Instead of accelerating completion of detention ponds on Woodridge Village as Perry Homes promised, the company appears to have pulled all excavation equipment from the site. Contractors who were supposed to have been working on detention pond N-1 have gone…BEFORE they finished S2 and BEFORE they finished a berm sealing off the southern portion of the site at Fair Grove Drive.
Equipment Left Site Instead of Beginning On Next Pond
Perry Homes had promised in its letter to accelerate construction, but this will slow it down – if they ever return. The only work being done Friday? Removal of some dead tree piles on the northern portion of the site.
Jeff Miller took all the pictures and videos below on Friday and Saturday. He also monitored work on the site and provided this scouting report.
Looking south toward Taylor Gully and the Harris County Line along the eastern embankment of the S2 detention pond.The channel along the eastern portion of Taylor Gully is now lined with concrete. The spillway into the S2 detention pond has been widened and smoothed. The S2 detention pond is behind the camera position. Looking East.Looking west across S2 detention pond. The dirt that eroded into the pond has been scooped back up onto the banks and compacted.Still no grass on the banks, however, so it could all wash back in with the next big rain.Looking north. The grassy area in the background was supposed to have contained the N3 detention pond. However, contractors have simply excavated a channel from the northern section directly into Taylor Gully so now runoff can accumulate even more quickly.Contractors widened and concreted the Taylor Gully channel along the eastern side of Woodridge Village. But they left the most vulnerable part of the channel without concrete. At the end corner by the telephone poles, water comes from the left. But no concrete protects the area where the water makes a sharp 120 degree turn. Expect water to erode behind the concrete and peel it away in the next big rain.
Woodridge Village Section One Now a Virtual “Ghost Town”
This weekend, Woodridge Village Section One looked like a ghost town, not a bustling construction site with people working against a deadline.
Heavy construction equipment used to be parked by dumpster in the background. Now it’s nowhere on the property. Looking south. Another view of the same area that held construction equipment. It’s all gone and the berm sealing the site off from Fair Grove Drive is missing.
Still Removing Dead Trees/Mulch on Northern Section
On Friday, only smaller equipment turning tree piles into mulch remained.
Perry Homes Intentions Now a Mystery
As of Sunday morning 12/22/2019, no equipment actually working on construction could be seen on the site. The excavators and dump trucks parked at Fair Grove for months have been removed.
Perry Homes is NOT accelerating completion of detention ponds as it promised the City of Houston.
Instead, Perry Homes has thrown a curtain of silence around this job. It’s hard to know what their intentions are. At this point, Perry Homes’ lawyer J. Carey Gray has as much mud on his face as Elm Grove residents had in their homes.
The only thing we can say with certainty: Lowering flood risk for the people of Elm Grove does not seem high on Perry Homes’ priority list.
For Sale And For Lease Signs Serve as Christmas Yard Decorations
Meanwhile, a drive down Shady Maple or Village Springs, the two streets that border Taylor Gully, revealed residents’ attempts to salvage Christmas from the chaos of floodwaters. Dumpsters and debris still line the streets. Some people still live in trailers in their driveways. No apple cider around the hearth for them. They’ll be lucky to find space for a table top Christmas tree. For Sale and For Lease signs outnumber Christmas yard decorations ten to one.
On a street called Right Way in North Kingwood Forest, I found nine For Lease signs in a row. Sad reminders of Imelda and Perry Homes.Only three months ago, these homes were filled with families who flooded for the second time.
Kathy Perry Britton just added another credit to her resume, “The CEO Who Stole Christmas.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/22/2019with reporting and images by Jeff Miller
845 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 94 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/2019/12/IMG_0679.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=19001200adminadmin2019-12-22 12:09:152019-12-22 12:58:38Perry Homes Pulls Excavation Equipment From Woodridge Village Before Finishing Detention Ponds
The attorney general has had production at the Triple PG mine on Caney Creek shut down and the breaches in the mine’s dikes closed since early November. Also, the Texas Concrete mine in Plum Grove on the East Fork closed. And the TCEQ is forcing them to fix breaches and replant exposed areas before abandoning the mine. It could just be a coincidence, but water clarity on the East Fork and Caney Creek have improved to a shocking degree with both of the major mines out of action. See below. Said Kingwood resident John Knoerzer, “This is the clearest I’ve ever seen the East Fork.”
Photo taken by John Knoerzer on East Fork at East End Park on 12/20/2019.
It’s not Cozumel, but it’s far better than the opaque brown liquid we had.
Return of Eagles
Resident Josh Alberson reports that he’s seen cormorants, pelicans and bald eagles return to the East Fork and Caney Creek. “They were feasting on the white bass.” Says Alberson, “Last Sunday, we saw more birds than we had every seen working. It was National Geographic worthy, but I couldn’t get close enough to get any quality pics or video.” He attributes all the birds to both the bass and the clarity of the water. “It helps the birds spot the prey,” he says.
