor, Rep. Charles Cunningham’s bill would create a Lake Houston Dredging District. On Monday, the Senate Local Government Committee approved the bill 7-0 after Senator Brandon Creighton testified in favor of the bill. The Committee reported the bill favorably without any amendments.
The House previously approved the bill overwhelmingly on April 30th by a vote of 114 to 19 with two abstaining.
This is the third time around for the dredging district bill. Former State Rep. Dan Huberty first introduced a variation on it in 2021. Then after Huberty retired, Rep. Charles Cunningham brought it back in 2023.
This year, however, Cunningham carefully crafted the language to eliminate objections raised in previous sessions over potential taxes and fees.
For an analysis of the bills contents, see this House report.
The District would establish a Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District that could sell bonds and receive state funding. However, it could not impose taxes or fees. It would operate only in Harris County and make money by selling the spoils from its operations for beneficial uses, such as raising home foundations, building roads, or constructing the Ike Dike.
One of the first orders of business would be conducting a funding study.
Supported by Community
The District, if approved, will lower flood risk in the Humble, Kingwood, Atascocita, Huffman, Crosby and the entire Lake Houston Areas. It will also increase the water supply in Lake Houston.
Dozens of Lake Houston Area residents wrote Senators on the local government committee as soon as the hearing schedule was announced over the holiday weekend.
Passage of the bill would help improve conveyance of the streams and channels flowing into the lake.
The Army Corps recommended maintenance dredging after it finished its Emergency West Fork Dredging Project. The reason: to help manage sediment that keeps moving downstream and settling out of suspension in the lake and its headwaters.
Dredging (along with upstream detention and more floodgates for the Lake Houston dam) was one of three main recommendations of the Lake Houston Area Task Force started by the late Humble ISD Superintendent Guy Sconzo.
Both Cunningham and District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger expressed cautious optimism for the bill’s prospects this year.
I’ll update you as soon as we know something. The Senate has more than 300 bills pending. And HB1532 is one of the last.
Posted by Bob Rehak on May 27, 2025
2828 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Senate-Local-Govt-Committee-Hearing.jpg?fit=1100%2C598&ssl=15981100adminadmin2025-05-26 22:46:322025-05-28 20:50:17Dredging District Bill Goes to Full Senate for Vote on Tuesday
Most people had given up on the bill and considered it effectively dead for this session. But when I checked this morning, there it was – on the agenda…for the holiday. So please help.
About the Bill
Rep. Charles Cunningham’s HB1532 would create a dredging and maintenance district for Lake Houston within Harris County. It would not have the power to impose taxes. But it could receive initial funding from the state legislature, and then raise additional money by selling the spoils from dredging operations for beneficial uses.
Such uses could include building the Ike Dike, raising homes out of floodplains, improving roads and more.
The Army Corps recommended forming such an entity for ongoing maintenance when it finished its Emergency West Fork Dredging Project after Harvey. It could finally become reality with your help.
How You Can Help
Given the holiday and late notice, it will be difficult for most people to testify in person at tomorrow’s hearing. But there’s another way to help.
Please thank Senator Bettencourt, the chair of the committee, and Senator Creighton, who sponsored a companion bill in the Senate.
Also email members of the committee NOW through their Senate web pages:
During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, 13,000 homes and almost half of all the businesses in the Lake Houston Area flooded. It didn’t have to be that bad. Sediment had built up for decades reducing the conveyance of tributaries.
After the Army Corps finished its Emergency Dredging project, they recommended permanent maintenance dredging.
HB1532 would enable that. It would reduce flood risk for thousands of homes and businesses – without raising taxes.
It would also increase storage in Lake Houston, which provides water to 2 million people. And that number is growing rapidly.
HB1532 is a strategic investment in the future growth of the Houston region. Please support it.
Thank you for taking the time! Please forward this post to everyone you know and ask for their help.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/26/2025
2827 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/20250114-DJI_20250114091626_0721_D.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2025-05-25 17:55:582025-05-25 18:59:24Urgent Help Needed: Lake Houston Dredging District Bill Gets One Last Chance
5/25/25 – Jeff Lindner, Harris County’s meteorologist, reminds us that today marks 10 years since the Memorial Day flood of 2015.
Slow Moving Line of Non-Tropical Thunderstorms
In 2015, we had weeks of on and off heavy rainfall over the region. Then a slow moving line of heavy thunderstorms during the evening hours of May 25th resulted in significant flash flooding over the central and southern portions of the Houston metro area.
Rainfall totals of 8.0-10.0 inches were recorded in a 3 to 6 hour period.
Eleven inches fell on Brays Bayou at Beltway 8 in just over 6 hours.
