I have received a flood of emails lately from people complaining about the sudden explosion of crayfish in their yards this year. The worst cases seem to be in yards that flooded last year, either from nearby construction, which altered drainage, or from Tropical Storm Imelda.
The most common complaint: the mud chimneys make mowing yards nearly impossible. And, “You can twist an ankle without even trying,” says Gretchen Dunlap Smith, one of the affected homeowners. On an even more serious note, they can also undermine earthen dams. “What to do?” people ask.
Louis A. Helfrich, Extension Specialist; Jim Parkhurst, Extension Specialist; and Richard Neves, Extension Specialist; Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, at Virginia Tech published a study called “The Control of Burrowing Crayfish in Ponds.” They say that burrowing animals such as crayfish “construct their homes or ‘burrows’ by digging into soil banks along the shorelines of waterbodies. Tunnels dug below the water level provide channels through which water can escape. Tunnels dug above the water level can decrease structural support of the embankment and increase the risk of washout during flood conditions. These hazards are multiplied in waters where burrowing animals are abundant and where water levels fluctuate.”
Chemical Treatments Not Recommended
The breeding season peaks in early spring, say the authors. “Complete elimination is usually not possible … Control is successful when the balance between the predator (fish, birds, mammals) and the prey species (crayfish) is reached, and excessive burrowing damage is reduced to an acceptable level.”
The Virginia Tech study does not recommend chemical treatments because they: (1) threaten water quality, (2) kill beneficial plants and animals as well as pests, and (3) can be widely distributed by wind and water movements.
No chemicals are currently registered for crayfish control. Never apply toxic chemicals directly to waters or near shorelines where they can seep into waterways.”
An explosion of crayfish chimneys in a yard flooded last year next to the Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village construction site. This and photos below courtesy of Gretchen Dunlap Smith.Gretchen Dunlap Smith’s yard after smashing the crayfish chimneys.As soon as you smash them……the crayfish rebuild them. This is because they burrow. Tunnels can go down 2-3 feet with side chambers.
Another homeowner, Susanne Kite says, “Places in my yard have not completely dried up since Imelda. A lot changed after that flood. I don’t understand what was so different and caused so much to change.”
Crayfish Love Wetlands
Suzanne Simpson, a wildlife biologist with the Bayou Land Conservancy, may have an explanation. “Crayfish love wetlands. So much so that the presence of crayfish mounds is considered a secondary indicator of wetland habitat on wetland delineation sheets for the Corps of Engineers.”
“Crayfish feed on detritus and mostly make their mounds during the rainy season,” says Simpson. “I’m sure the floodwaters brought in some detritus with them, and flooding leaves traces that likely lead the crayfish to identify these yards as good habitat. They’re not too easy to get rid of, but it can be done.”
Drainage Improvement and Traps: Your Best Bet. Puppies? Not So Much
You best bet: terrascaping to improve drainage, say the experts. Failing that, “traps are humane and non toxic. You don’t have to worry about poisoning other animals or leaving persistent residue in your soil,” says the web site Gardening Know How.
“My littlest schnauzer had puppies Dec 30th,” said Gretchen Dunlap Smith. “The puppies are DIGGING them up at a rapid rate and EATING them! It is GROSS hearing them crunch!! Sounds like they are chewing gravel. So, no chance for étouffée…the dogs are having sushi.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 30, 2020 with help from Suzanne Simpson, Gretchen Dunlap Smith and Susanne Kite
944 Days after Harvey and 193 since Imelda
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/20200330-GDS-Crayrish-CU2.jpg?fit=1200%2C767&ssl=17671200adminadmin2020-03-30 19:05:152020-03-31 00:54:23Many Yards That Flooded Last Year See Crayfish Population Explosion
ReduceFlooding.com has added an index page to make it easier to find old content. The new index page actually contains two indexes. The first: by keyword, the second by post title.
Today marks the 943 days since Hurricane Harvey. During that time, I and guests have posted 1099 items to the news page. Unless long-time readers remembered how to search for those posts, many became lost or forgotten over time. And new readers simply were never aware of of the wealth of material found in thousands of pages on the site.
I’m hoping the new index page will make it easier for both readers and researchers to find helpful material they need.
Each term or title on the index page is hyperlinked.
Clicking on a key word pulls up ALL the posts with that term. Scroll down to see them all. They are stacked on top of each other in REVERSE chronological order (most recent first).
Below the list of key words, you will find another list of post titles in alphabetical order.
Each index list has an alphabet bar at the top that will take you directly to links starting with a particular letter, to help reduce scrolling.
Terms and posts based on numbers fall at the bottom of each list.
Hint: If you browse the index by key word, you may also want to search the site by the same keyword.
Here’s why. The programming for the key word index works off of WordPress “tags.” Tags are something you add to a post after creating it to tell search engines, “This post is about X.” It’s entirely possible that only one post may be ABOUT Tony Buzbee but that he is mentioned in many more that could have been more heavily focused on sand mines, the mayoral election, etc.
The idea for this page came from a reader. So please continue to share your thoughts with me. Play with it and tell me what you think.
