Two more tropical systems are heading into the Gulf of Mexico this week. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicts the first, Tropical Storm Gamma, will hook around the Yucatan and then turn north Wednesday into Thursday. It should be in the central Bay of Campeche by Friday, still headed north.
Forecast Track for Tropical Storm Gamma
The NHC predicts the second, potential tropical cyclone #26, will intensify into a hurricane and reach the central Gulf Coast of the U.S. by Friday. While a wide range of uncertainty exists regarding its track, dangerous storm surge and coastal flooding from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle is almost a certainty, according the the NHC. Increasing swells and elevated tides will be possible along the Texas coast from mid- into late-week given both systems over the Gulf of Mexico, according to Jeff Lindner, Harris County meteorologist.
Potential Tropical Cyclone #26 should turn into Tropical Storm Delta on Monday then track NW, reaching hurricane strength before landfall.
Lindner also predicts Delta could become a Cat 2 or even a Cat 3 hurricane before reaching land.
No Impact Predicted for Texas At This Time
At this time (Sunday night, 10/4/2020 at 9:45PM), Lindner also feels that Houston area should feel no direct impacts from either TS Gamma or what will likely become TS Delta.
Double Trouble Again
Earlier this year, we had two tropical systems in the Gulf simultaneously. That was only the second time that occurred since 1933. Now it will occur again…in the SAME year with Gamma and what will become Delta. Meteorologists are already starting to talk about potential interaction between the tropical systems, the so-called Fujiwhara effect.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/4/2020 at 9:45 PM based on data from HCFCD and the NHC
1132 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/233230_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind.png?fit=897%2C736&ssl=1736897adminadmin2020-10-04 22:04:362020-10-04 22:04:48Two More Tropical Systems Heading Into Gulf This Week
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has fined Quadvest $5,625 for a 48,000-gallon sewage spill in Colony Ridge, a large and growing development in Liberty County near the San Jacinto East Fork and Plum Grove. Quadvest supplies water and sewer services for the development.
The violation occurred in Camino Real, a Colony Ridge subdivision with almost 3500 lots. It happened at a lift station approximately 1,000 feet north-northeast of the intersection of Paul Campbell Loop Road and Plum Drive.
Discharge with Bluish Color Kills Fish
The complainant alleged that the discharge had a bluish color and killed fish. The TCEQ complaint says people were exposed to unsafe levels of pollutants, however, no deaths were reported in relation to the incident except for fish.
Photo of discharge in Maple Branch Creek
TCEQ says Quadvest “failed to prevent the unauthorized discharge of wastewater into or adjacent to any water in the state. Specifically, on July 22, 2019, an electrical failure at Camino Real Lift Station-H located at 342 Road 5002 caused the pumps to fail, resulting in approximately 48,000 gallons of wastewater being discharged into Maple Branch Creek, killing approximately 30 fish.”
Cleanup and Fine Cost Quadvest More Than $105,000
In July, 2019, Quadvest cleaned up the mess. TCEQ estimated the cost at more than $100,000. Then in June 2020, Quadvest CEO Simon Sequeira agreed to pay an additional penalty of $5,625.
Previous Related Violations
During the year before the unauthorized discharge, the TCEQ issued four other notices of violations to Quadvest for:
Sewage overflowing from a manhole at an estimated rate of 10-25 gallons per minute
Failure to maintain an operational alarm system for emergency conditions
Twice failing to secure its lift station from intruders (August and November 2018)
Since this incident, other sewage problems have occurred in Colony Ridge. Stormwater can wash this fecal contamination into adjoining streams and bayous which empty into the East Fork and Lake Houston, the source of drinking water for 2 million people.
More Colony Ridge fecal contamination bubbling up from underground and flowing toward Tarkenton Bayou. Photo taken in June 2020.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/4/2020
1132 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 381 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.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Black-water.jpg?fit=1200%2C2133&ssl=121331200adminadmin2020-10-04 18:05:332020-10-04 18:05:56TCEQ Fines Quadvest for 48,000 Gallon Sewage Spill in Colony Ridge
The Army Corps has released its Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries Resiliency Study (BBTRS). This is a major, 210-page study of options to reduce flooding on the west side of Houston. One of the main options considered also affects the Lake Houston area on the north side: a dam on Cypress Creek. But it comes at a high environmental cost.