In northeast Fort Bend County the total reached 11.88 inches.
On average, across Harris County 5.3 inches of rain fell equaling 162 billion gallons of water in less than a 12 hour period.
The resulting flooding along Brays and Buffalo Bayous produced significant structural damage.
Brays Bayou water levels rose to their highest levels since September 1983.
An estimated 6,335 homes were flooded, 3,540 multi-family units, and 92 commercial buildings.
At the time, the Memorial Day flood had the second largest number of flooded structures in Harris County only behind Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 (73,000 flooded homes).
The map below shows where the heaviest rain fell. At the time, the area with the heaviest rainfall exceeded a 100-year event.
Even by Atlas 14 standards, which came in after Harvey, some of those totals would equal a hundred-year (1% annual chance) storm.
To see Lindner’s full report on the storm, click here.
Lake Houston Area Spared Worst of Storm
If those in the Lake Houston Area don’t remember the storm, that’s because we only got about 5.5″ of rainfall from it at US59 and the West Fork. 3.4 inches of that fell in the two-hour period between 9 and 11 PM. That’s intense, but not record setting.
Crosstown, it was twice as worse. Brays Bayou at Beltway 8 West received more than 11 inches. 6.4″ fell in a two hour period between 10 PM and Midnight.
And Buffalo Bayou at Beltway 8 West received 10.68 inches. Almost 7″ of that fell in the same two-hour period.
Lindner added, “Little did any of us know at the time, but the Memorial Day flooding would mark the start of an onslaught of catastrophic floods for southeast Texas and the metro Houston area.”
To learn more about those subsequent events. see the Reports page of this website and click the Major Storms tab. They include a Tax Day and second Memorial Day storm in 2016; Hurricane Harvey in 2017; Tropical Storm Imelda in 2019; and Tropical Storm Beta in 2020.
Prepare Now; Hurricane Season Starts in One Week
This should serve as a reminder that hurricane season starts one week from today. Often, one of the first things to go in a major storm is electricity because of trees falling on power lines. I remember losing power for 22 days during Hurricane Ike.
Subsequently, I purchased several power bricks to recharge cell phones during a prolonged outage. One even has solar panels to recharge it and has AC outlets to run lights for reading at night. I don’t use them often but consider them a great investment.
The last time I purchased a new vehicle, I made sure that it had satellite networking/communication capabilities built into the electronics – another great investment. It came in very handy when even cell towers lost power for more than a week after Beryl last year.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20250525-Peak-Rainfall-2015-Memorial-Day.jpg?fit=1100%2C808&ssl=18081100adminadmin2025-05-25 13:36:432025-05-25 13:40:14Tenth Anniversary of Memorial Day Flood
Dredging District Bill Goes to Full Senate for Vote on Tuesday
Correction: The Dredging District Bill was not voted on in the full Senate on Tuesday. It is now one of the bills placed on the Senate’s Notice of Intent for Wednesday. This is a procedural step indicating readiness for Senate floor consideration, though it is not a guarantee.
5/27/2025 – The Texas Senate may get a chance to consider HB1532 after all. If approved and signed by the governor, Rep. Charles Cunningham’s bill would create a Lake Houston Dredging District. On Monday, the Senate Local Government Committee approved the bill 7-0 after Senator Brandon Creighton testified in favor of the bill. The Committee reported the bill favorably without any amendments.
The House previously approved the bill overwhelmingly on April 30th by a vote of 114 to 19 with two abstaining.
Third Time Around for Bill
This is the third time around for the dredging district bill. Former State Rep. Dan Huberty first introduced a variation on it in 2021. Then after Huberty retired, Rep. Charles Cunningham brought it back in 2023.
This year, however, Cunningham carefully crafted the language to eliminate objections raised in previous sessions over potential taxes and fees.
For an analysis of the bills contents, see this House report.
The District would establish a Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District that could sell bonds and receive state funding. However, it could not impose taxes or fees. It would operate only in Harris County and make money by selling the spoils from its operations for beneficial uses, such as raising home foundations, building roads, or constructing the Ike Dike.
One of the first orders of business would be conducting a funding study.
Supported by Community
The District, if approved, will lower flood risk in the Humble, Kingwood, Atascocita, Huffman, Crosby and the entire Lake Houston Areas. It will also increase the water supply in Lake Houston.
Dozens of Lake Houston Area residents wrote Senators on the local government committee as soon as the hearing schedule was announced over the holiday weekend.
Passage of the bill would help improve conveyance of the streams and channels flowing into the lake.
The Army Corps recommended maintenance dredging after it finished its Emergency West Fork Dredging Project. The reason: to help manage sediment that keeps moving downstream and settling out of suspension in the lake and its headwaters.