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 29, 2020
943 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-29-at-8.39.15-PM-copy.png?fit=1200%2C605&ssl=16051200adminadmin2020-03-29 20:54:442020-03-29 22:08:35Index Page Added to ReduceFlooding.com
LJA’s drainage design forces floodwater to make six turns within the space of about 200 yards. The areas at the left and top of the frame flooded during May and September last year when water overflowed.
Hints of Defense Strategy
However, in answering the allegations, LJA’s lawyers did hint at their defense strategy. In addition to their general denial, they claim that:
Plaintiffs’ damages were solely caused by the negligence of third parties over whom LJA has no control.
Plaintiffs did not hire LJA and therefore LJA owed no duty to the plaintiffs.
Intervening and superseding conduct on the part of third parties or other parties, persons or entities, acts as a total bar to plaintiffs’ claims.
The incident in question was an Act of God.
Here is their entire answer to the plaintiffs’ claims. LJA’s lawyers filed it with the Harris County District Clerk on 3/16/2020.
Opinions of Claims
Third parties in the case include several contractors, AND Figure Four Partners, a Perry Homes’ subsidiary of another subsidiary. Engineers, in my experience, often blame problems on contractors that didn’t follow plans. In this case, according to the drainage impact analysis submitted by LJA to Montgomery County, contractor(s) should have cleared only 30 acres on the northern portion of the site and 58 acres on the southern portion during Phase 1. See page 1, paragraph 2 of LJA’s Drainage Impact Analysis. However, Google Earth shows that about half of the 182-acre northern section and all of the 86-acre southern section were cleared by February 23, 2019. That was six weeks before the May 7th flood. Images taken of the northern portion of the site shortly after the May 7th flood show it was virtually clear except for piles of uprooted trees. Helicopter images show that substantially all of the northern section was cleared about the time of the Imelda flood. Construction documents also show that an engineer should have been supervising construction.
I’m not sure what they mean by “intervening” conduct. It sounds like interference from above. Hmmmm. Could they be pointing a finger at Perry Homes’ Figure Four Partners or Perry Homes itself? It will be interesting to see what happens with this one.
The District Clerk’s website shows no other activity on the case since LJA filed this document. Harris County Civil Courts will operate on a restricted schedule until further notice due to the corona virus. Hours of operation are from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. They are closed Friday through Sunday.
Judge Lauren Reeder months ago set a trial date of 7/13/2020, at 08:30 a.m. However, the corona virus could delay the start of any trial in this case.
New Discovery in MoCo Drainage Criteria Manual
In the meantime, I discovered one other interesting potential violation of the Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual. Section 9.1.2 Flood Plain Development Guidelines and Procedures says that when planning a development within the 100-year flood plain, construction within the floodway is limited to structures which will not obstruct the 100-year flood flowunless fully offsetting conveyance capacity is provided.
“Where such a potential exists, offsetting conveyance capacity must be provided to eliminate the increased potential for flood damage.”
The potential violation? The twin culverts shown in the photo above. They were built when only one of five detention ponds was even partially complete. And they’re right at the county line. LJA’s own maps show these culverts to be within feet of the Taylor Gully floodway and floodplain on the Harris County side of the county line.
If LJA intends to argue that May 7th or September 19th were greater-than-100-year rains, it then seems to me that they should have halted construction of the culverts until fully offsetting detention was in place. To this date, only 23% of the intended detention capacity has been constructed.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/28/2020
942 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 191 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/2020/03/20200306-RJR_0183.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2020-03-28 20:14:022020-03-28 21:41:46LJA Denies Responsibility for Elm Grove Flooding; Says They Owed No Duty to Victims
Many Yards That Flooded Last Year See Crayfish Population Explosion
I have received a flood of emails lately from people complaining about the sudden explosion of crayfish in their yards this year. The worst cases seem to be in yards that flooded last year, either from nearby construction, which altered drainage, or from Tropical Storm Imelda.
The most common complaint: the mud chimneys make mowing yards nearly impossible. And, “You can twist an ankle without even trying,” says Gretchen Dunlap Smith, one of the affected homeowners. On an even more serious note, they can also undermine earthen dams. “What to do?” people ask.
Be Thankful You Don’t Live in Tasmania!
Crayfish, crawfish, crawdads, mudbugs, whatever you call them, they’re all essentially the same thing. More than 550 species exist worldwide. They range in size from less than an inch in Louisiana to more than 8 POUNDS in Tasmania. There are 390 species in North America, 338 in the United States. Texas alone has 40 species according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. Counties in the north Houston area even have their own unique breed.
Attracted to Water, Danger to Pond Dams
Louis A. Helfrich, Extension Specialist; Jim Parkhurst, Extension Specialist; and Richard Neves, Extension Specialist; Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, at Virginia Tech published a study called “The Control of Burrowing Crayfish in Ponds.” They say that burrowing animals such as crayfish “construct their homes or ‘burrows’ by digging into soil banks along the shorelines of waterbodies. Tunnels dug below the water level provide channels through which water can escape. Tunnels dug above the water level can decrease structural support of the embankment and increase the risk of washout during flood conditions. These hazards are multiplied in waters where burrowing animals are abundant and where water levels fluctuate.”