Preventing Water From Overflowing Out of Cypress Creek Watershed
You may remember during Harvey that floodwater spilled out of the upper Cypress Creek watershed and bridged over to the Addicks reservoir. From there, it added to flooding on the west side. So one of the alternatives that the Corps examined was a third reservoir on Cypress Creek. This reservoir would be built on the far west side, north of Addicks. It would benefit not only the entire Cypress Creek area, but areas downstream as well. Cypress Creek drains into Spring Creek and eventually the West Fork and Lake Houston.
Cypress Creek Dam and Reservoir (Alternative #2 in the study) would construct a new 190,000-acre foot reservoir upstream of Addicks in the Cypress watershed. One overflow spillway discharges into Cypress Creek, while a second discharges into the Addicks Watershed. The primary control structure would release into Cypress Creek. First costs for the Cypress Creek Dam are estimated at $2.14 billion to $2.90 billion. Ancillary measures bring the total cost to $4.5 to $6.1 billion.
Interim Mid-Point Report
The Corps’ report does not present final conclusions and recommendations. The report is a mid-point technical document for review prior to recommending a solution.
Loosely Structured Data Dump
As you might expect, this interim report is loosely structured and somewhat hard to follow. Possible reasons: more than 40 people wrote it and five different teams reviewed it. It does not include recommendations, that might provide structure or logic to the organization. Also, it examines many alternatives, both alone and in combination that make it somewhat difficult to follow. They put everything they considered in the document for public review and comment (see below).
Alternatives Examined
Alternatives that the Corps examined include:
Cypress Creek Dam
Upper Buffalo Bayou Dam, Ungated
Extending Additional Spillways within Barker and Addicks Reservoirs to increase storage
Raising Embankments of Addicks and Barker reservoirs to increase storage
Excavating Barker and Addicks reservoirs to increase storage
Constructing tunnels from 33 to 43 feet wide between Barker and the Ship Channel to increase conveyance
Constructing tunnels between 31 and 41 feet wide from the Barker to the Brazos
Diverting water from Barker to Brays Bayou
Widening 22 miles of Buffalo Bayou
The Corps also considered but discarded several other measures, including but not limited to:
Pumping Stations – were neither feasible, nor cost effective.
Injection wells – would not reduce flood risk.
Restoration and preservation of coastal prairies and wetlands – Restoration of one acre of prairie would offset the impact of two acres of single-family land use or an acre of commercial development. However, the land needed was outside of the authorized study area.
Criteria Used to Evaluate Structural Alternatives
The criteria used to evaluate the structural alternatives above included:
Rough order-of-magnitude costs (high, medium or low)
Potential for system-wide impacts (best professional judgment based on engineering, H&H)
Potential impacts to critical infrastructure (number of critical facilities that may be protected along with the number of roads that may be saved from impact)
Required mitigation (defined as the potential number of acres that may be required and categorized and from high to low)
Potential impacts to threatened and endangered species (defined as yes or no)
Impacts to populations (defined as yes or no)
The tables below show how they assessed each alternative on these measures.
Relative Merits of Leading Alternatives
The rest of the report tries to quantify the pros and cons of each of the flood-reduction plans (including combinations of individual measures). The table below summaries the relative merits of leading alternatives.
Safety and Cost Considerations
Because dams and dam modifications weigh heavily this this report, the Corps also included a lengthy discussion of dam safety measures.
However, the rest of the reports focuses on economic and environmental consequences of the proposed alternatives.
The economic consequences include homes or businesses that might have to be bought out and relocated, development that might be encouraged or excluded, the cost of repeat flooding, etc.
Being precise enough to rank order each alternative at this point in the analysis is difficult. However, the Corps does present enough information to help the reader understand the economic consequences of alternative plans.
Environmental Consequences of Cypress Creek Dam
To simplify the rest of this post, I will focus only on the Corps’ environmental concerns about the Cypress Creek Dam.
The Corps frets about implementing any proposed measures within Katy Prairie habitat. They point out, “The Katy Prairie is the last remaining coastal prairie in Harris County and less than 1 percent remains throughout the state. The Cypress Creek Reservoir would have enveloped and impacted nearly all of the known quality Katy Prairie habitat remaining.”
