News - Reduce Flooding

Rivers of Mud: Largest Development in Liberty County Openly Flaunts Drainage Regulations

To prevent erosion that sends sediment downstream, current Liberty County Drainage Regulations specify that developers must:

Plant grass on the banks of ditches
Construct backslope interceptor swales

But aerial photos taken this week show that drainage ditches in the massive Colony Ridge development rarely have grass on their banks. And while criss-crossing the development in a helicopter on Monday, December 7, 2020, I did not see one backslope interceptor swale. This, DESPITE Colony Ridge being the largest development in Liberty County. Or maybe it’s BECAUSE Colony Ridge is the largest development in the county. Perhaps they think they can flaunt regulations.

Colony Ridge is even larger than any of the cities in Liberty County – by far. You would think that would make violations more visible. But apparently, it makes them less so. Much to the detriment of downstream communities.

What Ditches Should Look Like If Regulations Were Followed

Regs in Liberty County are similar to those in Harris County. Here’s a photo of a drainage ditch in Harris. It shows both grass and interceptor swales in use and how they help prevent erosion. Note the swales behind the shoulders of the ditch. Also notice the concrete structures that help pipe rainwater from the swales to the bottom of the ditch. They prevent water from washing down the ditch slopes and causing erosion. Had the developer followed the regs, which represent best practices, his ditches should look like the one below.

*Backslope interceptor swales with drain pipes leading to bottom of ditch help prevent erosion. Photographed in Humble in Harris County.*

Erosion Control as Practiced in Colony Ridge/Liberty County

Now, compare that to the following 18 photos. I took all of them over Colony Ridge on Monday. Some show newly developing areas subject to the latest regulations adopted in 2019. Others show areas already developed under regulations from 2004. The older regs required grass, but no interceptor swales. The newer regs require both. No attempt has been made to bring the older ditches up to newer standards despite obvious erosion problems.

Note how the developer has a habit of piling dirt next to the ditches. The TCEQ cited the developer for that practice earlier this year because dirt could wash back into ditches during rains. However, the developer obviously doesn’t fear the TCEQ. He’s still doing it. On a grand scale.

*Ditch on right has grass on banks but no backslope interceptor swales.* *Note dirt piled on banks and how it’s already eroding into ditch.*

*No grass. No swales. Piles of dirt* *on the ditch’s shoulders.*

*Again. No grass. No swales. More dirt on shoulders.*

*Some weeds, but no grass. No swales. And a river of mud.*

*Rio de Lodo*. “Lodo” translates to mud, sludge or mire in English.

*This ditch has more corrugations than a cardboard factory thanks to the total absence of erosion-control measures.*

*Ditch in new area without erosion control measures near Highway 99 extension (in upper left of frame*). *Note eroded sediment already moving down the ditch.* *See close-up detail below.* *Regulations say that grass should be planted on ditch shoulders immediately after ditch construction.*

*Detail from upper right of previous photo.*

*Note erosion in ditch in foreground and other ditch T-ing into it.*

*Pipe from resident’s home enters ditch at top, accelerating erosion. Enlargement shows brownish liquid dripping from pipe*.

*Even newer stick-built homes on left don’t get erosion protection.*

*Note a wheelbarrow next to the man. Perhaps he’s trying to excavate blockages in the ditch* *behind his house.*

*Note how erosion has taken dirt from under fences.* *Better keep the dog on a leash!*

*The mud in ditches has made them playgrounds for ATVs, further contributing to erosion.*

*The mother of all eroding ditches in Colony Ridge.* *(BTW, note the absence of fire hydrants on the long street left of ditch.)*

*Erosion has created a training ground for mountain goats in Colony Ridge.*

Externalizing Development Costs

All this erosion (from approximately 12-13,000 acres) eventually winds up in the East Fork of the San Jacinto and Lake Houston. There, taxpayers must pay to have it dredged and filtered out of the water supply.

*Downstream from Colony Ridge. East Fork Mouth Bar after Imelda*. *After depth in this reach is now 3 feet. It was 18 feet before Harvey.*

*New Northeast Water Purification Plant at Lake Houston will cost taxpayers $1.4 billion.*

The East Fork Mouth bar forms a sediment dam that also has contributed to the flooding of more than a thousand homes.

Meanwhile, the developers cheaping it out are counting their change all the way to the bank.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/10/2020

1199 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 448 since Imelda

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.

Houston City Council Unanimously Approves Motion to Purchase Woodridge Village from Perry Homes

This morning, Houston City Council unanimously approved the purchase of Perry Homes’ 268-acre Woodridge Village tract in Montgomery County.

*The 268 acres of Woodridge Village could soon become public property to be used for stormwater detention, parks and wastewater treatment.*

The ordinance that passed also included approval of an Interlocal Agreement between the City and Harris County Flood Control (HCFCD) that will govern the use and maintenance of the property as well as the terms of its purchase and development. See below.

As this deal wound its way through city and county political systems for the last 20 months, it morphed several times.

