12/17/24 – The two Mercer Stormwater Detention Basins along Cypress Creek at FM1960 and the Hardy Tollroad were originally scheduled for completion in April of this year. Pictures taken today, however, show contractors are far from finished.
Wide shot looking NE shows both Mercer Stormwater Detention Basins. FM1960 on right. Hardy Tollroad on left.
Together, the two basins will be able to store 512 acre feet of stormwater when complete. They will help reduce flooding along Cypress Creek. And depending on the location storms and the timing of floodwaters, they could even help offset releases from Lake Conroe that affect the Lake Houston Area.
Better late than never, I guess.
Mercer North Basin
Shot of north pond shows state of finish and ongoing construction.
The north basin appears almost completely excavated and has a concrete inlet, but the sides and bottom are unfinished.
Looking NW at Cypress Creek and concrete inlet for first basin.Concrete reduces erosion during floods.A lone 54″ concrete pipe will let water back into the creek as floodwaters recede.
Mercer South Basin
The second basin to the south (left, below) appears about half excavated.
Looking Wat South Mercer Basin shows depth of excavation.FM1960 on left. Hardy at top.Culvert connecting two basins not yet complete.
The second basin will catch overflow from the first. See diagram below.
Construction Started Late, Will End Late
The Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) website construction timeline shows that the project, in Rodney Ellis’ Precinct 1, was to have been expedited. It was originally scheduled to take 348 days.
HCFCD has not yet posted a new expected completion date.
The HUD Grant that helped finance the project stipulated that construction needed to finish by Fall 2024. Fall ends next Sunday. I hope they got an extension. Because it doesn’t look like they will finish by next week.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program provided a $15.4 million grant for the project. Another $9.7 million comes from the 2018 Bond Program.
Posted on 12/17/2024 by Bob Rehak
2667 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241217-DJI_20241217151819_0451_D.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2024-12-17 18:25:402024-12-17 19:32:03Mercer Detention Basins Going Slower than Expected
12/16/2024 – Decades ago, someone told me the 10 two-letter words that make all the difference in the world. The words have stuck with me ever since.
“If it is to be, it is up to me.”
The 10 two-letter words
The quote has been attributed to various individuals, but most often William H. Johnsen. It beautifully encapsulates the essence of personal responsibility combined with the spirit of self-drive. And it inspires an immediate sensation of empowerment.
What Would You Like to See Improved?
Don’t like the way the Kingwood Drive median looks? Pick up the phone. Call your City Council Member. Knock on doors. Get your neighbors to show up and start chopping vines.
Some of the volunteers who helped trim back vines along Kingwood Drive last month.
Tired of the way your HOA enforces deed restrictions? Start going to your board’s meetings. Speak up. Join a committee. Better yet, run for the HOA board.
Think grass is growing too tall in the medians on our thoroughfares? Do what Michelle Stahlman did. Find out from the City what its mowing schedule is. Organize all the trail associations into a JOINT Trail Association. Get them to fund mowing in off weeks. Then bid and award the job.
Hate seeing your community ravaged by flooding? Do what Chris Bloch did. Put on a pair of boots. Slog through the mud. Talk to the engineer who designed our drainage systems. Figure out what’s wrong. Talk to more engineers about how to fix it. Engage political leadership at all levels. Get agreement to fund and pursue fixes.
Want to see your community’s entries renovated and decorated? Get involved with the Kingwood Service Association, like Dee Price did. Spend time with a landscape architect. Present recommendations and costs to the KSA Parks Committee. Forge a political consensus. Get 50% of KSA members to agree with you. Supervise the contractor. Till it’s done to your satisfaction.
It’s possible. Ordinary people do things like these every day. But Kingwood is growing older. Along with its residents.
Teach the Next Generation
So, teach your kids early in life about the attitude and skills that make a difference. Teamwork. Sacrifice. Initiative. Leadership. A willingness to take ownership of problems. And an eye for opportunities.
Together, we can achieve anything we put our minds to. Volunteers made Kingwood great. And volunteers can keep it great.
We just need to live by the 10 two-letter words. “If it is to be, it is up to me.”
2666 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/16/2024
With grateful thanks to our elected leaders, civil servants, and everyone who ever volunteered to serve on a board or committee in the community. And my humble apologies to the thousands of unseen volunteers whose names I omitted.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Median-Madness-Group-Picture.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2024-12-16 17:16:512024-12-16 23:20:2010 Two-Letter Words That Make All the Difference in the World
12/15/24 – Houston District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger issued a newsletter on 12/11/24. It contains updates on Lake Houston dredging and additional floodgates for the Lake Houston Dam.