In regard to other environmental consequences of a Cypress Creek Reservoir, the Corps says:
“The Cypress Creek Reservoir would be most likely to induce development, particularly in areas where Cypress Creek overflows currently affect lands. While the Katy Prairie is not formally defined as a park or wildlife refuge, it has been identified by natural resource agencies (US Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife) and conservation groups (Katy Prairie Conservancy, Legacy Land Trust, and Sierra Club) as an area of special cultural and ecological significance. … It is estimated that less than 20,000 acres of Katy Prairie remain in Harris and Waller counties.”
Would Affect 75% of Remaining Katy Prairie
“Implementation of the Cypress Creek Reservoir would significantly alter and degrade more than 75 percent of the remaining range-wide Katy Prairie habitat and a significant portion of the actively managed and preserved remaining habitat. Approximately 90 percent (about 10,400 acres) of the project area is operating under Habitat Conservation Plans, including mitigation banks, in which funding has been provided to maintain and enhance Katy Prairie, stream, riparian, and wetland habitats in perpetuity.
“Construction and operation of the reservoir would prevent future development; however, the primary purpose of the project would be for flood risk management and not habitat conservation. Long-term operation of the project would change the hydrology of the area and make it very difficult to manage the land for conservation of the specific habitats and species.”
Impact on Conservation Easements
The Corps continues, “While it is not anticipated that the habitats would be completely lost, it is very likely that they would have lower habitat quality than under the existing condition or No Action Alternative. Additionally, construction and operation of the dam would violate a number of the conservation easements. Mitigation for the mitigation banks would be needed to ensure paid for credits are appropriately accounted.
“These impacts would also apply to approximately an additional 6,000 acres of Katy Prairie conservation lands that are immediately downstream of the embankment, where the embankment would sever hydrologic connections thereby affecting hydrologic regimes, sediment and nutrient inputs and fragmenting habitats. These indirect impacts would also cause the lands to underperform in expected habitat quality for conservation and could result in conflicts with the conservation easements and mitigation banks.”
Next Steps
It sounds as though the Corps initially wanted to discard the idea of a Cypress Creek Dam. However, it’s still on the table.
The Corps intends to review this document with cooperating agencies, such as Harris County Flood Control. It will also hold a series of public meetings via video conference.
Tuesday, October 13 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Thursday, October 15 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Thursday, October 22 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Monday, October 26 1:00 – 3:00 PM
You are invited to join any of these sessions to learn about the project and submit questions for future responses on the project website.
In the video meetings, the project team will summarize the project goals, the process and progress to date. This information may help inform any comments that you can provide during the comment period.
Written comments make your voice heard. Public comments can strengthen a decision by providing facts or perspectives that could be lacking in the original document. Your feedback helps create an accurate and comprehensive document that supports informed decision-making. You can comment via letter or email.
By postal mail, postmarked by November 2, 2020, to:
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Screen-Shot-2020-10-03-at-12.10.51-PM.png?fit=2076%2C1250&ssl=112502076adminadmin2020-10-03 14:54:032020-10-03 14:54:18Army Corps Proposes Solutions for Buffalo Bayou Flooding; One Could Affect Lake Houston Area
Two More Tropical Systems Heading Into Gulf This Week
Two more tropical systems are heading into the Gulf of Mexico this week. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicts the first, Tropical Storm Gamma, will hook around the Yucatan and then turn north Wednesday into Thursday. It should be in the central Bay of Campeche by Friday, still headed north.
The NHC predicts the second, potential tropical cyclone #26, will intensify into a hurricane and reach the central Gulf Coast of the U.S. by Friday. While a wide range of uncertainty exists regarding its track, dangerous storm surge and coastal flooding from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle is almost a certainty, according the the NHC. Increasing swells and elevated tides will be possible along the Texas coast from mid- into late-week given both systems over the Gulf of Mexico, according to Jeff Lindner, Harris County meteorologist.
Lindner also predicts Delta could become a Cat 2 or even a Cat 3 hurricane before reaching land.
No Impact Predicted for Texas At This Time
At this time (Sunday night, 10/4/2020 at 9:45PM), Lindner also feels that Houston area should feel no direct impacts from either TS Gamma or what will likely become TS Delta.