Terms of Deal that City Approved This Morning

Here’s what the City Council approved this morning:

Total purchase price = $14,019,316.00.
Of that, the City will contribute $4,021,500.00 in cash.
And of that, $3,830,000.00 will go toward sole ownership of 73 acres within the 268 acres that the City will use to build a new wastewater treatment plant.
The two parties will co-own, co-develop and co-maintain the rest of the property to be used for stormwater detention and parks.
The parties will split the cost of the remaining property 50:50 which will be jointly owned, developed, operated and maintained.
For its portion of the remaining cost, the City will donate property worth approximately $5,150,000 to HCFCD that the County can then use for flood control projects in areas of the City that flood.
The City will also, at a minimum, match Harris County’s detention and fill mitigation requirements.
The City will adopt and enforce NOAA’s new higher Atlas-14 Precipitation Frequency standards within the City and in the City’s extra-territorial jurisdiction.
The City agreed to require a minimum detention rate of 0.55 acre-feet per acre.
All this must happen within 120 days.
If the sale falls through, nothing in the terms of the agreement obligates the seller to perform additional flood mitigation.

County Must Now Approve on December 15

Harris County Commissioners Court must still approve the Interlocal Agreement in its December 15 meeting before it becomes effective.

Woodridge Village contributed to flooding hundreds of homes in Elm Grove Village and North Kingwood Forest twice last year, because of insufficient detention.

No Mention of Lawsuits

Nothing in the terms of the sale or interlocal agreement mentions the hundreds of lawsuits that arose out of that flooding. They should not be affected.

Pace of Development To Depend on Speed of Funding

The Parties (City and County) agreed to jointly fund the cost of designing and constructing flood mitigation facilities on the Land and to work cooperatively to secure funding. They targeted completion of the project within five years.

Both Parties agree the Land can stay in its current condition until funds are jointly secured to build the project, which may be built in phases based upon available funding.

Any Project on the Land will involve gravity detention. In other words, no pumps will be involved. Perry Homes has already constructed approximately 60% of the required detention.

Stormwater Detention To Be Based on Current Needs

The amount of the Stormwater Detention allotted to each Party will be based on its pro rata share of costs contributed to the Project. The Parties agree that the Stormwater Detention shall only be used for mitigation of existing flood risks, and not to mitigate the flooding risks of any new developments that arise after the execution of this Agreement.

Martin Thanks Turner for Being Mayor for “All the People”

Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin sponsored the ordinance that council approved this morning and worked to align support. Mayor Turner supported the agreement despite the fact that the majority of Kingwood voted for his opponent in the last mayoral election. In his presentation, Martin specifically commented on that and thanked the Mayor. He said that Turner promised after the election that he wanted to be mayor for all the people. Martin said this was proof that he was good to his word.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/9/2020

1198 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 447 since Imelda

Woodridge Village Purchase on Wednesday’s Houston City Council Agenda

Houston City Council will consider two items Wednesday that could ultimately pave the way for the purchase of Woodridge Village from Perry Homes. Woodridge Village twice contributed to the flooding of hundreds of homes in Kingwood’s Elm Grove Village last year. For more than a year, the City, Harris County Flood Control and Perry Homes’ subsidiary Figure Four Partners, LTD have discussed purchasing the property and turning it into a regional flood-control detention basin.

268 acres currently owned by Perry Homes could be turned into a regional floodwater detention basin if the purchase is approved by Houston City Council tomorrow and Harris County Commissioners Court on December 15.

If successful, the City and HCFCD would work together to reduce the volume of water flowing out of the headwaters of Taylor Gully.

$4 Million in Cash from City Plus Land

The two agenda items are #59 and #65. They call for an interlocal agreement between the City and HCFCD to jointly purchase the property. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, the purchase price would total approximately $14 million. The City would pay approximately $4 million of that in cash. However, in the past, the City has also discussed the contribution of land to make up its 50% of the purchase price.

The City has also said in the past that it hopes to acquire a portion of the site outright in order to consolidate several wastewater treatment facilities in Kingwood outside of the San Jacinto floodplain. Presumably, the City’s cash would go toward the purchase of that part of the site. Both sides previously agreed to share equally in the purchase, operation, development, and maintenance of the rest of the 268 acres.

Requirements Imposed by Draft ILA from May

Earlier this year, I obtained a draft copy of the interlocal agreement by a FOIA request, which the State Attorney General partially redacted. In May, the City provisionally agreed to:

Adopt Atlas-14 precipitation frequency tables
Require a minimum detention rate of 0.55 acre-feet per acre of detention for any new development on tracts one acre or larger in size
Prohibit the use of hydrographic timing (flood-routing studies) as a substitute for any detention requirements, unless the project emptied directly into Galveston Bay.
Enforce these provisions both within the City and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.

The volume of detention ponds currently on Woodridge Village is about 40% short of what the new higher Atlas-14 requirements dictate. The current detention was approved and construction started before Atlas 14 became effective in Montgomery County.

The use of flood-routing studies in Montgomery County to avoid building detention ponds has long been a controversial practice that downstream residents have fought.

Next Steps in Terms of Flood Mitigation

If Council approves the money and ILA tomorrow for the Woodridge Village purchase, Harris County Commissioners would take up the issue at their next meeting on December 15. Approval by both bodies certainly would make Christmas much merrier and more hopeful for hundreds of Kingwood families devastated by flooding last year.

Kudos to Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin for pushing this forward.

The outcome of the votes could affect projects considered in the Kingwood Area Drainage Analysis. If the purchase goes through, it could reduce or eliminate the need for widening and deepening Taylor Gully itself. It is not immediately clear whether the City and County have set deadlines for the design and construction of the detention basin.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/8/2020

1197 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 446 since Imelda