It was a cosmic coincidence. Last week, I was downloading pictures of townhomes devastated by Harvey in Forest Cove, when I received an email by a Kings Harbor resident. She was worried about identical townhomes now under construction in Kings Harbor.
According to former Forest Cove townhome resident Jennifer Parks, Harvey swept five of those buildings into the West Fork. Yet the new Kings Harbor townhomes are up to FIVE times closer to the river.
Here We Go Again
The new townhomes are going up less than 200 feet from a river that destroyed everything in its path less than three years ago with 240,000 raging cubic feet per second.
Five of the Forest Cove townhomes were swept into the river during Harvey. Harris County Flood Control is buying out and tearing down the rest which have become uninhabitable.
Now we have new townhomes going up in Kings Harbor – based on an identical design.
New townhome construction near the Kings Harbor parking garage.That’s the West Fork and the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge in the background.Every apartment building, townhome and business within two miles north of this location flooded during Harvey.Twelve seniors died at Kingwood Village Estates 1.2 miles north of here as a result of injuries sustained during Harvey evacuations or the heartbreak of losing their homes.Some new construction has been elevated to the 500-year flood plain (brown). But many new units are in the 100-year flood plain (aqua), about 190 feet from the floodway (cross-hatched). Source: FEMA national flood hazard layer viewer.
Cautionary Tale Just Upriver
The Forest Cove townhomes you see below were the lucky ones. Harvey’s floodwaters swept five off their foundations and into the river, according to former resident Jennifer Parks, who flooded eight times in five years.
Almost three years after Harvey, many Forest Cove townhomes have yet to be bought outand demolished, including those that subsequently burned.Floodwaters reportedly reached 17 to 22 feet into these townhomes, to the second, and in some cases the third floor.They left little but mold and reminders of a distant past.Today, the units that remain have become dumping grounds that the City cannot keep up with.Is this the future of Kings Harbor after the next big flood?
Chinese-Controlled Company Behind New Kings Harbor Townhomes
Foreign investors may be unfamiliar with the flooding history of such properties and even less familiar with the resources to investigate flooding history. Therefore, they may be especially vulnerable. Current residents have heard that the investors likely have no intent to live here and that they will rent the properties out.
The Trick to Permitting
After Harvey, how can owners possibly get permits to construct such properties? Turns out it’s simple. Even under the City’s new “stringent” Chapter 19 regulations. People will not live on the ground floor; that space is reserved only for vehicles.
Entire ground floor taken up by garages.
A spokesperson for the City of Houston said that, to get permitted, the first living floor needs to be at least two feet above the 500 year flood plain. Putting cars on the ground floor evidently creates the elevation needed.
Ironically, the people in Forest Cove thought that living one floor up made them safe, too.
Tangled Web of Chinese-Controlled Companies Behind New Construction
Wan Bridge is part of a tangled web of Chinese-controlled companies
Interestingly, Wan Bridge Group also has an interest in The Villas At Kings Harbor – just a block away from the townhomes shown above. There, Wan Bridge urges prospective tenants to Tour the Property Virtually AND Sign a Contract Virtually. That’s a convenient way to avoid answering difficult questions.
New Wan Bridge construction at Villas at Kings Harbor. Note elevation relative to street.
I spent half a day trying to untangle this web of companies and feel as though I just scratched the surface. More to follow.
Only one thing is certain at this point. If floodwaters ever ravage these townhomes and apartments the way they did in Forest Cove, the people responsible for constructing them will be well insulated. From a legal point of view, at least.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/11/2020
1047 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/2020/07/20200706-RJR_0115.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2020-07-11 19:41:432020-07-11 19:42:05Why We Fail to Learn the Lessons of History: Money Has a Short Memory
SJRA has applied for a $375,000 grant from the Texas Water Development Board’s (TWDB) Flood Infrastructure Fund to study sedimentation in a six county area:
Liberty
Waller
Grimes
San Jacinto
Harris
Montgomery
The City’s of Conroe and Houston also support the effort.
Sedimentation Known to Limit Floodway Conveyance
Sedimentation in the Upper San Jacinto River Basin says the SJRA, “…is known to impact floodway conveyance capacity.”
SJRA Grant Application
In order to create a plan for implementing potential sediment solutions, this study will develop “sediment budgets” by evaluating the input, output, and storage of sediment for the entire basin, as well as for sub-watersheds within the basin.
Identifying Largest Problem Areas
This process will identify which sub-watersheds in the basin:
Produce the most sediment
Store the most sediment.
With this information, the SJRA says it can prioritize locations for improvements, mitigate loss of floodway conveyance, and develop best management practices. In regard to the latter, changes of regulations could be considered.
