9/16/2025 – Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) could soon be caught in a time squeeze.
Deadlines are fast approaching on hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via the Texas General Land Office (GLO). Yet HCFCD is pushing projected start dates for those projects further into the future. So, there may not be enough time to complete the jobs.
“As a rule of thumb, it typically takes two years to build a detention basin. But HCFCD has left itself with only approximately a year to build many with urgent deadlines.”
Construction Expert
And further deadline extensions likely will not be granted. When HUD granted HCFCD an extension on 10 of the 29 projects, HUD’s letter said, in essence, not to bother asking for another extension. A GLO spokesperson said, “The GLO doesn’t have the statutory authority to override HUD.”
Status of Grants and Deadlines
Yesterday, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) released the status of the 29 grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They currently total $862.6 million.
The 29 grants fall into two categories: Disaster Relief (DR) and Mitigation (MIT).
HCFCD has an immovable deadline of February 28, 2027 for all Disaster Relief grants. That’s just 17 months away. And 9 out of the 10 that have not yet started won’t even go out for bids until next year. And one of those will be bid in the third quarter of next year, likely leaving only a few months to complete the $9 million project.
Let’s discuss the DR projects first. See the first group below.
Of the 11 projects in the Disaster Relief group, ten have already been approved and amended into the County’s contract. But only one has started construction. All the others haven’t even been bid yet. And won’t be for months.
Seven of Ten Remaining DR Projects Show Slippage in Bid Schedules
HCFCD periodically publishes “bid outlooks.” They tell potential contractors when HCFCD intends to advertise projects for bidding.
Comparing the June and August project bidding schedules shows that…
Seven of the remaining 10 have slipped three to nine months … in two months.
See table below.
Dates compiled from HCFCD Bid Outlooks for June and August (published in September).
How do you get this far and not have projects ready to bid immediately after approval? An HCFCD spokesperson said, “It’s quite a layered process” with approvals from other authorities, too, i.e., for environmental studies.
Regardless, only 17 months remain before an already extended deadline.
According to a GLO spokesperson, when HUD granted the deadline extension, the letter granting the extension basically said, “Don’t ask for another.” The GLO spokesperson also confirmed that GLO did not have statutory authority to grant an extension against HUD’s ruling.
So is there time to complete the Disaster Relief projects?
Arbor Oaks Project Illustrates Difficulty of Deadline
Only 17 months remain to bid and build 10 DR projects. And it typically takes 3 to 6 months just to:
Advertise a project for bids
Secure and review the bids
Get commissioners court to approve the bids
Finalize the contract
Issue a “notice to proceed”
Mobilize crews
That leaves roughly a year to build the projects. But the ten listed above could have even less time because of slippage in the bidding schedules.
Only one CDBG-DR job has started construction already: the Arbor Oaks Stormwater Detention Basin in White Oak Bayou’s watershed.
Commissioners Court approved the job for bidding on 5/8/2025.
HCFCD awarded the contract on 6/26/2025.
As of yesterday afternoon, the contractor was still mulching trees – more than 4 months after the job was first advertised.
No dirt has been removed yet. The pictures below show how the project looked on 9/16/2025.
Former Arbor Oaks subdivision near White Oak BayouExtent of clearing on 9/16/2025. Concrete removal was supposed to start yesterday, but did not by 2PM.The only activity on the site was tree clearing/mulching.
The diagram below shows what contractors still must build.
Two dry-bottom and two wet-bottom basinswill provide 221 acre-feet of stormwater storage.That’s a lot of dirt to move!
If HCFCD misses that February 28, 2027 deadline, the county could be on the hook for up to $34.2 million in HUD funds. And because that project got the earliest start, it has the highest likelihood of beating the deadline. What about other projects that won’t even be bid until there’s less than a year to bid and build them?
Because the DR projects have the most immediate deadlines, everyone has been focusing on those first. But the second group of 18 MIT projects also have deadlines.
All MIT funding allocated to the State of Texas after Hurricane must be turned into HUD by January 1, 2033. But the GLO needs 18 months to complete paperwork and package documentation for thousands of projects for HUD’s audit. So, the deadline for sub-recipients, such as HCFCD is July 1, 2031.
But there’s another wrinkle that puts even more pressure on sub-recipients to start projects soon. HUD wants the State to spend half the funds by January 1, 2027 – two months BEFORE the DR deadline.
