In the 2021 Legislation session, State Rep. Dan Huberty introduced HB2525, a bill to create a Dredging and Maintenance District for Lake Houston. Senator Brandon Creighton introduced an identical companion bill in the senate, SB1892. It deserves the support of everyone in the Houston region who depends on the lake for water as well as those whose homes and businesses flooded during Harvey.
South of the Kingwood Country Club’s Island Course, Hurricane Harvey deposited several feet of sand that reduced the carrying capacity of the West Fork by 90%, according to the Army Corps.
Union Pacific Railroad Bridge over West Fork after Harvey had turned into a “beaver dam” because of deadfall washed downstream and caught in the supports.After Harvey, sand deposits at the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge reached the tree tops.West Fork Mouth Bar immediately after Harvey virtually blocked the river between Kings Point and Atascocita Point (top right).
Wherever moving bodies of water meet standing bodies, the current decelerates and sediment tends to drop out of suspension. You can see the same phenomenon where smaller streams and channels enter the lake.
History of Disputes with FEMA, Corps Over Deferred Maintenance
After Harvey, leaders in the Humble/Kingwood Area fought with the Corps to remove the biggest of the blockages – the West Fork Mouth Bar. The Corps fought back.
The Corps and FEMA believed the massive mouth bar had been growing for years and that it resulted from deferred maintenance.
There was some truth to that. That reach of the West Fork had never been dredged at least in the previous 40 years. The ensuing debate lasted more than a year.
That’s why, shortly after the Corps started its Emergency Dredging program in 2018, it emphasized the need for maintenance dredging to a) avoid such disputes and b) keep problems at a subacute level.
Two Years Later, FEMA/Corps Agreed to Partial Mouth Bar Dredging
In the three and a half years since Harvey, according to boaters and residents, we have not yet been able to restore the area between Kings Point and Atascocita Point to its pre-storm depth. We haven’t even removed all of the mouth bar.
Three mechanical dredges are still trying to reduce the West Fork Mouth bar more than 15 months after they started.Photo taken 3/19/21.
We need to figure how much sediment comes downriver every year and remove at least that much with a maintenance dredging program to:
Stop or reduce the loss of reservoir capacity
Reduce the risk of flooding
Show good faith to FEMA, eliminate contentious arguments with regular river bottom surveys, and demonstrate how much build-up resulted from a particular disaster.
We also need to be able to quickly accelerate the program after major storms such as Harvey and Imelda.
Dredging needs to be a continuous activity because one major flood can deposit more sediment than humans can remove in years.
How You Can Help
I urge you to support HB2525. Write as many local leaders on the City, County and State levels as possible. Pay particular attention to the House Natural Resources Committee where the bill is pending hearings right now. State Senator Brandon Creighton has filed an identical companion bill, SB1892, which has been referred to the Local Government Committee.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/28/2021
1307 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20210319-DJI_0300.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=19001200adminadmin2021-03-27 23:05:512021-03-27 23:23:18Support Creation of Dredging District to Reduce Floods, Improve Lake Capacity
Shortly after the winter storm in February that caused statewide power outages, officials estimated the death toll near 60. In the last month, that figure has risen to 111 – nearly double the previous estimate and 43 higher than Hurricane Harvey which killed 68.
The February 2021 Winter Storm claimed 43 more lives in Texas than Hurricane Harvey.
Not Just Hypothermia
The New York Times reported Representative Joaquin Castro, an Austin Democrat, as saying, “It’s worse than anyone could have imagined.
“Douglas Loveday, a spokesman with the state health department, said that it had taken investigators weeks to link the additional deaths to the cold weather and the accompanying storm,” said the Times.
State officials said that while most winter storm victims died from hypothermia, other died from:
Vehicle accidents
Medical equipment failures
Chronic illnesses that were suddenly worsened
Lack of home oxygen
Falls
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Fire.
Search for Solutions
As the death toll has climbed from the winter storm, the search for causes of the grid failure continues. The Times article continued, “The storm disrupted the power infrastructure, which, officials said, was unprepared for such intense winter conditions.”
The big questions:
“Why were we unprepared?”
“Who’s at fault?”
“How can we prevent a recurrence?”
Officials have called for an overhaul of the state’s power system. But aside from some symbolic firings of ERCOT board members, no one to date has made hard decisions about becoming part of a larger grid or winterizing equipment that failed. Some may be difficult to winterize given current technology.
Texas Power Sources
According to ERCOT, Texas gets its power from five sources: solar (2%), nuclear (11%), coal (18%), wind (23%), and natural gas (46%).