Much Has Changed Since Last Study
KBR conducted the last study on this issue in 1998. Since then, we’ve seen exponential growth of sand mining and development in this watershed. Both have the capacity to change conclusions from the KBR study. So a new study is highly warranted.
Confluence of Spring Creek and West Fork. TCEQ alleges that Liberty Mines discharged 56 million gallons of white waste water into the West Fork.
What’s Included in Study?
Specific tasks anticipated to be included in the scope of work include, but are not necessarily limited to:
Upper San Jacinto River Basin watershed characterization
Inventory of available existing data
Annual sediment output determination
Annual sediment storage determination
Sediment transport modeling
Individual sediment source or storage locations determination
Individual site investigations
Key stakeholder and permitting agency coordination
Development of conceptual solutions and overall implementation strategy
Development of Upper San Jacinto River Basin sediment management plan
If approved, the grant would also include development of cost estimates, preliminary exhibits, and preliminary permitting requirement evaluation.
All identified projects, efforts, and practices will be ranked and included in an implementation plan. Ultimately all information will be compiled into a regional sediment management plan, which can guide mitigation efforts in the future.
Building on Other Recent Efforts
The project will take advantage of data and tools developed recently as part of the San Jacinto Regional Watershed Master Drainage Plan project (SJRWMDP) now nearing completion.
Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) leads that project. It utilizes Atlas 14 rainfall. The project will also utilize data developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Harris County while dredging sediment from the mouth of Lake Houston.
SJRA feels the proposed project will increase benefits gained from state and federal dredging efforts which total approximately $125 million.
Finally, this project will also build on a sand trap development project currently being performed by SJRA in coordination with HCFCD along the West and East Forks of the San Jacinto River. SJRA already submitted a separate abridged application for the next phase of the sand trap development project.
FOUR YEARS to Complete!@#$%
SJRA anticipates that this study will take 4 years to complete! It says the work will only take 18 months or less, but budgeting uncertainties related to COVID-19 will delay the start of the project. With seven partners, the matching funds demanded from each would only about to about $50,000.
However, this delay, says the SJRA, will allow completion of the sand trap preliminary design study so that the SJRA can use that information as input for the sedimentation study.
While this grant application covers only planning and study, it will identify sedimentation solutions, and guide future sedimentation reduction projects, efforts, and practices.
Helping Preserve Water Storage Capacity in Lake Houston
Any sedimentation reduction activity in the Upper San Jacinto River Basin (Lake Houston watershed) should reduce the sediment load entering Lake Houston. That would help preserve volume for water storage. Lake Houston is the main water supply reservoir for approximately 2 million people.
Until SJRA identifies sedimentation solutions, it cannot quantify sedimentation reduction benefits. One of the main goals, however, would be to restore, maintain, or expand storm flow capacity, which could potentially remove structures from the floodplain.
Flood mitigation provided by these future projects/efforts/practices could benefit areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Storm Imelda as well as other major storms such as Hurricanes Ike and Rita, and storms in 1994, 1998, 2015, and 2016.
The only thing I don’t like about this study is the three year delay due to COVID. It’s already been three years since Harvey.
Of five recent grants that SJRA applied for, this is the only one that mentions such a delay.
If six counties, the Cities of Conroe and Houston, and the SJRA can’t come up with $50,000 each in matching funds, something’s seriously wrong. It would take more than that to repair ONE flooded home in each of those municipalities and counties. And that makes me wonder whether hidden hands are intentionally delaying this important study.
West Fork Sand Mine cited by TCEQ for unauthorized discharge of 56 million gallons of sediment-laden waste water into West Fork San Jacinto.
If you get in a helicopter and fly around for a day, it’s pretty obvious where the problems are.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/11/2020
1047 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/20200421-RJR_0898.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2020-07-11 13:38:322020-07-11 14:37:37Details of SJRA Grant Application for Upper River Basin Sedimentation Study
Spring Creek enters the West Fork and Lake Houston at US59. The watershed extends west from there and covers portions of Montgomery, Harris, Grimes, and Waller Counties. Spring Creek itself acts as the county line between Harris and Montgomery Counties.
The Siting Study, still in draft form, has identified two potential locations. One is along Walnut Creek and the other on Birch Creek.
Both have potential to mitigate flooding in the watershed. SJRA anticipates the Master Watershed Drainage Plan will recommend them for implementation. See draft spec sheets below.
