FEMA defines base flood elevation as “The elevation of surface water resulting from a flood that has a 1% chance of equaling or exceeding that level in any given year.” In other words, it’s how deep the water would be in a 100-year flood at any given spot.
Let’s take a look at each.
Texas Watershed Viewer
The Texas Watershed Viewer lets users identify local watersheds, sub-watersheds, river basins, and river sub-basins throughout the State of Texas.
To find your watershed and river basin, simply type your address into the search bar and press enter. The map will zoom into the address. From here, click anywhere on the map and the name of the sub watershed will appear. If you click the next arrow on the feature label, the name of the watershed will appear. If you click the next arrow again, the name of the river sub basin will appear followed by the larger river basin.
Clicking on Caney Creek showed the extent of the watershed. Clicking on the arrow within the green bar at the top of the info box changes the outline to match the river sub-basin or basin.
This lets you quickly visualize the extent of a watershed so you can see where water is coming from and going to.
After you click on map to see the feature’s name, you can view the geographic extent of the sub watershed, watershed, river sub basin, and river basin, by clicking the minus sign on the top left corner to zoom out from the address level to the boundaries of the other features. The boundaries of these features will be light blue.
Other Texas Watershed Viewer tools
Zoom: You can zoom in on your neighborhood or zoom out to the entire state of Texas.
Layers: adds the layers window in the top right corner. You can turn the layers on and off by click on the check box.
Basemap gallery: lets you change the basemap of the viewer. The topographic map, for instance, is a useful layer because river, lakes, and streams are labeled.
Measure: lets you measure the distance from your home to a water feature.
Share: lets you show your friends what you see on social media.
Print: lets you print out a copy for your records.
Uses
This site helps viewers understand where water comes from and how it converges. As land is cleared and leveled, it also helps you understand where streams used to flow. (Note: This feature only works until background maps are updated, however.)
One reader used this feature to show how a developer had filled in natural drainage on the developer’s property and blocked off drainage from the reader’s subdivision. With three potential tropical systems moving in our direction at this moment, that information could be very useful if his home floods and he needs to call a lawyer.
Using the topographic base layer, you can also predict where and how runoff will flow during a flood. Many homes near the East Fork flooded during Imelda when Caney Creek captured the Triple PG mine and started flowing south through an area where several other creeks converge. Homeowners report being flooded from overland flow before the creek rose. The topographic feature shows the path that the water likely took.
Those who have a passion for understanding the physical world around them could spend days exploring this website.
Legend shows estimated water depths in image above.
Like most flood maps of this sort, you can turn layers on and off and change base maps.
For instance, by clicking buttons, you can have it show the estimated flood extent and depths for a 1%-chance flood and a .02%-chance flood. You can also view stream center lines, cross sections, and view detailed information on flood insurance rate maps.
You can even activate a split screen mode and compare different features side by side, i.e., ten and hundred year flood extents.
The point of this whole site is to understand not just the extent of floods, but their DEPTH as well.
Uses
FEMA says information from this site helps:
Inform personal risk decisions related to the purchase of flood insurance and coverage levels.
Inform local and individual building and construction approaches.
Prepare local risk assessments, Hazard Mitigation Plans, Land Use Plans, etc.
Prepare information for Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) submittals.
Helpful Where Flood Maps Not Yet Available
The BLE (Base Level Engineering) Data in this website provides flood hazard information where flood insurance rate maps may not yet be available. We saw this, for instance, in Woodridge Village (north of Elm Grove) where flood maps stopped at the Harris/Montgomery county line. LJA Engineering claimed there were no floodplain issues on the Montgomery County side of the line. In fact, most of the Woodridge Village was in a flood plain as you can clearly see below; it just had not been mapped yet.
Compare that to FEMA’s Flood Hazard Layer Viewer below and you will immediately see the difference.
FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer Viewer shows danger stopping abruptly at the county line.