Percent of Texas Power supplied by Solar, Nuclear, Coal, Wind and Natural Gas. Source: ERCOT.
Ice, for instance, can form on wind turbine blades, severely impairing efficiency. This article in ScienceDirect describes the problem. “Ice accretion on the blades of a wind turbine can lead to turbine shutdown, power loss and damage to turbine components. To prevent ice formation on wind turbine blades, an ice sensor integrated with an ice mitigation system is required. The ice sensor can be used with a de-icer on the blade surface. However, the current ice sensing and de-icing technologies are inefficient and integrated systems need appreciable improvement.”
It ain’t easy being green.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/26/2021
1305 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Death-Tolls-Bar-Chart-copy.jpg?fit=1200%2C727&ssl=17271200adminadmin2021-03-26 09:59:412021-03-26 10:30:03Winter Storm’s Death Toll Rises Sharply Higher than Harvey’s
South of Kingwood’s HCA Medical Center, contractors have made slow but steady progress on the site for New Caney High School #3 between Sorters-McClellan Road and US59. I reported last November that they were pouring concrete. They still are. But there’s a lot more of it on the ground of the 80+ acre site. About half of the site is now covered with gray concrete. However, the most striking feature is the intensely green detention pond. The grass lining it looks more like a thick blanket of neon green faux fur.
Photos Taken on 3/19/2021
Looking east across the southern part of the site at the large detention pond. Grass in such ponds reduces erosion. The erosion can clog ditches, streams and rivers; and contribute to flooding.US59 cuts through the top of the frame. For orientation, note the Lowes Store in the upper left.Looking south toward the San Jacinto River, which is out of sight above the top of the frame. Sorters-McClellan Road cuts through the upper right of the frame. Approximately half the site is now covered in concrete. Playing fields will eventually occupy the area to the left.Looking NE from the northernmost part of the site. US59 cuts diagonally through the upper right of the frame. Note HCA Medical Center and Insperity in the distance at Kingwood Drive.Artists rendering of New Caney High School #3, looking east. The main entrance of the school will face Sorters-McClellan Road; the playing fields will face US59.General plan for New Caney High School #3. North is to the left.
New Caney ISD’s enrollment grew 31 percent between 2011 and 2016. That ranked NCISD first in the greater Houston area and fourth in the state for percentage enrollment growth. Eventually, the high school will hold 2,250 students. However, the school will open with only 1,350.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20210319-DJI_0344.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=19001200adminadmin2021-03-25 14:12:262021-03-25 14:12:31Construction Update: New Caney High School #3 Site Going Green and Gray
Support Creation of Dredging District to Reduce Floods, Improve Lake Capacity
In the 2021 Legislation session, State Rep. Dan Huberty introduced HB2525, a bill to create a Dredging and Maintenance District for Lake Houston. Senator Brandon Creighton introduced an identical companion bill in the senate, SB1892. It deserves the support of everyone in the Houston region who depends on the lake for water as well as those whose homes and businesses flooded during Harvey.
Why We Need Perpetual Maintenance Dredging
For those who may not remember, during Harvey enough sand and silt came down the San Jacinto West Fork to block the river by 90% according to the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Massive sediment and tree deposits dammed the river at the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge, south of the Kingwood County Club, West Lake Houston Parkway and Kings Point. The blockages contributed to the flooding of 16,000 homes and 3,300 businesses.
Two years later, Tropical Storm Imelda made similar deposits on the East Fork where thousands of additional homes flooded.
History of Disputes with FEMA, Corps Over Deferred Maintenance
After Harvey, leaders in the Humble/Kingwood Area fought with the Corps to remove the biggest of the blockages – the West Fork Mouth Bar. The Corps fought back.
There was some truth to that. That reach of the West Fork had never been dredged at least in the previous 40 years. The ensuing debate lasted more than a year.
That’s why, shortly after the Corps started its Emergency Dredging program in 2018, it emphasized the need for maintenance dredging to a) avoid such disputes and b) keep problems at a subacute level.
Two Years Later, FEMA/Corps Agreed to Partial Mouth Bar Dredging
Then, in 2019, the City of Houston commissioned Tetra Tech to harvest core samples from the bar. The samples showed that most sand and silt was recently deposited. FEMA later relented and agreed to have the Corps dredge 500,000 cubic yards from a six hundred acre area south of the mouth bar. The Corps finished that dredging in late 2019. The City continued the program with mechanical dredges in January of 2020. They’re still at it. And people are still at risk from the next big flood.
