Royal Pines, a new, 150-acre development in Porter at the north end of West Lake Houston Parkway (WLHP) is mobilizing for construction. The developer began clearing and grading the site in April 2022. By September 2022, they finished. And by October 2022, they were flooding neighbors.
For the past 18 months, they’ve been working on building two detention basins to help solve the flooding problems as they finalized their drainage and construction plans. They recently received Montgomery County permits and are now mobilizing for construction.
In response to a FOIA Request, Montgomery County supplied the drainage impact analysis and construction plans today. But they are far too large to post here. They include 314 pages of technical drawings. And they total almost 400 megabytes. So I will provide a brief summary now and provide more detail after I dig deeper.
Two Phases, Three Sections in First
According to the drainage impact analysis, construction will take place in two phases.
The developer, Starlight Homes Texas, LLC, owns land in the floodplain and floodway of White Oak Creek. Approximately 40 acres – almost a third of the site – will be used for recreation and green space, but not homes.
The first phase of construction will have three sections clustered near the current northern terminus of WLHP. WHLP will later be extended farther north. Plans for Phase II have not yet been completed or approved.
Purple Area will be developed in Phase I and have three sections. Red area will be Phase II.
Altogether, the development will have 448 homes. About two thirds will be on 40′ wide x 125′ long, 1/8th acre lots. The rest will be 10 feet longer.
Drainage Impact Analysis Claims No Adverse Impacts
The drainage impact analysis was based on 2018 Lidar data and NOAA’s Atlas-14 rainfall probability statistics. Both are current.
Part of the site used to drain toward WLHP. But the drainage was altered during grading. Now, all but 2.5 acres flows to the two detention basins and White Oak Creek.
Western stormwater detention basin. Property in background flooded several times before basin was built.Eastern stormwater detention basin does not quite follow schematic layout. It sits where White Oak Creek cut across property during a 5-year rain.
The drainage impact analysis provides a summary for how the detention basins will perform in 25- and 100-year storms. In either event and in either direction (White Oak or WLHP), the claimed post-development runoff is less than the pre-development. See table below.
From Page 15 of Drainage Impact Study by DE Corp., 10/9/23.
The drainage impact analysis makes a great deal about how the total discharge beats requirements by such a large margin. However, keep in mind that the analysis does not yet include runoff from Phase II.
The engineer, Amy Dziuk, makes a point that the surplus capacity will be used later for Phase II. She claims that Phase I will “not cause adverse impacts to the receiving waterways or surrounding areas.”
Photos of Equipment and Materials Being Staged
I took these photos on 4/15/24. Concrete and HDPE pipe as well as heavy equipment are scattered throughout Phase I of the site. See below.
I also saw men cleaning the entrance to the site and repairing silt fence.
Looking S at north end of WLHP from entrance to Royal Pines
Perhaps the attention to housekeeping in the photo above will be a good omen. Let’s hope they keep it up.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/16/2024
2422 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/2024/04/20240415-DJI_20240415143731_0306_D.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2024-04-16 19:31:442024-04-16 19:45:43Royal Pines Construction Begins
Northpark culvert installation resumed in a major way last week.
For several months, utility conflicts stalled installation of the 6’x8′ box culverts down the center of Northpark Drive. During preparation of the center ditch, contractors found gas lines buried at insufficient depth.
With those conflicts now resolved, according to Project Manager Ralph De Leon, installation of the box culverts can now resume. When contractors complete the culverts, dirt will be placed on top of them, and then two lanes of pavement on top of the dirt. The result will be a Northpark Drive that expands inward instead of outward. It will create three lanes in each direction…that should not flood like the thoroughfare currently does.
The expansion project has two primary goals:
Get more people in and out of Kingwood faster…
…in all weather conditions, even when other thoroughfares are cut off by flooding.
During Hurricane Harvey, West Lake Houston Parkway, Hamblen, Kingwood Drive, and parts of Mills Branch Road were all blocked by rising floodwaters.