Chemical Treatments Not Recommended
The breeding season peaks in early spring, say the authors. “Complete elimination is usually not possible … Control is successful when the balance between the predator (fish, birds, mammals) and the prey species (crayfish) is reached, and excessive burrowing damage is reduced to an acceptable level.”
The Virginia Tech study does not recommend chemical treatments because they: (1) threaten water quality, (2) kill beneficial plants and animals as well as pests, and (3) can be widely distributed by wind and water movements.
Another homeowner, Susanne Kite says, “Places in my yard have not completely dried up since Imelda. A lot changed after that flood. I don’t understand what was so different and caused so much to change.”
Crayfish Love Wetlands
Suzanne Simpson, a wildlife biologist with the Bayou Land Conservancy, may have an explanation. “Crayfish love wetlands. So much so that the presence of crayfish mounds is considered a secondary indicator of wetland habitat on wetland delineation sheets for the Corps of Engineers.”
“Crayfish feed on detritus and mostly make their mounds during the rainy season,” says Simpson. “I’m sure the floodwaters brought in some detritus with them, and flooding leaves traces that likely lead the crayfish to identify these yards as good habitat. They’re not too easy to get rid of, but it can be done.”
Drainage Improvement and Traps: Your Best Bet. Puppies? Not So Much
You best bet: terrascaping to improve drainage, say the experts. Failing that, “traps are humane and non toxic. You don’t have to worry about poisoning other animals or leaving persistent residue in your soil,” says the web site Gardening Know How.
“My littlest schnauzer had puppies Dec 30th,” said Gretchen Dunlap Smith. “The puppies are DIGGING them up at a rapid rate and EATING them! It is GROSS hearing them crunch!! Sounds like they are chewing gravel. So, no chance for étouffée…the dogs are having sushi.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 30, 2020 with help from Suzanne Simpson, Gretchen Dunlap Smith and Susanne Kite
944 Days after Harvey and 193 since Imelda
Index Page Added to ReduceFlooding.com
ReduceFlooding.com has added an index page to make it easier to find old content. The new index page actually contains two indexes. The first: by keyword, the second by post title.
Today marks the 943 days since Hurricane Harvey. During that time, I and guests have posted 1099 items to the news page. Unless long-time readers remembered how to search for those posts, many became lost or forgotten over time. And new readers simply were never aware of of the wealth of material found in thousands of pages on the site.
I’m hoping the new index page will make it easier for both readers and researchers to find helpful material they need.
Here’s why. The programming for the key word index works off of WordPress “tags.” Tags are something you add to a post after creating it to tell search engines, “This post is about X.” It’s entirely possible that only one post may be ABOUT Tony Buzbee but that he is mentioned in many more that could have been more heavily focused on sand mines, the mayoral election, etc.
The idea for this page came from a reader. So please continue to share your thoughts with me. Play with it and tell me what you think.
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 29, 2020
943 Days after Hurricane Harvey
LJA Denies Responsibility for Elm Grove Flooding; Says They Owed No Duty to Victims
On February 27, 2020, lawyers for flooded Elm Grove residents listed LJA Engineering as an additional defendant in the Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village flooding case. Defendants’ amended petition included 14 documents, with specific allegations. On March 16, 2020, LJA filed a general denial and requested a jury trial.
Hints of Defense Strategy
However, in answering the allegations, LJA’s lawyers did hint at their defense strategy. In addition to their general denial, they claim that:
Here is their entire answer to the plaintiffs’ claims. LJA’s lawyers filed it with the Harris County District Clerk on 3/16/2020.
Opinions of Claims
Trial Still Set for July, But…
The District Clerk’s website shows no other activity on the case since LJA filed this document. Harris County Civil Courts will operate on a restricted schedule until further notice due to the corona virus. Hours of operation are from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. They are closed Friday through Sunday.
Judge Lauren Reeder months ago set a trial date of 7/13/2020, at 08:30 a.m. However, the corona virus could delay the start of any trial in this case.
New Discovery in MoCo Drainage Criteria Manual
In the meantime, I discovered one other interesting potential violation of the Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual. Section 9.1.2 Flood Plain Development Guidelines and Procedures says that when planning a development within the 100-year flood plain, construction within the floodway is limited to structures which will not obstruct the 100-year flood flow unless fully offsetting conveyance capacity is provided.
The potential violation? The twin culverts shown in the photo above. They were built when only one of five detention ponds was even partially complete. And they’re right at the county line. LJA’s own maps show these culverts to be within feet of the Taylor Gully floodway and floodplain on the Harris County side of the county line.
If LJA intends to argue that May 7th or September 19th were greater-than-100-year rains, it then seems to me that they should have halted construction of the culverts until fully offsetting detention was in place. To this date, only 23% of the intended detention capacity has been constructed.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/28/2020
942 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 191 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.