Draft Walnut Creek spec sheet supplied as part of grant applicationDraft Birch Creek spec sheet supplied as part of grant application
Notice that neither of these projects comes close to competing with the Barker or Addicks Reservoirs in terms of acre-feet of storage. At roughly 20,000 acre feet combined, they are roughly one twentieth the size of Barker and Addicks combined. That said, the proposed reservoirs could each still reduce flooding by up to half a foot for 25-40 miles downstream.
Grant Covers Everything Up Through Costing
The next phase of efforts related to the reservoirs will require, at a minimum:
Environmental due diligence
Site investigations
Literature and mapping review
Permitting requirement investigations
Desktop surveys/assessments
Preliminary coordination with permitting agency
Conceptual design of dams to determine feasibility – geotechnical borings, alternative configurations development, H&H modeling analysis, etc.
Cost estimate development – dam construction costs, as well as costs related to land acquisition, utility conflicts and relocations, environmental mitigation, O&M, etc.
Update benefit/cost ratios (BCR) from SJRWMDP using data developed as part of this effort.
Completion of these tasks will determine feasibility and cost-effectiveness. The grant will also help determine what should proceed to preliminary engineering, final design and construction.
Upstream Benefits of Project
Spring Creek watershed flood mitigation will benefit all areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey, as well as storms in 2016 (Tax Day and Memorial Day), 1994, Tropical Storm Imelda and other recent and historical events.
The most substantial benefits would accrue to structures within the Spring Creek Watershed. SJRA estimates the Birch and Walnut Creek reservoirs could remove 918 and 1,412 structures, from the 100-year floodplain based on Atlas-14 data.
Preliminary benefit/cost ratio (BCR) estimates range from 0.55-0.83 for Birch Creek to 0.78-1.06 for Walnut. However, SJRA feels the combined BCR of the two reservoirs could increase to 2.7 if social benefits typically allowed in FEMA grants are also included.
Downstream Benefits
Project benefits also extend farther downstream. In the event of major storms, the dams could delay water migrating downstream. That would help protect thousands of homes and businesses in the Lake Houston convergence zone. Remember the Plea for DDG (Detention, Dredging and Gates)? Adding to upstream detention was one of the three main strategies advocated by Lake Houston Area leaders after Harvey to reduce flooding.
The proposed dams will likely be earthen embankments with minimal permanent storage (i.e. “dry bottom” reservoirs) with and uncontrolled discharge structures and spillways.
Therefore, they will provide no water supply benefit. However, they could collect and trap sediment, which would otherwise flow into Spring Creek, the West Fork, and ultimately Lake Houston. That would reduce the loss of water storage in Lake Houston.
Timing and Partners
SJRA says it can complete the study within 18 months, but future design and construction will take longer.
SJRA will submit a separate application for an Upper San Jacinto River Basin Regional Sedimentation Study. If funded, it could help determine how much sediment the proposed dams could remove.
SJRA has not yet identified funding for operations and maintenance. This grant will not cover land acquisition, but will ultimately be required to implement construction.
For this specific application, SJRA received input from HCFCD, Harris County Precinct 4, Harris-Montgomery Counties MUD 386, Montgomery County, and Woodlands Water Agency.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Birch-Dam.jpg?fit=981%2C1200&ssl=11200981adminadmin2020-07-10 18:29:582020-07-10 18:30:10SJRA Applies for TWDB Grant to Study Feasibility of Flood Control Dams in Spring Creek Watershed
Why We Fail to Learn the Lessons of History: Money Has a Short Memory
It was a cosmic coincidence. Last week, I was downloading pictures of townhomes devastated by Harvey in Forest Cove, when I received an email by a Kings Harbor resident. She was worried about identical townhomes now under construction in Kings Harbor.
The Kings Harbor townhomes under construction are about four miles downstream from Forest Cove, where many people barely escaped Harvey with their lives.
Here We Go Again
The new townhomes are going up less than 200 feet from a river that destroyed everything in its path less than three years ago with 240,000 raging cubic feet per second.
Five of the Forest Cove townhomes were swept into the river during Harvey. Harris County Flood Control is buying out and tearing down the rest which have become uninhabitable.
Now we have new townhomes going up in Kings Harbor – based on an identical design.
Cautionary Tale Just Upriver
The Forest Cove townhomes you see below were the lucky ones. Harvey’s floodwaters swept five off their foundations and into the river, according to former resident Jennifer Parks, who flooded eight times in five years.
Chinese-Controlled Company Behind New Kings Harbor Townhomes
A company called Wan Bridge is developing the new townhomes in the Kings Harbor area.
Wan Bridge has also announced plans to build 400-600 sf studio “lakeside” units priced from $190,000 in this area.