Pictures of Installation Progress as of 4/15/24
Since my last post on 4/8/24, contractors completed installation of the culvert at Parkwood Baptist Church and are working their way west past Russell Palmer Road. Today, they were working in front of Shipley’s Donuts.
Looking E.Northpark culvert installation west of Russell Palmer Roadnear top of frame.Looking E atNorthpark culvert installation. Heavy equipment lifting massive section of culvert to place in hole.Once men finish prepping the hole in the background……step and repeat for almost another mile to 494.
In Other Northpark News
Entergy managed to install five more power poles in the last week. That brings their total to nine in four years.
The new power poles sit back farther from the street. That will create room for four more lanes of traffic adjacent to the bridge that will go over the railroad tracks at 494. The four include two inbound turn lanes and two outbound turn lanes to/from 494.
Project managers first notified Entergy of the need to move the poles in 2020. Construction experts tell me the project could have easily been completed by now.
Not much new has happened at the entry ponds at 59. Heavy rains a week ago have the bottoms covered with water.
Looking west at area that will become the North Pond. Parts of new turn lanes are already being used, reducing traffic congestion somewhat.Looking SW at South PondMore culvert awaiting installation which will carry excess stormwaterbetween ponds and Ditch One.
See the route below. It will go behind the businesses on the north side of Northpark until reaching the Kingwood Diversion Ditch and Bens Branch.
That pretty much does it for visible progress during the last week.
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.
Pictures taken of a new Huffman development after a 3.75-inch, 2-year rain last week illustrate why flood risk increases during construction compared to other phases of a project.
Aerial images taken over Sila, west of the Huffman-Cleveland Road, show:
Cleared land that accelerates runoff and decreases infiltration
Partially constructed stormwater detention basins
Trenches not yet consistently sloped
Rampant erosion
Workers pumping water out of one flooded area under construction only to flood another
Friendswood took more precautions with the 553-acre Sila than most developers take with their projects.
Regardless, despite their best intentions, a 2-year rain still overwhelmed them in places. Let’s look at examples of each point above.
Accelerating Runoff, Decreasing Infiltration
Natural ground cover slows the rate of runoff. Removing the ground cover lets stormwater flow faster.
Contractors also grade the land to create consistent slopes for roads and storms drains. That can eliminate little ponds, pockets of wetlands, and other natural catchments that slow water down.
First phase of Friendswood’s Sila Development in Huffman. Looking east toward St. Tropez at top of frame across Huffman-Cleveland Road.
I took these pictures just hours after the rain stopped. Notice how fast the runoff accumulated, even without storm drains.
Reverse angle looking west. Note water rapidly collecting and running off cleared area compared to forested area.
Partially Constructed Mitigation Facilities
Stormwater detention basins collect accumulated runoff and later release it at slower pre-development rates. Thus post-development runoff rates equal pre-development rates. At least if everything is done correctly.
But what happens when a large rain slams you before you complete the detention basins?
Partially completed Sila detention basin.
Trenches Not Yet Consistently Sloped
During work in progress, like this, trenches may not be consistently sloped. In the picture below, water flowed downhill from left to right. A swale caught most of the runoff. And a silt fence backstopped it. Regardless…
Because the swale was not consistently sloped toward the top of the frame, stormwater overflowed onto a neighbor’s property.
Rampant Erosion
Backslope interceptor systems that reduce erosion on the sides of ditches and basins have not yet been built here. Neither has grass been planted on the side slopes of those ditches and basins. The result: rampant erosion that can clog ditches and streams, and reduce the capacity of basins.
Note silt in stormwater detention basin.
Workers Saving One Area Only to Endanger Another
The first three shots below show the partially completed detention basin and workers scrambling to expel the rapidly accumulating runoff.
Workers pump water out of the pond into a ditch.Note the pumps washing dirt into the ditch.
From there, water raced downslope toward the East Fork of the San Jacinto.
But the high flow from the pumped water found a way around one set of rock gabions and destroyed another.
That turned the outfall for a neighboring ditch (right of greenish pond above) into a mass of muck. From there, the muck flowed toward the river.
