Conveyance of Lower Ben’s Branch Nearly Restored

A flyover of the lower portion of Ben’s Branch on March 6, 2020, revealed that Harris County Flood Control has nearly restored its conveyance, even if some sediment still needs to be hauled off.

With most of lower Ben’s Branch cleaned out, the Kingwood Library (left), Kingwood Greens (right), and The Enclave (background) can now breathe much easier.

Among Hardest Hit Areas During Harvey

During Hurricane Harvey, some of the hardest hit areas in Kingwood bordered Ben’s Branch. Ben’s Branch cuts diagonally through Kingwood from St. Martha Catholic Church on the north to Town Center, Kingwood Greens, The Enclave, Kingwood Village Estates and Kings Harbor on the south. Post-Harvey surveys showed significant sediment buildup along the creek which reduced conveyance.

Twelve seniors in Kingwood Village Estates died after Harvey as a result of injuries sustained during the storm or the stress of losing their homes.

In August of last year, Harris County Flood Control began cleaning out the creek.

The project scoped by HCFCD is to remove approximately 80,000 cubic yards of sediment between the red line at Kingwood Drive and the YMCA at the bottom right of the circle.

Flood Control estimated they would need to remove 75,000 to 80,000 cubic yards to restore the conveyance. Despite a setback called Tropical Storm Imelda, the project has been moving along nicely.

Looking west from the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge at Ben’s Branch before the project started. To get a sense of scale, that’s a HCFCD surveyor in the yellow jacket!
The same area today (looking west from a helicopter over the WLHP Bridge (lower left).

Here’s how the rest of the project looks.

East of the WLHP Bridge (foreground), some sediment is still drying along the banks before removal. However, the channel is open again for business.
The long stretch behind the Kingwood Town Center Apartments has been restored.
The stretch just south of Kingwood Drive by ReMax still needs clean-out and touch up.
The area just east of the YMCA is still being actively excavated.
Same area, still being actively excavated near YMCA.

Merchants and residents alike should breathe much easier during the upcoming hurricane season.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/10/2020

924 Days after Hurricane Harvey

Small, But Welcome Sign of Recovery: Taste of Greek

Greek food lovers in Kingwood received a small, but welcome sign of recovery this week – the community’s first Greek restaurant. It’s called Taste of Greek. And it opened in the shopping center next to the CVS pharmacy on the southeast corner of West Lake Houston Parkway and Kingwood Drive.

While the decor is modest, the taste is big.

Taste of Greek Grand Opening

Taste of Greek operated out of a food truck on North Park Drive for several years. I loved their food. But honestly, it was difficult to enjoy when the temperature climbed over a hundred in the shade.

I’ve been hooked on Greek food since going to college in Chicago. There’s a huge Greek community there. And I used to make regular pilgrimages down to Halsted Street for some of the best Greek food this side of the Atlantic. While Greek is not impossible to find in Houston, it takes some driving.

Family-Run and FRESH!

Now here’s the thing if you’re a gyros and baklava kind of person.

Taste of Greek beats every other Greek restaurant in Houston hands down. And it’s on a par with some of the best Greek food in Chicago.

The menu is not very lengthy and you find tablecloths, but OMG, is the food fresh! The pastries are better than “to die for.” They’re “to live for.”

Taste of Greek is a small family-run restaurant. The parents work the kitchen while the daughters serve and work the counter. They opened this weekend. My wife and I have eaten there TWICE so far. It’s that good.

An added bonus: seeing the pride in the eyes of a family that just graduated from operating a food truck to being the proprietors of a sit down restaurant.

Stop by and give them a try. If you like Greek food at all, I highly recommend it. Taste of Greek is guaranteed to take your mind off flood control.

Posted by Bob Rehak on March 9, 2020

723 Days since Hurricane Harvey

New Aerial Photos of River Grove Park Show Extent of Dredging Project

Since Hurricane Harvey, KSA has worked diligently to restore the damage to River Grove Park. It has been a massive job. Harvey filled in the lagoon in front of the boardwalk; left five feet of sand in the parking lot, disc golf course, and playing fields; and deposited a sand bar more than a quarter mile long and 12 feet high in front of the boat dock.

River Grove Waterfront on 9/14/2017, two weeks after Harvey. Lagoon filled in, five feet of sand filled the parking lot, and a 1400-foot, 12-foot-high sandbar blocked off the drainage ditch that empties the western third of Kingwood.

Army Corps Restored River Access

The Army Corps cut a channel through the sand bar that blocked the drainage ditch that empties the western third of Kingwood. That was a huge sigh of relief for a large part of Kingwood. But much work remained to restore the park itself. Among the last items on the agenda: restoring the lagoon and boat ramp access.

Dredging of Boat Dock Area and Lagoon

In late February 2020, KSA contractor Kayden Industries removed a 50-foot strip of vegetation that had grown up on sandbars in the lagoon. Then last week, they began dredging.

It’s hard to capture the scope of dredging operations from the ground – especially with access restricted for safety reasons. But last week, I did a flyover and captured these pics from a helicopter.

Looking west toward the River Grove Boat Ramp and Lagoon. Photo taken March 5, 2020. The dredge started by the boat dock and is working upstream now in the lagoon. Note the dewatering plant in the parking lot and the growing pile of spoils waiting for removal on the right.

In the photo above, you can see the 50-foot strip where Kayden removed vegetation. That will be the limit of dredging. KSA plans to remove 4-5 feet of sand from this area. The area still covered with grasses will remain wetlands. It will provide cover, habitat and food for birds and other species. That should help make River Grove a destination for birders again.

Harvey deposited sand several feet deep on the peninsula that defines the River Grove lagoon. That unfortunately killed many of the trees there. The wetlands remaining in the lagoon are now more important than ever. Eagles nest in the trees in the upper right of this photo on Romerica property.
The dredge started in the area in front of the boat dock and is working its way upstream in the lagoon. Water from the dredge goes through a floating pipe to a dewatering plant in the parking lot. Water is then returned to the lake in a closed-loop process.

A Bit of the Oil Field Comes to River Grove

The dewatering plant separates sand and sediment from the water before returning the water to the river. This is the same type of equipment used in oilfields to separate drilling cuttings from drilling mud, before recycling the mud.

Expected Finish By End of March

KSA expects the dredging project to finish by the end of March, weather permitting. However, the boat ramp may not open immediately. The heavy equipment has damaged the asphalt in the parking lot. Repairs and restriping may take a few weeks more.

Originally, KSA expected to remove 10,000 cubic yards of sediment. The contractor now predicts they will remove 11,000 to12,000 cubic yards to complete the scope of work.

Other Park Improvements

The good news: When all of this is done, River Grove Park should be back and better than ever. During repairs, KSA decided to:

  • Convert several of the soccer fields from “league fields” to “public fields.” Residents have long requested that change.
  • Change the speed bumps to milder speed humps in the traffic circle. Boaters have long requested that.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/9/2020

923 Days since Hurricane Harvey