Double Trouble Again
Earlier this year, we had two tropical systems in the Gulf simultaneously. That was only the second time that occurred since 1933. Now it will occur again…in the SAME year with Gamma and what will become Delta. Meteorologists are already starting to talk about potential interaction between the tropical systems, the so-called Fujiwhara effect.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/4/2020 at 9:45 PM based on data from HCFCD and the NHC
1132 Days since Hurricane Harvey
TCEQ Fines Quadvest for 48,000 Gallon Sewage Spill in Colony Ridge
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has fined Quadvest $5,625 for a 48,000-gallon sewage spill in Colony Ridge, a large and growing development in Liberty County near the San Jacinto East Fork and Plum Grove. Quadvest supplies water and sewer services for the development.
The violation occurred in Camino Real, a Colony Ridge subdivision with almost 3500 lots. It happened at a lift station approximately 1,000 feet north-northeast of the intersection of Paul Campbell Loop Road and Plum Drive.
Discharge with Bluish Color Kills Fish
The complainant alleged that the discharge had a bluish color and killed fish. The TCEQ complaint says people were exposed to unsafe levels of pollutants, however, no deaths were reported in relation to the incident except for fish.
TCEQ says Quadvest “failed to prevent the unauthorized discharge of wastewater into or adjacent to any water in the state. Specifically, on July 22, 2019, an electrical failure at Camino Real Lift Station-H located at 342 Road 5002 caused the pumps to fail, resulting in approximately 48,000 gallons of wastewater being discharged into Maple Branch Creek, killing approximately 30 fish.”
Cleanup and Fine Cost Quadvest More Than $105,000
In July, 2019, Quadvest cleaned up the mess. TCEQ estimated the cost at more than $100,000. Then in June 2020, Quadvest CEO Simon Sequeira agreed to pay an additional penalty of $5,625.
Previous Related Violations
During the year before the unauthorized discharge, the TCEQ issued four other notices of violations to Quadvest for:
None of the violations was self-reported. Click here for the full TCEQ report.
Part of Larger Problem
Since this incident, other sewage problems have occurred in Colony Ridge. Stormwater can wash this fecal contamination into adjoining streams and bayous which empty into the East Fork and Lake Houston, the source of drinking water for 2 million people.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/4/2020
1132 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 381 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.
Army Corps Proposes Solutions for Buffalo Bayou Flooding; One Could Affect Lake Houston Area
The Army Corps has released its Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries Resiliency Study (BBTRS). This is a major, 210-page study of options to reduce flooding on the west side of Houston. One of the main options considered also affects the Lake Houston area on the north side: a dam on Cypress Creek. But it comes at a high environmental cost.
Preventing Water From Overflowing Out of Cypress Creek Watershed
You may remember during Harvey that floodwater spilled out of the upper Cypress Creek watershed and bridged over to the Addicks reservoir. From there, it added to flooding on the west side. So one of the alternatives that the Corps examined was a third reservoir on Cypress Creek. This reservoir would be built on the far west side, north of Addicks. It would benefit not only the entire Cypress Creek area, but areas downstream as well. Cypress Creek drains into Spring Creek and eventually the West Fork and Lake Houston.
Cypress Creek Dam and Reservoir (Alternative #2 in the study) would construct a new 190,000-acre foot reservoir upstream of Addicks in the Cypress watershed. One overflow spillway discharges into Cypress Creek, while a second discharges into the Addicks Watershed. The primary control structure would release into Cypress Creek. First costs for the Cypress Creek Dam are estimated at $2.14 billion to $2.90 billion. Ancillary measures bring the total cost to $4.5 to $6.1 billion.
Interim Mid-Point Report
Loosely Structured Data Dump
As you might expect, this interim report is loosely structured and somewhat hard to follow. Possible reasons: more than 40 people wrote it and five different teams reviewed it. It does not include recommendations, that might provide structure or logic to the organization. Also, it examines many alternatives, both alone and in combination that make it somewhat difficult to follow. They put everything they considered in the document for public review and comment (see below).
Alternatives Examined
Alternatives that the Corps examined include:
The Corps also considered but discarded several other measures, including but not limited to:
Criteria Used to Evaluate Structural Alternatives
The criteria used to evaluate the structural alternatives above included:
The tables below show how they assessed each alternative on these measures.