FEMA’s estimated base-flood elevation viewer helps reputable land developers identify flood risk, expected flood elevation, and estimated flood depth where Base Level Engineering has been prepared (i.e., as in the Lake Houston Area).
Reportedly, the information in this tool is not yet Atlas-14 compliant. But it’s still better than nothing.
“Buyer Aware”
The more tools you have to evaluate the purchase of insurance and property, the safer you will be.
No one tool can do everything. But together, the can make you “buyer aware.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/20/2020
1087 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 335 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/2020/08/Screen-Shot-2020-08-19-at-10.30.14-PM.png?fit=1422%2C1080&ssl=110801422adminadmin2020-08-19 23:17:552020-08-19 23:39:41Two More Websites That Help You Understand Drainage and Flood Risk
Three lawsuits representing a total of approximately 1700 plaintiffs against more than 50 San-Jacinto-River-Basin sand mines have been joined in Multi-District Litigation (MDL). The lawsuits each arose out of flooding during Hurricane Harvey. Particulars of each suit vary slightly, but they all have common elements.
Basis for Lawsuits
At a high level, plaintiffs allege that the sand mines failed to take steps that reduced discharge of sediment, silt and sand. Floodwaters then carried sediment from the mines downstream, they say, where it clogged the river, backed water up, and contributed to flooding of plaintiffs’ homes and businesses.
Sand mines inundated in the floodway of the west fork of the San Jacinto during Hurricane Harvey in 2017
Plaintiffs allege negligence, gross negligence, negligence per se and nuisance. They seek exemplary damages.
First Suit Filed in 2018; Two More Intervene in 2020
Spurlock and Webster filed the Ellisor Lawsuit in 2018. The Potts Firm, and Arnold and Itkin intervened in the Ellisor suit in August of 2019 just before the statute of limitations ran out, but due to some procedural rulings later re-filed separate suits in February of this year.
The Ellisor suit had been in the works for 18 months when the Del Pino and Nelson cases were filed. In law, “intervening” means obtaining the court’s permission to enter into a lawsuit which has already started between other parties and to file a complaint stating the basis for a claim in the existing lawsuit.
However, the other suits had some plaintiffs from jurisdictions other than Harris County. So instead of just consolidating the lawsuits, defendants filed a motion with the Texas Supreme Court requesting multi-district litigation. Defendants and plaintiffs also wrestled over procedural issues such as jurisdiction, venue, dismissal, the judge, and more.
Supreme Court Mandates Multi-District Litigation
As usually happens with multiple suits in different counties, the Supreme Court ordered one judge to oversee all of the cases to ensure rulings were consistent. A “stay order” put everything on hold for months. Webster and Spurlock have not been able to move their case forward until these other issues were worked out.
The Texas Supreme Court appointed former Judge Sylvia Matthews to hear pretrial motions on all the cases.
Judge Matthews has reportedly ordered a status conference with all parties after Labor Day to discuss outstanding issues. If and when the cases go to trial, they go back to the original trial court.
“Now that the stay has been lifted, we’re hoping that we’ll be able to start moving forward with discovery,” said Kim Spurlock, one of the lawyers in the Ellisor case.
New Case Number
The three cases in the Multi-District Litigation have been consolidated under a new Master File for those seeking information about them in the future.
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/2018/06/Screen-Shot-2018-06-21-at-10.07.29-AM.png?fit=2496%2C1648&ssl=116482496adminadmin2020-08-17 20:56:322020-11-30 20:26:47Approximately 1,700 Plaintiffs in Three Lawsuits Against Sand Mines Now Joined in Multi-District Litigation
On August 12, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Commissioners voted unanimously to initiate a rule-making process that would establish best management practices for commercial sand mining in the San Jacinto River watershed.
Meer feet separate the Hanson Aggregate mine from the San Jacinto West Fork. The integrity of dikes and setbacks from the river have become a major point of contention between the public and miners since Harvey.Photo taken late June.