Muck moves toward East Fork San Jacinto beyond top of frame.
Could Have Been Worse
I didn’t see any homes that flooded on this day. Muck did flow into a few yards and across roads. And the outfall to a neighborhood drainage ditch, which was just cleaned out, will have to be cleaned out again.
But no doubt, it could have been much worse. See below.
Contractors created a slight depression to keep water from rushing downhill into neighboring homes (top of frame).
It’s also worth noting that runoff from Sila must go through more than a half mile of forested wetlands before reaching the East Fork. That will slow the water down, capture some of the erosion before it reaches the river, and keep the sediment from reducing the conveyance of the river channel.
Construction always entails flood risk, especially large scale construction that can take years. But with the right precautions, large rains don’t have to spell disaster.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/14/2024
2420 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/2024/04/20240410-DJI_20240410115705_0181_D.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2024-04-14 16:41:232024-04-14 16:59:55Why Flood Risk Increases During Construction
Royal Pines Construction Begins
Royal Pines, a new, 150-acre development in Porter at the north end of West Lake Houston Parkway (WLHP) is mobilizing for construction. The developer began clearing and grading the site in April 2022. By September 2022, they finished. And by October 2022, they were flooding neighbors.
For the past 18 months, they’ve been working on building two detention basins to help solve the flooding problems as they finalized their drainage and construction plans. They recently received Montgomery County permits and are now mobilizing for construction.
In response to a FOIA Request, Montgomery County supplied the drainage impact analysis and construction plans today. But they are far too large to post here. They include 314 pages of technical drawings. And they total almost 400 megabytes. So I will provide a brief summary now and provide more detail after I dig deeper.
Two Phases, Three Sections in First
According to the drainage impact analysis, construction will take place in two phases.
The developer, Starlight Homes Texas, LLC, owns land in the floodplain and floodway of White Oak Creek. Approximately 40 acres – almost a third of the site – will be used for recreation and green space, but not homes.
The first phase of construction will have three sections clustered near the current northern terminus of WLHP. WHLP will later be extended farther north. Plans for Phase II have not yet been completed or approved.
Altogether, the development will have 448 homes. About two thirds will be on 40′ wide x 125′ long, 1/8th acre lots. The rest will be 10 feet longer.
Drainage Impact Analysis Claims No Adverse Impacts
The drainage impact analysis was based on 2018 Lidar data and NOAA’s Atlas-14 rainfall probability statistics. Both are current.
Part of the site used to drain toward WLHP. But the drainage was altered during grading. Now, all but 2.5 acres flows to the two detention basins and White Oak Creek.
The drainage impact analysis provides a summary for how the detention basins will perform in 25- and 100-year storms. In either event and in either direction (White Oak or WLHP), the claimed post-development runoff is less than the pre-development. See table below.
The drainage impact analysis makes a great deal about how the total discharge beats requirements by such a large margin. However, keep in mind that the analysis does not yet include runoff from Phase II.
The engineer, Amy Dziuk, makes a point that the surplus capacity will be used later for Phase II. She claims that Phase I will “not cause adverse impacts to the receiving waterways or surrounding areas.”
Photos of Equipment and Materials Being Staged
I took these photos on 4/15/24. Concrete and HDPE pipe as well as heavy equipment are scattered throughout Phase I of the site. See below.
I also saw men cleaning the entrance to the site and repairing silt fence.
Perhaps the attention to housekeeping in the photo above will be a good omen. Let’s hope they keep it up.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/16/2024
2422 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.
Northpark Culvert Installation Resumes
Northpark culvert installation resumed in a major way last week.
For several months, utility conflicts stalled installation of the 6’x8′ box culverts down the center of Northpark Drive. During preparation of the center ditch, contractors found gas lines buried at insufficient depth.
With those conflicts now resolved, according to Project Manager Ralph De Leon, installation of the box culverts can now resume. When contractors complete the culverts, dirt will be placed on top of them, and then two lanes of pavement on top of the dirt. The result will be a Northpark Drive that expands inward instead of outward. It will create three lanes in each direction…that should not flood like the thoroughfare currently does.