How Real are the Deadlines?
There seem to be two different views of deadlines.
HCFCD’s current management, like a former Mayor of Houston, appears to believe that deadlines can be indefinitely extended.
The GLO views them as a contractual obligation, which if violated, could result in the taxpayers of Texas footing the bill for unnecessary delays.
According to the GLO, HUD changed its way of doing business after previous disasters such as Hurricane Ike, when some funds sat unused for years. So, after Harvey, HUD adopted, in essence, a “use it or lose it” policy with strict deadlines. Not everyone has gotten that message yet.
The potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars for flood mitigation could make voters very unhappy.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/18/2025
2941 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/2025/09/Bid-Slippage-Sept-2025.png?fit=2392%2C880&ssl=18802392adminadmin2025-09-17 14:09:152025-09-17 15:27:14With Grant Deadlines Approaching, Bid Deadlines Are Slipping
9/15/25 – Harris County Commissioners Court is being asked to approve a contract for final engineering of new Kingwood Diversion Ditch conveyance improvements this Thursday, 2/18/25. See Item 272 on the Agenda.
The Kingwood Area Drainage analysis ranked Diversion Ditch improvements as the most important project in Kingwood. That’s in large part because improving flow through the Diversion Ditch will take floodwater out of Bens Branch which runs through Kingwood Town Center. So, it’s like a Texas twofer.
Diversion Ditch shown in white, proposed new outfall in green, and Bens Branch in red.
County Purchasing Dept. Recommending Halff
The Harris County Purchasing Department recommends Halff Associates, Inc. based on “highest overall evaluation” for their proposal. The County reserves the right to negotiate with the next highest ranking proposal if it can’t reach a suitable agreement with Halff.
This is a request to authorize negotiation for an agreement that will provide final design, bidding and construction phase services for Kingwood Diversion Ditch channel conveyance improvements.
The project begins upstream of the confluence of Bens Branch and the Kingwood Diversion Ditch and ends downstream at the West Fork San Jacinto River. The total project length is approximately 4.2 miles along the Kingwood Diversion Ditch.
Looking upstream/north at the Diversion Ditch toward Kingwood Drive from over the Walnut Lane Bridge. The “Kingwood Rapids” are just out of frame at the bottom of the frame.
Conveyance improvements will include:
Construction of a diversion structure to divert flow off Bens Branch into the Kingwood Diversion Ditch
Erosion protection against a naturally steep portion of the existing channel near Walnut Lane
A new outfall at Woodland Hills into the West Fork San Jacinto River
405 acre-feet of stormwater detention to mitigate for impacts from the channel improvements
Improvements to five existing bridges.
The project area along Kingwood Diversion Ditch consists of approximately 3.86 miles inside Harris County limits and an additional 0.32 miles extends into Montgomery County. The project falls into the second quartile of the County’s Equity Prioritization Framework.
Looking S at Kingwood Diversion Ditch from near the Montgomery County Line and Kings Mill.
Earlier this year, Commissioners voted to redeploy all remaining funding in Quartiles 2, 3, and 4 to complete projects in Quartile 1. However, they later reconsidered that motion. The fact that the Diversion Ditch already has federal partnership funds allocated to it thanks to the work of Congressman Dan Crenshaw, whose earmark for the Walnut Lane Bridge saved it from the chopping block.
Separately, the County expects to hear a new proposal from HCFCD Executive Director Dr. Tina Petersen this Thursday. Petersen reportedly hopes to explain less Draconian ways to address a shortfall in bond funding that could affect the fate of a large number of other projects.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/15/25
2939 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/20230401-DJI_0363.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=17991200adminadmin2025-09-15 22:09:152025-09-15 22:16:30Final Kingwood Diversion Ditch Study Up for Approval Thursday
9/14/25 – On Thursday, 9/18/25, Harris County Commissioners Court is scheduled to discuss the future of the 2018 Flood Bond. Again.
Item 117 on the agenda says, “Request for discussion and possible action regarding a report from the Flood Control District related to the 2018 Bond Program.” Unfortunately, no report is attached to the agenda. Reportedly, it is not yet ready.