Joint TACA/Lake Houston Area Request
In June, 2020, both TACA and the Lake Houston Area Grassroots Flood Prevention Initiative presented petitions to have the TCEQ establish best practices. Though the two sides have not agreed on important provisions, such as setbacks from the river and reclamation, the start of the process is a positive step.
After the commission secretary announced the agenda items, Mr. Josh Leftwich of TACA spoke on behalf of the measure. Mr. Leftwich took over as president and CEO of TACA on June 15, from David Perkins. (Mr. Perkins joined Lehigh Hanson, an aggregate company, as the Vice President of Government Affairs.)
No one for the Lake Houston Area spoke on behalf of the proposal.
Rebecca Vialva, executive director of the TCEQ Water Quality Division explained that both sides of this debate submitted separate but similar petitions in June. They requested the agency to establish a rule making process with stakeholder involvement to ensure adequate environmental protection. Ms. Vialva explained that her Water Quality Division supported that.
Vic McWherter, from the Commission’s Office of Public Interest Counsel, also supported the idea.
No one asked questions.
Rule-Making Process Not Same as Adopting Specific Rules
Before taking a vote, Jon Niermann, Chairman of the Commission, explained that initiating a rule-making process was not the same as adopting specific rules. It does not commit to any specific rules or outcomes. It simply starts a public dialog.
All three commissioners, Jon Niermann, Emily Lindley, and Bobby Janecka, voted to start the process.
Model for Rest of State?
Both Mr. Janecka and Mr. Niermann expressed wishes that Best Management Practices for the San Jacinto Watershed could become a model for the rest of the state.
Lake Houston Leaders Urge Public to Engage
Dave Feille and Bill McCabe, leaders of the Lake Houston Area Grass Roots Flood Prevention Initiative, sent out an email this morning. In it, they called the TCEQ decision “a major step forward.” However, they were quick to add, “Not surprisingly, the Petitions differed in some key areas and these will be addressed and consolidated in the rule-making stage of the process.”
“We would encourage all stakeholders to become involved in the rule-making process by following the progress of our Petition at: https://www.tceq.texas.gov/rules/participate.html,” said Feille and McCabe.
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/2019/12/Liberty-Breach-12.3.19.jpg?fit=1200%2C913&ssl=19131200adminadmin2020-08-16 19:33:422020-08-16 19:53:37TCEQ Commissioners Vote to Start Rule-Making Process for Sand Mining Best Practices in San Jacinto Watershed
Two More Websites That Help You Understand Drainage and Flood Risk
Today, readers sent me links to two more websites that help you understand drainage and flood risk. The first by Texas Parks & Wildlife is called the Texas Watershed Viewer. The second is a FEMA site that estimates base flood elevations based on USGS data.
FEMA defines base flood elevation as “The elevation of surface water resulting from a flood that has a 1% chance of equaling or exceeding that level in any given year.” In other words, it’s how deep the water would be in a 100-year flood at any given spot.
Let’s take a look at each.
Texas Watershed Viewer
The Texas Watershed Viewer lets users identify local watersheds, sub-watersheds, river basins, and river sub-basins throughout the State of Texas.
To find your watershed and river basin, simply type your address into the search bar and press enter. The map will zoom into the address. From here, click anywhere on the map and the name of the sub watershed will appear. If you click the next arrow on the feature label, the name of the watershed will appear. If you click the next arrow again, the name of the river sub basin will appear followed by the larger river basin.
This lets you quickly visualize the extent of a watershed so you can see where water is coming from and going to.
After you click on map to see the feature’s name, you can view the geographic extent of the sub watershed, watershed, river sub basin, and river basin, by clicking the minus sign on the top left corner to zoom out from the address level to the boundaries of the other features. The boundaries of these features will be light blue.
Other Texas Watershed Viewer tools
Zoom: You can zoom in on your neighborhood or zoom out to the entire state of Texas.
Layers: adds the layers window in the top right corner. You can turn the layers on and off by click on the check box.