Dredging Details
According to Flickinger, the City’s dredging contractor will begin south of the West Fork-Mouth Bar this week. DRC will remove approximately 800,000 cubic yards of silt and sediment.
“The removal will take two years.”
District E Council Member Fred Flickinger
DRC will use a combination of mechanical and hydraulic dredging.
FEMA is providing funds the additional dredging in this area. The funds came from tireless efforts in protesting the initial volume that FEMA approved for dredging back in 2019. Congressman Dan Crenshaw, previous Council Member Dave Martin, and former Chief Recovery Officer Stephen Costello protested FEMA’s ruling tirelessly.
Photo taken December 8 of DRC/Callan Marine Dredge anchored off Royal Shores as it prepares for new dredging program.
Council Member Martin strongly disagreed with the USACE’s original four-page tabletop study. He continued to push for the volume he knew the Lake Houston Area deserved.
Said Flickinger, “We are excited to see this additional dredging finally get going. We are working to find funding for continued dredging throughout Lake Houston and its tributaries.”
Floodgates Timeline
Phase II for the Lake Houston Dam Spillway Improvement Project is underway. Phase II includes the final design engineering and construction of eleven new floodgates. They will be built in the existing embankment on the east side of the Lake Houston Dam Spillway.
New gates will go in the sunlit area in the embankment to the right of the existing gates and channel.
Building the new gate structure in the east embankment removes the high-construction risk of modifying the existing gate structure or spillway. The old plan, which involved shaving down the existing spillway and adding crest gates was abandoned when the City could not find bidders willing to assume the risk.
The new plan also allows continued use of the existing gate structure during construction.
Each gate will be 20 ft x 20 ft and release approximately 7,100 cubic feet of water per second (cfs) per gate when fully open. The combined total water release of all 11 gates will be approximately 79,000 cfs.
79,000 CFS equals the volume of water released each second from Lake Conroe by the SJRA during the peak of Hurricane Harvey.
The current timeline is to have the final design and construction plans completed by December 2025.
The City will bid and award the contract for construction in 2026.
Finally construction will begin by Q4 2026 or Q1 2027, almost ten years after the storm that made people realize the need for the project.
The existing Lake Houston floodgates have one-fifteenth of Lake Conroe’s release capacity. That makes any kind of coordinated release strategy virtually impossible. It also means that people both up- and downstream may get slammed with higher floods than if the City had a meaningful pre-release capability.
According to Flickinger, the District E office continues to sit in on bi-weekly coordination meetings for this project.
Mercer Detention Basins Going Slower than Expected
12/17/24 – The two Mercer Stormwater Detention Basins along Cypress Creek at FM1960 and the Hardy Tollroad were originally scheduled for completion in April of this year. Pictures taken today, however, show contractors are far from finished.
Together, the two basins will be able to store 512 acre feet of stormwater when complete. They will help reduce flooding along Cypress Creek. And depending on the location storms and the timing of floodwaters, they could even help offset releases from Lake Conroe that affect the Lake Houston Area.
Better late than never, I guess.
Mercer North Basin
The north basin appears almost completely excavated and has a concrete inlet, but the sides and bottom are unfinished.
Mercer South Basin
The second basin to the south (left, below) appears about half excavated.
The second basin will catch overflow from the first. See diagram below.
Construction Started Late, Will End Late
The Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) website construction timeline shows that the project, in Rodney Ellis’ Precinct 1, was to have been expedited. It was originally scheduled to take 348 days.
HCFCD:
The HUD Grant that helped finance the project stipulated that construction needed to finish by Fall 2024. Fall ends next Sunday. I hope they got an extension. Because it doesn’t look like they will finish by next week.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program provided a $15.4 million grant for the project. Another $9.7 million comes from the 2018 Bond Program.
Posted on 12/17/2024 by Bob Rehak
2667 Days since Hurricane Harvey
10 Two-Letter Words That Make All the Difference in the World
12/16/2024 – Decades ago, someone told me the 10 two-letter words that make all the difference in the world. The words have stuck with me ever since.
The quote has been attributed to various individuals, but most often William H. Johnsen. It beautifully encapsulates the essence of personal responsibility combined with the spirit of self-drive. And it inspires an immediate sensation of empowerment.