That raises many questions: Do we have enough money to finish all the bond projects? If not, whose projects will be cut? What happens if you start construction, but don’t have money to finish it? Should we kill projects in some areas to construct projects in others?
No easy answers exist. Harris County Flood Control District, Engineering, the County Administrator and County Budget Director have tried all year to answer commissioners’ questions and have been meeting weekly for months to work out a plan that everyone can agree on.
Multiple Delays since February
On February 6, 2025, fireworks erupted in Commissioners Court over the inability to get data that could inform decisions about Subdivision-Drainage and Flood-Bond projects. Commissioners called it a “major crisis” and “an abysmal failure.”
They asked Dr. Tina Petersen, executive director of Harris County Flood Control, to come back in March with answers. But March turned into May, May into June, then July and August. And now, here we are in September.
What Commissioners Asked For
In February, Commissioners asked HCFCD to work with the County Engineer, Administrator and Budget Director to return to court on March 27 with “proposed options and recommendations using any and all county resources for closing the shortfall.” The analysis was to have included:
The entire program including all projects completed
Projects under construction with any potential changes in contract
Active projects awaiting funding
Remaining available funds for all projects now that the project budgets have been increased.
The May presentation slipped to June. Petersen still didn’t have a clear plan, but she hinted at a potential $1.3 billion shortfall. That’s a quarter of all funds raised to date – either through the bond or partner contributions.
In June, Petersen alluded to $1.3 billion shortfallin testimony to Commissioners.
Flood Control and the head engineers of each precinct have met weekly since then in an effort to identify a plan that everyone can agree to. The fact that the plan wasn’t attached to the agenda suggests they may not have agreed on it yet.
Uncertainty, Delays Could Jeopardize Additional Funding
Meanwhile, the uncertainty and delays could jeopardize even more funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via the Texas General Land Office (GLO).
In 2021, GLO Commissioner George P. Bush announced a $1.1 billion allocation of HUD funds for flood mitigation and disaster relief in Harris County.
But that money is available on a reimbursement basis only…after the County completes approved projects.
The Mercer Basin now under construction is similar to those. It was supposed to take a year to build on an expedited basis. We are now at two years and counting. Construction is far from complete.
And the last of the 11 projects isn’t even scheduled to go out for BID until the SECOND quarter of next year.
I expect a lot of wailing and wringing of hands on Thursday. Unless they postpone the discussion again.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/14/25
2938 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Tina-Petersen.jpg?fit=1100%2C608&ssl=16081100adminadmin2025-09-14 20:42:392025-09-15 18:50:50Harris County Commissioners to Discuss Future of Flood Bond on Thursday
With Grant Deadlines Approaching, Bid Deadlines Are Slipping
9/16/2025 – Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) could soon be caught in a time squeeze.
Deadlines are fast approaching on hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via the Texas General Land Office (GLO). Yet HCFCD is pushing projected start dates for those projects further into the future. So, there may not be enough time to complete the jobs.
And further deadline extensions likely will not be granted. When HUD granted HCFCD an extension on 10 of the 29 projects, HUD’s letter said, in essence, not to bother asking for another extension. A GLO spokesperson said, “The GLO doesn’t have the statutory authority to override HUD.”
Status of Grants and Deadlines
Yesterday, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) released the status of the 29 grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They currently total $862.6 million.
The 29 grants fall into two categories: Disaster Relief (DR) and Mitigation (MIT).
HCFCD has an immovable deadline of February 28, 2027 for all Disaster Relief grants. That’s just 17 months away. And 9 out of the 10 that have not yet started won’t even go out for bids until next year. And one of those will be bid in the third quarter of next year, likely leaving only a few months to complete the $9 million project.
Let’s discuss the DR projects first. See the first group below.
Of the 11 projects in the Disaster Relief group, ten have already been approved and amended into the County’s contract. But only one has started construction. All the others haven’t even been bid yet. And won’t be for months.
Seven of Ten Remaining DR Projects Show Slippage in Bid Schedules
HCFCD periodically publishes “bid outlooks.” They tell potential contractors when HCFCD intends to advertise projects for bidding.
Comparing the June and August project bidding schedules shows that…
How do you get this far and not have projects ready to bid immediately after approval? An HCFCD spokesperson said, “It’s quite a layered process” with approvals from other authorities, too, i.e., for environmental studies.