According to current residents, the Chinese-controlled company brought in vans and limos full of Chinese investors to tour the area every weekend for a year.
Foreign investors may be unfamiliar with the flooding history of such properties and even less familiar with the resources to investigate flooding history. Therefore, they may be especially vulnerable. Current residents have heard that the investors likely have no intent to live here and that they will rent the properties out.
The Trick to Permitting
After Harvey, how can owners possibly get permits to construct such properties? Turns out it’s simple. Even under the City’s new “stringent” Chapter 19 regulations. People will not live on the ground floor; that space is reserved only for vehicles.
Ironically, the people in Forest Cove thought that living one floor up made them safe, too.
Tangled Web of Chinese-Controlled Companies Behind New Construction
Wan Bridge is part of a tangled web of Chinese-controlled companies
Harris County Appraisal District shows that another company called Forney 56 LLC owns some of the property above (where the concrete will soon be poured). Jackson Su is the registered agent for Forney 56 and also a managing partner of Wan Bridge. Forney is a city outside of Dallas where Wan Bridge has another development.
The reference to “Wan” in the name likely stems from Bin Wan, the company’s CFO.
Another man listed on the Wan Bridge website, Ting Qiao, holds the title of President and CEO of Wan Bridge. He’s also listed as manager of Ting Qiao Capital Management LLC.
Interestingly, Wan Bridge Group also has an interest in The Villas At Kings Harbor – just a block away from the townhomes shown above. There, Wan Bridge urges prospective tenants to Tour the Property Virtually AND Sign a Contract Virtually. That’s a convenient way to avoid answering difficult questions.
I spent half a day trying to untangle this web of companies and feel as though I just scratched the surface. More to follow.
Only one thing is certain at this point. If floodwaters ever ravage these townhomes and apartments the way they did in Forest Cove, the people responsible for constructing them will be well insulated. From a legal point of view, at least.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/11/2020
1047 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.
Details of SJRA Grant Application for Upper River Basin Sedimentation Study
SJRA has applied for a $375,000 grant from the Texas Water Development Board’s (TWDB) Flood Infrastructure Fund to study sedimentation in a six county area:
The City’s of Conroe and Houston also support the effort.
Sedimentation Known to Limit Floodway Conveyance
In order to create a plan for implementing potential sediment solutions, this study will develop “sediment budgets” by evaluating the input, output, and storage of sediment for the entire basin, as well as for sub-watersheds within the basin.
Identifying Largest Problem Areas
This process will identify which sub-watersheds in the basin:
With this information, the SJRA says it can prioritize locations for improvements, mitigate loss of floodway conveyance, and develop best management practices. In regard to the latter, changes of regulations could be considered.
Much Has Changed Since Last Study
KBR conducted the last study on this issue in 1998. Since then, we’ve seen exponential growth of sand mining and development in this watershed. Both have the capacity to change conclusions from the KBR study. So a new study is highly warranted.
What’s Included in Study?
Specific tasks anticipated to be included in the scope of work include, but are not necessarily limited to:
If approved, the grant would also include development of cost estimates, preliminary exhibits, and preliminary permitting requirement evaluation.
All identified projects, efforts, and practices will be ranked and included in an implementation plan. Ultimately all information will be compiled into a regional sediment management plan, which can guide mitigation efforts in the future.
Building on Other Recent Efforts
The project will take advantage of data and tools developed recently as part of the San Jacinto Regional Watershed Master Drainage Plan project (SJRWMDP) now nearing completion.
Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) leads that project. It utilizes Atlas 14 rainfall. The project will also utilize data developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Harris County while dredging sediment from the mouth of Lake Houston.
SJRA feels the proposed project will increase benefits gained from state and federal dredging efforts which total approximately $125 million.
Finally, this project will also build on a sand trap development project currently being performed by SJRA in coordination with HCFCD along the West and East Forks of the San Jacinto River. SJRA already submitted a separate abridged application for the next phase of the sand trap development project.
FOUR YEARS to Complete!@#$%
SJRA anticipates that this study will take 4 years to complete! It says the work will only take 18 months or less, but budgeting uncertainties related to COVID-19 will delay the start of the project. With seven partners, the matching funds demanded from each would only about to about $50,000.
However, this delay, says the SJRA, will allow completion of the sand trap preliminary design study so that the SJRA can use that information as input for the sedimentation study.
While this grant application covers only planning and study, it will identify sedimentation solutions, and guide future sedimentation reduction projects, efforts, and practices.
Helping Preserve Water Storage Capacity in Lake Houston
Any sedimentation reduction activity in the Upper San Jacinto River Basin (Lake Houston watershed) should reduce the sediment load entering Lake Houston. That would help preserve volume for water storage. Lake Houston is the main water supply reservoir for approximately 2 million people.