Basemap gallery: lets you change the basemap of the viewer. The topographic map, for instance, is a useful layer because river, lakes, and streams are labeled.
Measure: lets you measure the distance from your home to a water feature.
Share: lets you show your friends what you see on social media.
Print: lets you print out a copy for your records.
Uses
This site helps viewers understand where water comes from and how it converges. As land is cleared and leveled, it also helps you understand where streams used to flow. (Note: This feature only works until background maps are updated, however.)
One reader used this feature to show how a developer had filled in natural drainage on the developer’s property and blocked off drainage from the reader’s subdivision. With three potential tropical systems moving in our direction at this moment, that information could be very useful if his home floods and he needs to call a lawyer.
Using the topographic base layer, you can also predict where and how runoff will flow during a flood. Many homes near the East Fork flooded during Imelda when Caney Creek captured the Triple PG mine and started flowing south through an area where several other creeks converge. Homeowners report being flooded from overland flow before the creek rose. The topographic feature shows the path that the water likely took.
Those who have a passion for understanding the physical world around them could spend days exploring this website.
FEMA Estimated Base Flood Elevation Viewer
Like most flood maps of this sort, you can turn layers on and off and change base maps.
For instance, by clicking buttons, you can have it show the estimated flood extent and depths for a 1%-chance flood and a .02%-chance flood. You can also view stream center lines, cross sections, and view detailed information on flood insurance rate maps.
You can even activate a split screen mode and compare different features side by side, i.e., ten and hundred year flood extents.
The point of this whole site is to understand not just the extent of floods, but their DEPTH as well.
Uses
FEMA says information from this site helps:
Helpful Where Flood Maps Not Yet Available
The BLE (Base Level Engineering) Data in this website provides flood hazard information where flood insurance rate maps may not yet be available. We saw this, for instance, in Woodridge Village (north of Elm Grove) where flood maps stopped at the Harris/Montgomery county line. LJA Engineering claimed there were no floodplain issues on the Montgomery County side of the line. In fact, most of the Woodridge Village was in a flood plain as you can clearly see below; it just had not been mapped yet.
Compare that to FEMA’s Flood Hazard Layer Viewer below and you will immediately see the difference.
FEMA’s estimated base-flood elevation viewer helps reputable land developers identify flood risk, expected flood elevation, and estimated flood depth where Base Level Engineering has been prepared (i.e., as in the Lake Houston Area).
Reportedly, the information in this tool is not yet Atlas-14 compliant. But it’s still better than nothing.
“Buyer Aware”
The more tools you have to evaluate the purchase of insurance and property, the safer you will be.
No one tool can do everything. But together, the can make you “buyer aware.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/20/2020
1087 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 335 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.
Approximately 1,700 Plaintiffs in Three Lawsuits Against Sand Mines Now Joined in Multi-District Litigation
Three lawsuits representing a total of approximately 1700 plaintiffs against more than 50 San-Jacinto-River-Basin sand mines have been joined in Multi-District Litigation (MDL). The lawsuits each arose out of flooding during Hurricane Harvey. Particulars of each suit vary slightly, but they all have common elements.
Basis for Lawsuits
At a high level, plaintiffs allege that the sand mines failed to take steps that reduced discharge of sediment, silt and sand. Floodwaters then carried sediment from the mines downstream, they say, where it clogged the river, backed water up, and contributed to flooding of plaintiffs’ homes and businesses.
The three lawsuits include:
Plaintiffs allege negligence, gross negligence, negligence per se and nuisance. They seek exemplary damages.
First Suit Filed in 2018; Two More Intervene in 2020
Spurlock and Webster filed the Ellisor Lawsuit in 2018. The Potts Firm, and Arnold and Itkin intervened in the Ellisor suit in August of 2019 just before the statute of limitations ran out, but due to some procedural rulings later re-filed separate suits in February of this year.
The Ellisor suit had been in the works for 18 months when the Del Pino and Nelson cases were filed. In law, “intervening” means obtaining the court’s permission to enter into a lawsuit which has already started between other parties and to file a complaint stating the basis for a claim in the existing lawsuit.