Regardless, only 17 months remain before an already extended deadline.
According to a GLO spokesperson, when HUD granted the deadline extension, the letter granting the extension basically said, “Don’t ask for another.” The GLO spokesperson also confirmed that GLO did not have statutory authority to grant an extension against HUD’s ruling.
So is there time to complete the Disaster Relief projects?
Arbor Oaks Project Illustrates Difficulty of Deadline
Only 17 months remain to bid and build 10 DR projects. And it typically takes 3 to 6 months just to:
That leaves roughly a year to build the projects. But the ten listed above could have even less time because of slippage in the bidding schedules.
Only one CDBG-DR job has started construction already: the Arbor Oaks Stormwater Detention Basin in White Oak Bayou’s watershed.
No dirt has been removed yet. The pictures below show how the project looked on 9/16/2025.
The diagram below shows what contractors still must build.
If HCFCD misses that February 28, 2027 deadline, the county could be on the hook for up to $34.2 million in HUD funds. And because that project got the earliest start, it has the highest likelihood of beating the deadline. What about other projects that won’t even be bid until there’s less than a year to bid and build them?
Not far away, the Mercer Basin on Cypress Creek was supposed to take one year to build on an expedited basis. However, it’s now taken two years and could take another half year to complete.
Mitigation Projects Have Deadlines, Too
Because the DR projects have the most immediate deadlines, everyone has been focusing on those first. But the second group of 18 MIT projects also have deadlines.
All MIT funding allocated to the State of Texas after Hurricane must be turned into HUD by January 1, 2033. But the GLO needs 18 months to complete paperwork and package documentation for thousands of projects for HUD’s audit. So, the deadline for sub-recipients, such as HCFCD is July 1, 2031.
But there’s another wrinkle that puts even more pressure on sub-recipients to start projects soon. HUD wants the State to spend half the funds by January 1, 2027 – two months BEFORE the DR deadline.
How Real are the Deadlines?
There seem to be two different views of deadlines.
HCFCD’s current management, like a former Mayor of Houston, appears to believe that deadlines can be indefinitely extended.
The GLO views them as a contractual obligation, which if violated, could result in the taxpayers of Texas footing the bill for unnecessary delays.
According to the GLO, HUD changed its way of doing business after previous disasters such as Hurricane Ike, when some funds sat unused for years. So, after Harvey, HUD adopted, in essence, a “use it or lose it” policy with strict deadlines. Not everyone has gotten that message yet.
The potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars for flood mitigation could make voters very unhappy.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/18/2025
2941 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.
Final Kingwood Diversion Ditch Study Up for Approval Thursday
9/15/25 – Harris County Commissioners Court is being asked to approve a contract for final engineering of new Kingwood Diversion Ditch conveyance improvements this Thursday, 2/18/25. See Item 272 on the Agenda.
The Kingwood Area Drainage analysis ranked Diversion Ditch improvements as the most important project in Kingwood. That’s in large part because improving flow through the Diversion Ditch will take floodwater out of Bens Branch which runs through Kingwood Town Center. So, it’s like a Texas twofer.
County Purchasing Dept. Recommending Halff
The Harris County Purchasing Department recommends Halff Associates, Inc. based on “highest overall evaluation” for their proposal. The County reserves the right to negotiate with the next highest ranking proposal if it can’t reach a suitable agreement with Halff.
Halff did the engineering work for Taylor Gully and Woodridge Village. The company also recently updated Montgomery County’s Drainage Criteria Manual and Subdivision Rules and Regulations. So, it is familiar with drainage issues in the area.
Another company, Neel-Schaffer developed the preliminary Kingwood Diversion Ditch report. However, it took almost five times longer than expected and overlooked some obvious opportunities.
Since Neel-Schaffer released its preliminary report, the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority announced plans to build 100 acre-feet of detention in the area where the Diversion Ditch splits off from Bens Branch just north of Northpark. That’s a quarter of the needed 405 acre-feet of detention right there.
Included in the Project
This is a request to authorize negotiation for an agreement that will provide final design, bidding and construction phase services for Kingwood Diversion Ditch channel conveyance improvements.
The project begins upstream of the confluence of Bens Branch and the Kingwood Diversion Ditch and ends downstream at the West Fork San Jacinto River. The total project length is approximately 4.2 miles along the Kingwood Diversion Ditch.