Only problem: there’s so much sand in Caney Creek that it’s hard to boat upstream. Josh Alberson informs me that his jet boat got stuck on a giant sand bar immediately downstream from the Triple PG mine. Boats with propellers can’t get through at all, he says.
Please Help Document Wildlife and Water Clarity
It seems to me that this change, if it is permanent, is important to document. Any boaters or jet skiers who can make it upstream, please send pics through the submissions page on this web site.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/21/2019
844 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 93 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/2019/12/Clear-Water.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=19001200adminadmin2019-12-21 15:53:042019-12-22 07:49:16East Fork Water Shockingly Clear with Mines Closed
As we enter 2020, keep your eyes on these stories.
Elm Grove Lawsuits and Mitigation
In 2019, Elm Grove flooded twice with runoff from the Perry Homes/Woodridge Village development in Montgomery County. Hundreds of homeowners sued Perry Homes’ subsidiaries (PSWA and Figure Four Partners) and their contractors.
On 12/17/19, attorney’s for the plaintiffs filed a fourth amended petition. Since the original filing, plaintiffs have named Double Oak Construction and Texasite LLC as additional defendants.
The judge set a jury trial date for July 13, 2020. To date, Perry Homes has done nothing to reduce the threat of flooding from their job site.
The 268-acres clear-cut acres that contributed to Elm Grove Flooding.
That brings us to the subject of mitigation.
What can be done to restore the safety of residents?
Perry Homes has demonstrated no interest in reducing the threat to downstream flood victims.
Protecting homeowners will require massive intervention from an outside source. But who? And how?
I recently learned of two new developments in the Ben’s Branch watershed.
A developer intends to build 18 acres of apartments where the woods adjacent to the new St. Martha Church now stand.
Another developer intends to build hundreds of homes on tiny lots on an 80-acre site just north of St. Martha’s.
These two projects represent dozens of others gobbling up farm and forest land in southeast Montgomery County.
This drainage ditch feeds into Ben’s Branch at Northpark Drive. The 18 acres of trees on the other side of the ditch could soon become apartments.
Businesses such as the St. Martha School and Kids in Action already flooded twice this year. So did dozens of homes along Ben’s Branch.
Additional upstream development has the potential to make flooding even worse. This is like death by a thousand cuts. Residents just don’t have the time or energy to monitor each development to ensure that owners follow rules and regulations for wetlands, floodplains, drainage, etc. Neither evidently does Montgomery County. Which brings us to…
Montgomery County Standards and Enforcement
Montgomery County competes for development by touting its lack of regulations. That’s a huge problem for downstream residents.
Montgomery County still bases flood maps on data from the 1980s.
Large parts of the county remain unmapped for flood hazards.
The County last updated its Drainage Criteria Manual in 1989.
Developers ignore many provisions within it.
County Commissioners voted to leave loopholes open that allow developers to avoid building detention ponds.
The County even paid an engineering company to investigate itself for its role in the Elm Grove Disaster.
You get the idea. If you thought some benign government entity watched over new developments to protect downstream residents, think again. Below you can see the 80-acre site I mentioned above.
Source: USGS National Wetlands Inventory.
Note how it was covered in wetlands. Developers did not ask permission from the Corps to remove them. They just decided on their own that they didn’t need to ask.
Below, you can see how virtually half the site is in a flood zone or floodway.
Here’s how it looks in Google Earth. Developers have already cleared the site.
Developers intend to build high-density homes in the floodplains. They will also build their detention pond in the floodway. Those hazard areas will likely expand when and if the County incorporates new Atlas-14 data into their flood maps.
Layout for Brooklyn Trails development in Montgomery County
None of this seems to bother the leadership of Montgomery County. And that’s a bigger problem than any one development.
In 2020, expect more focus on the decision-making process and decision makers who have created a permissive culture of indifference to flooding problems.
Sand Mines
Sand mines operate so closely to the San Jacinto that their walls frequently break and pour polluted process water into the drinking water for 2 million people. If they get caught, they pay a small fine and continue operating with impunity.
Left: Liberty Materials Mine in Conroe that undercut five pipelines carrying highly volatile liquids. Center: Triple PG mine in Porter where erosion during Imelda exposed one natural gas line and threatens 5 more HVL pipelines. Right: Another Liberty Materials mine that allegedly dumped 56 million gallons of white goop into the West Fork.
Upstream Detention
During Harvey, the release of 80,000 cubic feet per second from Lake Conroe added to downstream flooding. The goal: to find enough upstream detention capacity to help offset future releases. The San Jacinto River Basin Study will examine that possibility. It’s unlikely that one reservoir will provide enough capacity. However, multiple smaller reservoirs may.