Dredging (along with upstream detention and more floodgates for the Lake Houston dam) was one of three main recommendations of the Lake Houston Area Task Force started by the late Humble ISD Superintendent Guy Sconzo.
Both Cunningham and District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger expressed cautious optimism for the bill’s prospects this year.
I’ll update you as soon as we know something. The Senate has more than 300 bills pending. And HB1532 is one of the last.
Posted by Bob Rehak on May 27, 2025
2828 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Urgent Help Needed: Lake Houston Dredging District Bill Gets One Last Chance
5/26/25 – The Texas Senate Local Government Committee will hear testimony on HB1532, the Lake Houston Dredging District bill, on Monday, May 26, 2025 – Memorial Day beginning at 9 AM.
Most people had given up on the bill and considered it effectively dead for this session. But when I checked this morning, there it was – on the agenda…for the holiday. So please help.
About the Bill
Rep. Charles Cunningham’s HB1532 would create a dredging and maintenance district for Lake Houston within Harris County. It would not have the power to impose taxes. But it could receive initial funding from the state legislature, and then raise additional money by selling the spoils from dredging operations for beneficial uses.
Such uses could include building the Ike Dike, raising homes out of floodplains, improving roads and more.
The Army Corps recommended forming such an entity for ongoing maintenance when it finished its Emergency West Fork Dredging Project after Harvey. It could finally become reality with your help.
How You Can Help
Given the holiday and late notice, it will be difficult for most people to testify in person at tomorrow’s hearing. But there’s another way to help.
Please thank Senator Bettencourt, the chair of the committee, and Senator Creighton, who sponsored a companion bill in the Senate.
Also email members of the committee NOW through their Senate web pages:
Key Points to Make
Subject Line: Please Support HB1532
Message:
Thank you for taking the time! Please forward this post to everyone you know and ask for their help.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/26/2025
2827 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Tenth Anniversary of Memorial Day Flood
5/25/25 – Jeff Lindner, Harris County’s meteorologist, reminds us that today marks 10 years since the Memorial Day flood of 2015.
Slow Moving Line of Non-Tropical Thunderstorms
In 2015, we had weeks of on and off heavy rainfall over the region. Then a slow moving line of heavy thunderstorms during the evening hours of May 25th resulted in significant flash flooding over the central and southern portions of the Houston metro area.
At the time, the Memorial Day flood had the second largest number of flooded structures in Harris County only behind Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 (73,000 flooded homes).
The map below shows where the heaviest rain fell. At the time, the area with the heaviest rainfall exceeded a 100-year event.
Even by Atlas 14 standards, which came in after Harvey, some of those totals would equal a hundred-year (1% annual chance) storm.
To see Lindner’s full report on the storm, click here.
Lake Houston Area Spared Worst of Storm
If those in the Lake Houston Area don’t remember the storm, that’s because we only got about 5.5″ of rainfall from it at US59 and the West Fork. 3.4 inches of that fell in the two-hour period between 9 and 11 PM. That’s intense, but not record setting.
Crosstown, it was twice as worse. Brays Bayou at Beltway 8 West received more than 11 inches. 6.4″ fell in a two hour period between 10 PM and Midnight.
And Buffalo Bayou at Beltway 8 West received 10.68 inches. Almost 7″ of that fell in the same two-hour period.
To see other totals, explore the Harris County Flood Warning System’s Historical Rainfall feature.
Start of Period of Catastrophic Flooding
Lindner added, “Little did any of us know at the time, but the Memorial Day flooding would mark the start of an onslaught of catastrophic floods for southeast Texas and the metro Houston area.”
To learn more about those subsequent events. see the Reports page of this website and click the Major Storms tab. They include a Tax Day and second Memorial Day storm in 2016; Hurricane Harvey in 2017; Tropical Storm Imelda in 2019; and Tropical Storm Beta in 2020.
Prepare Now; Hurricane Season Starts in One Week
This should serve as a reminder that hurricane season starts one week from today. Often, one of the first things to go in a major storm is electricity because of trees falling on power lines. I remember losing power for 22 days during Hurricane Ike.
Subsequently, I purchased several power bricks to recharge cell phones during a prolonged outage. One even has solar panels to recharge it and has AC outlets to run lights for reading at night. I don’t use them often but consider them a great investment.
The last time I purchased a new vehicle, I made sure that it had satellite networking/communication capabilities built into the electronics – another great investment. It came in very handy when even cell towers lost power for more than a week after Beryl last year.
See my Links page for more preparedness tips.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/25/25
2826 Days since Hurricane Harvey