However, the other suits had some plaintiffs from jurisdictions other than Harris County. So instead of just consolidating the lawsuits, defendants filed a motion with the Texas Supreme Court requesting multi-district litigation. Defendants and plaintiffs also wrestled over procedural issues such as jurisdiction, venue, dismissal, the judge, and more.
Supreme Court Mandates Multi-District Litigation
The Texas Supreme Court appointed former Judge Sylvia Matthews to hear pretrial motions on all the cases.
Judge Matthews has reportedly ordered a status conference with all parties after Labor Day to discuss outstanding issues. If and when the cases go to trial, they go back to the original trial court.
“Now that the stay has been lifted, we’re hoping that we’ll be able to start moving forward with discovery,” said Kim Spurlock, one of the lawyers in the Ellisor case.
New Case Number
The three cases in the Multi-District Litigation have been consolidated under a new Master File for those seeking information about them in the future.
See: Harvey Sand Litigation, Harris County 281st District Court, MDL 19-0500, Cause No. 2020-48333.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/17/2020
1084 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.
TCEQ Commissioners Vote to Start Rule-Making Process for Sand Mining Best Practices in San Jacinto Watershed
On August 12, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Commissioners voted unanimously to initiate a rule-making process that would establish best management practices for commercial sand mining in the San Jacinto River watershed.
Joint TACA/Lake Houston Area Request
In June, 2020, both TACA and the Lake Houston Area Grassroots Flood Prevention Initiative presented petitions to have the TCEQ establish best practices. Though the two sides have not agreed on important provisions, such as setbacks from the river and reclamation, the start of the process is a positive step.
Seven Minutes of Deliberation
You can watch the discussion among the commissioners on YouTube. Items 29 and 30 on the agenda (the two petitions) start at approximately 17 minutes into the meeting. Discussion lasts about 7 minutes.
After the commission secretary announced the agenda items, Mr. Josh Leftwich of TACA spoke on behalf of the measure. Mr. Leftwich took over as president and CEO of TACA on June 15, from David Perkins. (Mr. Perkins joined Lehigh Hanson, an aggregate company, as the Vice President of Government Affairs.)
No one for the Lake Houston Area spoke on behalf of the proposal.
Rebecca Vialva, executive director of the TCEQ Water Quality Division explained that both sides of this debate submitted separate but similar petitions in June. They requested the agency to establish a rule making process with stakeholder involvement to ensure adequate environmental protection. Ms. Vialva explained that her Water Quality Division supported that.
Vic McWherter, from the Commission’s Office of Public Interest Counsel, also supported the idea.
No one asked questions.
Rule-Making Process Not Same as Adopting Specific Rules
Before taking a vote, Jon Niermann, Chairman of the Commission, explained that initiating a rule-making process was not the same as adopting specific rules. It does not commit to any specific rules or outcomes. It simply starts a public dialog.
All three commissioners, Jon Niermann, Emily Lindley, and Bobby Janecka, voted to start the process.
Model for Rest of State?
Both Mr. Janecka and Mr. Niermann expressed wishes that Best Management Practices for the San Jacinto Watershed could become a model for the rest of the state.
Lake Houston Leaders Urge Public to Engage
Dave Feille and Bill McCabe, leaders of the Lake Houston Area Grass Roots Flood Prevention Initiative, sent out an email this morning. In it, they called the TCEQ decision “a major step forward.” However, they were quick to add, “Not surprisingly, the Petitions differed in some key areas and these will be addressed and consolidated in the rule-making stage of the process.”
“We would encourage all stakeholders to become involved in the rule-making process by following the progress of our Petition at: https://www.tceq.texas.gov/rules/participate.html,” said Feille and McCabe.
Efforts to establish best practices for sand mining died in committee in the state legislature last year. Let’s hope this has a better outcome.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/16/2020
1083 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.