What Would You Like to See Improved?
Don’t like the way the Kingwood Drive median looks? Pick up the phone. Call your City Council Member. Knock on doors. Get your neighbors to show up and start chopping vines.
Tired of the way your HOA enforces deed restrictions? Start going to your board’s meetings. Speak up. Join a committee. Better yet, run for the HOA board.
Think grass is growing too tall in the medians on our thoroughfares? Do what Michelle Stahlman did. Find out from the City what its mowing schedule is. Organize all the trail associations into a JOINT Trail Association. Get them to fund mowing in off weeks. Then bid and award the job.
Hate seeing your community ravaged by flooding? Do what Chris Bloch did. Put on a pair of boots. Slog through the mud. Talk to the engineer who designed our drainage systems. Figure out what’s wrong. Talk to more engineers about how to fix it. Engage political leadership at all levels. Get agreement to fund and pursue fixes.
Want to see your community’s entries renovated and decorated? Get involved with the Kingwood Service Association, like Dee Price did. Spend time with a landscape architect. Present recommendations and costs to the KSA Parks Committee. Forge a political consensus. Get 50% of KSA members to agree with you. Supervise the contractor. Till it’s done to your satisfaction.
It’s possible. Ordinary people do things like these every day. But Kingwood is growing older. Along with its residents.
Teach the Next Generation
So, teach your kids early in life about the attitude and skills that make a difference. Teamwork. Sacrifice. Initiative. Leadership. A willingness to take ownership of problems. And an eye for opportunities.
Together, we can achieve anything we put our minds to. Volunteers made Kingwood great. And volunteers can keep it great.
We just need to live by the 10 two-letter words. “If it is to be, it is up to me.”
2666 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/16/2024
With grateful thanks to our elected leaders, civil servants, and everyone who ever volunteered to serve on a board or committee in the community. And my humble apologies to the thousands of unseen volunteers whose names I omitted.
Flickinger Issues Dredging, Floodgates Updates
12/15/24 – Houston District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger issued a newsletter on 12/11/24. It contains updates on Lake Houston dredging and additional floodgates for the Lake Houston Dam.
Dredging Details
According to Flickinger, the City’s dredging contractor will begin south of the West Fork-Mouth Bar this week. DRC will remove approximately 800,000 cubic yards of silt and sediment.
DRC will use a combination of mechanical and hydraulic dredging.
FEMA is providing funds the additional dredging in this area. The funds came from tireless efforts in protesting the initial volume that FEMA approved for dredging back in 2019. Congressman Dan Crenshaw, previous Council Member Dave Martin, and former Chief Recovery Officer Stephen Costello protested FEMA’s ruling tirelessly.
In August 2020, FEMA, through their technical consultant at the US Army Corps of Engineers, reversed itself. FEMA concurred with the City’s ninety-four-page technical report.
Council Member Martin strongly disagreed with the USACE’s original four-page tabletop study. He continued to push for the volume he knew the Lake Houston Area deserved.
Said Flickinger, “We are excited to see this additional dredging finally get going. We are working to find funding for continued dredging throughout Lake Houston and its tributaries.”
Floodgates Timeline
Phase II for the Lake Houston Dam Spillway Improvement Project is underway. Phase II includes the final design engineering and construction of eleven new floodgates. They will be built in the existing embankment on the east side of the Lake Houston Dam Spillway.
Building the new gate structure in the east embankment removes the high-construction risk of modifying the existing gate structure or spillway. The old plan, which involved shaving down the existing spillway and adding crest gates was abandoned when the City could not find bidders willing to assume the risk.
The new plan also allows continued use of the existing gate structure during construction.
Each gate will be 20 ft x 20 ft and release approximately 7,100 cubic feet of water per second (cfs) per gate when fully open. The combined total water release of all 11 gates will be approximately 79,000 cfs.
The current timeline is to have the final design and construction plans completed by December 2025.
The City will bid and award the contract for construction in 2026.
Finally construction will begin by Q4 2026 or Q1 2027, almost ten years after the storm that made people realize the need for the project.
The existing Lake Houston floodgates have one-fifteenth of Lake Conroe’s release capacity. That makes any kind of coordinated release strategy virtually impossible. It also means that people both up- and downstream may get slammed with higher floods than if the City had a meaningful pre-release capability.
According to Flickinger, the District E office continues to sit in on bi-weekly coordination meetings for this project.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/15/25
2665 Days since Hurricane Harvey