Lake Houston Has Lost 22,000 Acre Feet of Capacity
Meanwhile, Lake Houston, which supplies water to millions of people has been steadily losing capacity. In 2018, the Texas Water Development Board found the lake had lost more than 22,000 acre feet of capacity. The problems are most apparent around the edges of the lake and in its upstream reaches. Both natural streams and man-made channels have become silted in. Mouth bars on both the East and West Forks have reduced the depth of the San Jacinto to approximately 3 feet (from 25 to 30 feet), except where it has already been dredged.
This cannot continue indefinitely. Nor can we expect the federal government to pay for deferred maintenance in the future; we have been warned. If we expect help again in the future after disasters, we must be able to show what bottom depths were before the storms. And those kinds of surveys are regular parts of maintenance dredging programs.
Safety and Future at Stake
In the three and a half years since Harvey, according to boaters and residents, we have not yet been able to restore the area between Kings Point and Atascocita Point to its pre-storm depth. We haven’t even removed all of the mouth bar.
We need to figure how much sediment comes downriver every year and remove at least that much with a maintenance dredging program to:
We also need to be able to quickly accelerate the program after major storms such as Harvey and Imelda.
How You Can Help
I urge you to support HB2525. Write as many local leaders on the City, County and State levels as possible. Pay particular attention to the House Natural Resources Committee where the bill is pending hearings right now. State Senator Brandon Creighton has filed an identical companion bill, SB1892, which has been referred to the Local Government Committee.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/28/2021
1307 Days after Hurricane Harvey
Winter Storm’s Death Toll Rises Sharply Higher than Harvey’s
Shortly after the winter storm in February that caused statewide power outages, officials estimated the death toll near 60. In the last month, that figure has risen to 111 – nearly double the previous estimate and 43 higher than Hurricane Harvey which killed 68.
Not Just Hypothermia
The New York Times reported Representative Joaquin Castro, an Austin Democrat, as saying, “It’s worse than anyone could have imagined.
“Douglas Loveday, a spokesman with the state health department, said that it had taken investigators weeks to link the additional deaths to the cold weather and the accompanying storm,” said the Times.
State officials said that while most winter storm victims died from hypothermia, other died from:
Search for Solutions
As the death toll has climbed from the winter storm, the search for causes of the grid failure continues. The Times article continued, “The storm disrupted the power infrastructure, which, officials said, was unprepared for such intense winter conditions.”
The big questions:
Officials have called for an overhaul of the state’s power system. But aside from some symbolic firings of ERCOT board members, no one to date has made hard decisions about becoming part of a larger grid or winterizing equipment that failed. Some may be difficult to winterize given current technology.
Texas Power Sources
According to ERCOT, Texas gets its power from five sources: solar (2%), nuclear (11%), coal (18%), wind (23%), and natural gas (46%).
Ice, for instance, can form on wind turbine blades, severely impairing efficiency. This article in ScienceDirect describes the problem. “Ice accretion on the blades of a wind turbine can lead to turbine shutdown, power loss and damage to turbine components. To prevent ice formation on wind turbine blades, an ice sensor integrated with an ice mitigation system is required. The ice sensor can be used with a de-icer on the blade surface. However, the current ice sensing and de-icing technologies are inefficient and integrated systems need appreciable improvement.”
It ain’t easy being green.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/26/2021
1305 Days after Hurricane Harvey
Construction Update: New Caney High School #3 Site Going Green and Gray
South of Kingwood’s HCA Medical Center, contractors have made slow but steady progress on the site for New Caney High School #3 between Sorters-McClellan Road and US59. I reported last November that they were pouring concrete. They still are. But there’s a lot more of it on the ground of the 80+ acre site. About half of the site is now covered with gray concrete. However, the most striking feature is the intensely green detention pond. The grass lining it looks more like a thick blanket of neon green faux fur.
Photos Taken on 3/19/2021
School to Open in Fall 2022
The NCISD Board of Trustees approved an award of construction contract on May 18 for New Caney High School #3 to Gamma Construction. Gamma should finish construction in time for 2022-23 school year.
New Caney ISD’s enrollment grew 31 percent between 2011 and 2016. That ranked NCISD first in the greater Houston area and fourth in the state for percentage enrollment growth. Eventually, the high school will hold 2,250 students. However, the school will open with only 1,350.
Construction in the District has already caused a realignment of school zones. To see if your student will be affected, see this New Caney ISD web page.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/25/2021
1304 Days after Hurricane Harvey