The expansion project has two primary goals:
During Hurricane Harvey, West Lake Houston Parkway, Hamblen, Kingwood Drive, and parts of Mills Branch Road were all blocked by rising floodwaters.
Pictures of Installation Progress as of 4/15/24
Since my last post on 4/8/24, contractors completed installation of the culvert at Parkwood Baptist Church and are working their way west past Russell Palmer Road. Today, they were working in front of Shipley’s Donuts.
In Other Northpark News
Entergy managed to install five more power poles in the last week. That brings their total to nine in four years.
The new power poles sit back farther from the street. That will create room for four more lanes of traffic adjacent to the bridge that will go over the railroad tracks at 494. The four include two inbound turn lanes and two outbound turn lanes to/from 494.
Project managers first notified Entergy of the need to move the poles in 2020. Construction experts tell me the project could have easily been completed by now.
Not much new has happened at the entry ponds at 59. Heavy rains a week ago have the bottoms covered with water.
See the route below. It will go behind the businesses on the north side of Northpark until reaching the Kingwood Diversion Ditch and Bens Branch.
That pretty much does it for visible progress during the last week.
For More Information
For more information about Northpark expansion, visit the project pages of the LHRA/Tirz 10 website. Or see these posts on ReduceFlooding:
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/15/24
2421 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.
Why Flood Risk Increases During Construction
Pictures taken of a new Huffman development after a 3.75-inch, 2-year rain last week illustrate why flood risk increases during construction compared to other phases of a project.
Aerial images taken over Sila, west of the Huffman-Cleveland Road, show:
Friendswood took more precautions with the 553-acre Sila than most developers take with their projects.
Regardless, despite their best intentions, a 2-year rain still overwhelmed them in places. Let’s look at examples of each point above.
Accelerating Runoff, Decreasing Infiltration
Natural ground cover slows the rate of runoff. Removing the ground cover lets stormwater flow faster.
Contractors also grade the land to create consistent slopes for roads and storms drains. That can eliminate little ponds, pockets of wetlands, and other natural catchments that slow water down.
I took these pictures just hours after the rain stopped. Notice how fast the runoff accumulated, even without storm drains.
Partially Constructed Mitigation Facilities
Stormwater detention basins collect accumulated runoff and later release it at slower pre-development rates. Thus post-development runoff rates equal pre-development rates. At least if everything is done correctly.
But what happens when a large rain slams you before you complete the detention basins?
Trenches Not Yet Consistently Sloped
During work in progress, like this, trenches may not be consistently sloped. In the picture below, water flowed downhill from left to right. A swale caught most of the runoff. And a silt fence backstopped it. Regardless…
Rampant Erosion
Backslope interceptor systems that reduce erosion on the sides of ditches and basins have not yet been built here. Neither has grass been planted on the side slopes of those ditches and basins. The result: rampant erosion that can clog ditches and streams, and reduce the capacity of basins.
Workers Saving One Area Only to Endanger Another
The first three shots below show the partially completed detention basin and workers scrambling to expel the rapidly accumulating runoff.
From there, water raced downslope toward the East Fork of the San Jacinto.
That turned the outfall for a neighboring ditch (right of greenish pond above) into a mass of muck. From there, the muck flowed toward the river.
Could Have Been Worse
I didn’t see any homes that flooded on this day. Muck did flow into a few yards and across roads. And the outfall to a neighborhood drainage ditch, which was just cleaned out, will have to be cleaned out again.
But no doubt, it could have been much worse. See below.
It’s also worth noting that runoff from Sila must go through more than a half mile of forested wetlands before reaching the East Fork. That will slow the water down, capture some of the erosion before it reaches the river, and keep the sediment from reducing the conveyance of the river channel.
Construction always entails flood risk, especially large scale construction that can take years. But with the right precautions, large rains don’t have to spell disaster.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/14/2024
2420 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.