Flood mitigation provided by these future projects/efforts/practices could benefit areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Storm Imelda as well as other major storms such as Hurricanes Ike and Rita, and storms in 1994, 1998, 2015, and 2016.
To review the full application, click here.
To review related applications submitted by SJRA to TWDB, click the Reports page and scroll to the bottom of the SJRA tab.
Four Years Is WAAAAY Too Long
The only thing I don’t like about this study is the three year delay due to COVID. It’s already been three years since Harvey.
If six counties, the Cities of Conroe and Houston, and the SJRA can’t come up with $50,000 each in matching funds, something’s seriously wrong. It would take more than that to repair ONE flooded home in each of those municipalities and counties. And that makes me wonder whether hidden hands are intentionally delaying this important study.
If you get in a helicopter and fly around for a day, it’s pretty obvious where the problems are.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/11/2020
1047 Days after Hurricane Harvey
SJRA Applies for TWDB Grant to Study Feasibility of Flood Control Dams in Spring Creek Watershed
The San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) has applied for a $500,000 grant from the Texas Water Development Board’s Flood Infrastructure Fund to study the possibility of building two flood control dams in the upper Spring Creek Watershed.
Spring Creek enters the West Fork and Lake Houston at US59. The watershed extends west from there and covers portions of Montgomery, Harris, Grimes, and Waller Counties. Spring Creek itself acts as the county line between Harris and Montgomery Counties.
Feasibility Study Would Build on Basin-Wide Study
The proposed project builds on a Spring Creek Siting Study, currently underway as part of the San Jacinto Regional Watershed Master Drainage Plan project. The latter should be released this fall.
Both have potential to mitigate flooding in the watershed. SJRA anticipates the Master Watershed Drainage Plan will recommend them for implementation. See draft spec sheets below.
Notice that neither of these projects comes close to competing with the Barker or Addicks Reservoirs in terms of acre-feet of storage. At roughly 20,000 acre feet combined, they are roughly one twentieth the size of Barker and Addicks combined. That said, the proposed reservoirs could each still reduce flooding by up to half a foot for 25-40 miles downstream.
Grant Covers Everything Up Through Costing
The next phase of efforts related to the reservoirs will require, at a minimum:
Completion of these tasks will determine feasibility and cost-effectiveness. The grant will also help determine what should proceed to preliminary engineering, final design and construction.
Upstream Benefits of Project
Spring Creek watershed flood mitigation will benefit all areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey, as well as storms in 2016 (Tax Day and Memorial Day), 1994, Tropical Storm Imelda and other recent and historical events.
The most substantial benefits would accrue to structures within the Spring Creek Watershed. SJRA estimates the Birch and Walnut Creek reservoirs could remove 918 and 1,412 structures, from the 100-year floodplain based on Atlas-14 data.
Preliminary benefit/cost ratio (BCR) estimates range from 0.55-0.83 for Birch Creek to 0.78-1.06 for Walnut. However, SJRA feels the combined BCR of the two reservoirs could increase to 2.7 if social benefits typically allowed in FEMA grants are also included.
Downstream Benefits
Project benefits also extend farther downstream. In the event of major storms, the dams could delay water migrating downstream. That would help protect thousands of homes and businesses in the Lake Houston convergence zone. Remember the Plea for DDG (Detention, Dredging and Gates)? Adding to upstream detention was one of the three main strategies advocated by Lake Houston Area leaders after Harvey to reduce flooding.
Therefore, they will provide no water supply benefit. However, they could collect and trap sediment, which would otherwise flow into Spring Creek, the West Fork, and ultimately Lake Houston. That would reduce the loss of water storage in Lake Houston.
Timing and Partners
SJRA says it can complete the study within 18 months, but future design and construction will take longer.
SJRA will submit a separate application for an Upper San Jacinto River Basin Regional Sedimentation Study. If funded, it could help determine how much sediment the proposed dams could remove.
SJRA has not yet identified funding for operations and maintenance. This grant will not cover land acquisition, but will ultimately be required to implement construction.
For this specific application, SJRA received input from HCFCD, Harris County Precinct 4, Harris-Montgomery Counties MUD 386, Montgomery County, and Woodlands Water Agency.
To review the complete grant application, click here.
Next Steps
This is an abridged application. TWDB reviews abridged applications to rank the most important projects and ensure they have funding for them. If the abridged app is approved, SJRA must complete a more thorough application. TWDB will pass judgement on those before the end of the year.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/10/2020
1046 Days after Hurricane Harvey