Luckily, State Representative Dan Huberty sponsored legislation that allocated another $30 million. The Harris County Flood Bond allocated $10 million. The City of Houston allocated $6 million. Plus two more grant requests are still pending that could increase the total even more. And a disposal site for the material has already been permitted.
Mouth Bar of the West Fork. Photo taken 12/3/2019.
Last week, Harris County commissioners voted to proceed with additional dredging. Project managers are studying the most cost effective ways to proceed. We should see more dredging soon.
This money could also be used on the growing mouth bar of the East Fork.
State Highway 99 Extension
The extension of the Grand Parkway (State Highway 99) east and south to I-10 will open up vast new expanses of forest and farmland to high density development. The biggest threat will be to the East Fork watershed as construction moves through southeast Montgomery County and the northeast tip of Harris County into Liberty County.
Eastward clearing for SH99 has reached Caney Creek near Lake Houston Park.
Those are my predictions for the biggest stories of 2020. There’s a lot of good news in the forecast and much to remain vigilant about. Life seems to be a constant struggle between those who would increase and decrease our margin of safety when it comes to flooding.
Posted on 12/21/2019 by Bob Rehak
844 Days after 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/2019/12/Slide14.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=19001200adminadmin2019-12-21 12:30:522019-12-21 14:37:12Big Stories to Watch in 2020
Perry Homes Pulls Excavation Equipment From Woodridge Village Before Finishing Detention Ponds
Instead of accelerating completion of detention ponds on Woodridge Village as Perry Homes promised, the company appears to have pulled all excavation equipment from the site. Contractors who were supposed to have been working on detention pond N-1 have gone…BEFORE they finished S2 and BEFORE they finished a berm sealing off the southern portion of the site at Fair Grove Drive.
S2 Pond Still Not Complete; Does Not Meet Regs
On October 17th, a lawyer for Perry Homes’ subsidiaries sent a letter to the City of Houston Attorney promising that the company would “accelerate” completion of detention ponds. Even though Perry Homes had already substantially completed Detention Pond S2, it took Perry 63 days to restore it to its pre-Imelda condition. Worse, contractors left before the pond met the regulations in Montgomery County’s Drainage Criteria Manual. It still doesn’t have fencing, service roads around its entire perimeter, or grass on its banks. Finally, it holds water when regulations call for a dry bottom.
Equipment Left Site Instead of Beginning On Next Pond
Perry Homes had promised in its letter to accelerate construction, but this will slow it down – if they ever return. The only work being done Friday? Removal of some dead tree piles on the northern portion of the site.
Jeff Miller took all the pictures and videos below on Friday and Saturday. He also monitored work on the site and provided this scouting report.
Woodridge Village Section One Now a Virtual “Ghost Town”
This weekend, Woodridge Village Section One looked like a ghost town, not a bustling construction site with people working against a deadline.
Still Removing Dead Trees/Mulch on Northern Section
Perry Homes Intentions Now a Mystery
As of Sunday morning 12/22/2019, no equipment actually working on construction could be seen on the site. The excavators and dump trucks parked at Fair Grove for months have been removed.
Instead, Perry Homes has thrown a curtain of silence around this job. It’s hard to know what their intentions are. At this point, Perry Homes’ lawyer J. Carey Gray has as much mud on his face as Elm Grove residents had in their homes.
The only thing we can say with certainty: Lowering flood risk for the people of Elm Grove does not seem high on Perry Homes’ priority list.
For Sale And For Lease Signs Serve as Christmas Yard Decorations
Meanwhile, a drive down Shady Maple or Village Springs, the two streets that border Taylor Gully, revealed residents’ attempts to salvage Christmas from the chaos of floodwaters. Dumpsters and debris still line the streets. Some people still live in trailers in their driveways. No apple cider around the hearth for them. They’ll be lucky to find space for a table top Christmas tree. For Sale and For Lease signs outnumber Christmas yard decorations ten to one.
Kathy Perry Britton just added another credit to her resume, “The CEO Who Stole Christmas.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/22/2019 with reporting and images by Jeff Miller
845 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 94 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.
East Fork Water Shockingly Clear with Mines Closed
The attorney general has had production at the Triple PG mine on Caney Creek shut down and the breaches in the mine’s dikes closed since early November. Also, the Texas Concrete mine in Plum Grove on the East Fork closed. And the TCEQ is forcing them to fix breaches and replant exposed areas before abandoning the mine. It could just be a coincidence, but water clarity on the East Fork and Caney Creek have improved to a shocking degree with both of the major mines out of action. See below. Said Kingwood resident John Knoerzer, “This is the clearest I’ve ever seen the East Fork.”