Relative Merits of Leading Alternatives
The rest of the report tries to quantify the pros and cons of each of the flood-reduction plans (including combinations of individual measures). The table below summaries the relative merits of leading alternatives.
Safety and Cost Considerations
Because dams and dam modifications weigh heavily this this report, the Corps also included a lengthy discussion of dam safety measures.
However, the rest of the reports focuses on economic and environmental consequences of the proposed alternatives.
The economic consequences include homes or businesses that might have to be bought out and relocated, development that might be encouraged or excluded, the cost of repeat flooding, etc.
Being precise enough to rank order each alternative at this point in the analysis is difficult. However, the Corps does present enough information to help the reader understand the economic consequences of alternative plans.
Environmental Consequences of Cypress Creek Dam
To simplify the rest of this post, I will focus only on the Corps’ environmental concerns about the Cypress Creek Dam.
The Corps frets about implementing any proposed measures within Katy Prairie habitat. They point out, “The Katy Prairie is the last remaining coastal prairie in Harris County and less than 1 percent remains throughout the state. The Cypress Creek Reservoir would have enveloped and impacted nearly all of the known quality Katy Prairie habitat remaining.”
In regard to other environmental consequences of a Cypress Creek Reservoir, the Corps says:
“The Cypress Creek Reservoir would be most likely to induce development, particularly in areas where Cypress Creek overflows currently affect lands.
While the Katy Prairie is not formally defined as a park or wildlife refuge, it has been identified by natural resource agencies (US Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife) and conservation groups (Katy Prairie Conservancy, Legacy Land Trust, and Sierra Club) as an area of special cultural and ecological significance. … It is estimated that less than 20,000 acres of Katy Prairie remain in Harris and Waller counties.”
Would Affect 75% of Remaining Katy Prairie
“Implementation of the Cypress Creek Reservoir would significantly alter and degrade more than 75 percent of the remaining range-wide Katy Prairie habitat and a significant portion of the actively managed and preserved remaining habitat. Approximately 90 percent (about 10,400 acres) of the project area is operating under Habitat Conservation Plans, including mitigation banks, in which funding has been provided to maintain and enhance Katy Prairie, stream, riparian, and wetland habitats in perpetuity.
“Construction and operation of the reservoir would prevent future development; however, the primary purpose of the project would be for flood risk management and not habitat conservation. Long-term operation of the project would change the hydrology of the area and make it very difficult to manage the land for conservation of the specific habitats and species.”
Impact on Conservation Easements
The Corps continues, “While it is not anticipated that the habitats would be completely lost, it is very likely that they would have lower habitat quality than under the existing condition or No Action Alternative. Additionally, construction and operation of the dam would violate a number of the conservation easements. Mitigation for the mitigation banks would be needed to ensure paid for credits are appropriately accounted.
“These impacts would also apply to approximately an additional 6,000 acres of Katy Prairie conservation lands that are immediately downstream of the embankment, where the embankment would sever hydrologic connections thereby affecting hydrologic regimes, sediment and nutrient inputs and fragmenting habitats. These indirect impacts would also cause the lands to underperform in expected habitat quality for conservation and could result in conflicts with the conservation easements and mitigation banks.”
Next Steps
It sounds as though the Corps initially wanted to discard the idea of a Cypress Creek Dam. However, it’s still on the table.
The Corps intends to review this document with cooperating agencies, such as Harris County Flood Control. It will also hold a series of public meetings via video conference.
You are invited to join any of these sessions to learn about the project and submit questions for future responses on the project website.
In the video meetings, the project team will summarize the project goals, the process and progress to date. This information may help inform any comments that you can provide during the comment period.
Presentation material will be posted on the Corps’ website.
For the full Interim report, click here. Warning: 210-page, 8-meg download.
Written Feedback Requested
Written comments make your voice heard. Public comments can strengthen a decision by providing facts or perspectives that could be lacking in the original document. Your feedback helps create an accurate and comprehensive document that supports informed decision-making. You can comment via letter or email.
By postal mail, postmarked by November 2, 2020, to:
By email to:
BBTRS@usace.army.mil
Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/3/2020
1131 Days after Hurricane Harvey