Conveyance improvements will include:
The project area along Kingwood Diversion Ditch consists of approximately 3.86 miles inside Harris County limits and an additional 0.32 miles extends into Montgomery County. The project falls into the second quartile of the County’s Equity Prioritization Framework.
Earlier this year, Commissioners voted to redeploy all remaining funding in Quartiles 2, 3, and 4 to complete projects in Quartile 1. However, they later reconsidered that motion. The fact that the Diversion Ditch already has federal partnership funds allocated to it thanks to the work of Congressman Dan Crenshaw, whose earmark for the Walnut Lane Bridge saved it from the chopping block.
Separately, the County expects to hear a new proposal from HCFCD Executive Director Dr. Tina Petersen this Thursday. Petersen reportedly hopes to explain less Draconian ways to address a shortfall in bond funding that could affect the fate of a large number of other projects.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/15/25
2939 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Harris County Commissioners to Discuss Future of Flood Bond on Thursday
9/14/25 – On Thursday, 9/18/25, Harris County Commissioners Court is scheduled to discuss the future of the 2018 Flood Bond. Again.
Item 117 on the agenda says, “Request for discussion and possible action regarding a report from the Flood Control District related to the 2018 Bond Program.” Unfortunately, no report is attached to the agenda. Reportedly, it is not yet ready.
What’s the Problem?
Rumors of potential shortfalls in bond funding started in 2021. Compound inflation since the start of the flood bond has reduced the purchasing power of flood-bond dollars approximately 25-30%.
That raises many questions: Do we have enough money to finish all the bond projects? If not, whose projects will be cut? What happens if you start construction, but don’t have money to finish it? Should we kill projects in some areas to construct projects in others?
No easy answers exist. Harris County Flood Control District, Engineering, the County Administrator and County Budget Director have tried all year to answer commissioners’ questions and have been meeting weekly for months to work out a plan that everyone can agree on.
Multiple Delays since February
On February 6, 2025, fireworks erupted in Commissioners Court over the inability to get data that could inform decisions about Subdivision-Drainage and Flood-Bond projects. Commissioners called it a “major crisis” and “an abysmal failure.”
They asked Dr. Tina Petersen, executive director of Harris County Flood Control, to come back in March with answers. But March turned into May, May into June, then July and August. And now, here we are in September.
What Commissioners Asked For
In February, Commissioners asked HCFCD to work with the County Engineer, Administrator and Budget Director to return to court on March 27 with “proposed options and recommendations using any and all county resources for closing the shortfall.” The analysis was to have included:
However, the departments could not produce the data by March 27. So, Commissioners gave them until May 8. This time, commissioners asked for:
The May presentation slipped to June. Petersen still didn’t have a clear plan, but she hinted at a potential $1.3 billion shortfall. That’s a quarter of all funds raised to date – either through the bond or partner contributions.
Flood Control and the head engineers of each precinct have met weekly since then in an effort to identify a plan that everyone can agree to. The fact that the plan wasn’t attached to the agenda suggests they may not have agreed on it yet.
Uncertainty, Delays Could Jeopardize Additional Funding
Meanwhile, the uncertainty and delays could jeopardize even more funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via the Texas General Land Office (GLO).
In 2021, GLO Commissioner George P. Bush announced a $1.1 billion allocation of HUD funds for flood mitigation and disaster relief in Harris County.
But that money is available on a reimbursement basis only…after the County completes approved projects.
Out of that that money, the deadline expires on $327 million in February 2027. That leaves little time to actually build the 11 associated disaster-relief projects before the deadline.
The Mercer Basin now under construction is similar to those. It was supposed to take a year to build on an expedited basis. We are now at two years and counting. Construction is far from complete.
And the last of the 11 projects isn’t even scheduled to go out for BID until the SECOND quarter of next year.
No Good Options
Since February, Commissioners floated one possible option to deal with a shortfall. They voted to focus remaining funding only on the top quartile of projects in the bond when ranking them using the County’s 2022 Equity Prioritization Framework.
However, they later amended that vote because it would have potentially defunded projects that already had partnership dollars allocated to them.
I expect a lot of wailing and wringing of hands on Thursday. Unless they postpone the discussion again.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/14/25
2938 Days since Hurricane Harvey