Return of Eagles
Resident Josh Alberson reports that he’s seen cormorants, pelicans and bald eagles return to the East Fork and Caney Creek. “They were feasting on the white bass.” Says Alberson, “Last Sunday, we saw more birds than we had every seen working. It was National Geographic worthy, but I couldn’t get close enough to get any quality pics or video.” He attributes all the birds to both the bass and the clarity of the water. “It helps the birds spot the prey,” he says.
Only problem: there’s so much sand in Caney Creek that it’s hard to boat upstream. Josh Alberson informs me that his jet boat got stuck on a giant sand bar immediately downstream from the Triple PG mine. Boats with propellers can’t get through at all, he says.
Please Help Document Wildlife and Water Clarity
It seems to me that this change, if it is permanent, is important to document. Any boaters or jet skiers who can make it upstream, please send pics through the submissions page on this web site.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/21/2019
844 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 93 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.
Big Stories to Watch in 2020
As we enter 2020, keep your eyes on these stories.
Elm Grove Lawsuits and Mitigation
In 2019, Elm Grove flooded twice with runoff from the Perry Homes/Woodridge Village development in Montgomery County. Hundreds of homeowners sued Perry Homes’ subsidiaries (PSWA and Figure Four Partners) and their contractors.
On 12/17/19, attorney’s for the plaintiffs filed a fourth amended petition. Since the original filing, plaintiffs have named Double Oak Construction and Texasite LLC as additional defendants.
The judge set a jury trial date for July 13, 2020. To date, Perry Homes has done nothing to reduce the threat of flooding from their job site.
That brings us to the subject of mitigation.
Perry Homes has demonstrated no interest in reducing the threat to downstream flood victims.
Protecting homeowners will require massive intervention from an outside source. But who? And how?
Harris County Bond Fund Mitigation Projects
In 2019, Harris County Flood Control began work on 146 of 239 of the projects identified in their $2.5 billion flood bond.
Many of those projects required studies and partners. Three affecting the Lake Houston Area are:
Recommendations from each study should come out in 2020. Then many more projects will get underway.
Upstream Development
In 2019, we saw what upstream development did to homes in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest bordering Taylor Gully.
I recently learned of two new developments in the Ben’s Branch watershed.
These two projects represent dozens of others gobbling up farm and forest land in southeast Montgomery County.
Businesses such as the St. Martha School and Kids in Action already flooded twice this year. So did dozens of homes along Ben’s Branch.
Additional upstream development has the potential to make flooding even worse. This is like death by a thousand cuts. Residents just don’t have the time or energy to monitor each development to ensure that owners follow rules and regulations for wetlands, floodplains, drainage, etc. Neither evidently does Montgomery County. Which brings us to…
Montgomery County Standards and Enforcement
Montgomery County competes for development by touting its lack of regulations. That’s a huge problem for downstream residents.
You get the idea. If you thought some benign government entity watched over new developments to protect downstream residents, think again. Below you can see the 80-acre site I mentioned above.
Note how it was covered in wetlands. Developers did not ask permission from the Corps to remove them. They just decided on their own that they didn’t need to ask.
Below, you can see how virtually half the site is in a flood zone or floodway.
Here’s how it looks in Google Earth. Developers have already cleared the site.
Developers intend to build high-density homes in the floodplains. They will also build their detention pond in the floodway. Those hazard areas will likely expand when and if the County incorporates new Atlas-14 data into their flood maps.
None of this seems to bother the leadership of Montgomery County. And that’s a bigger problem than any one development.
Sand Mines
Sand mines operate so closely to the San Jacinto that their walls frequently break and pour polluted process water into the drinking water for 2 million people. If they get caught, they pay a small fine and continue operating with impunity.
Upstream Detention
During Harvey, the release of 80,000 cubic feet per second from Lake Conroe added to downstream flooding. The goal: to find enough upstream detention capacity to help offset future releases. The San Jacinto River Basin Study will examine that possibility. It’s unlikely that one reservoir will provide enough capacity. However, multiple smaller reservoirs may.
The study partners will release their results in the second half of 2020. Land acquisition and construction could take several additional years.
Dredging
Dredging is another essential element of flood mitigation on the West Fork of the San Jacinto. Sand buildup near the mouth of the river has created a giant sediment dam. The Army Corps removed three feet in a dredging effort that ended on Labor Day. But much remains.
Luckily, State Representative Dan Huberty sponsored legislation that allocated another $30 million. The Harris County Flood Bond allocated $10 million. The City of Houston allocated $6 million. Plus two more grant requests are still pending that could increase the total even more. And a disposal site for the material has already been permitted.
Last week, Harris County commissioners voted to proceed with additional dredging. Project managers are studying the most cost effective ways to proceed. We should see more dredging soon.
This money could also be used on the growing mouth bar of the East Fork.
State Highway 99 Extension
The extension of the Grand Parkway (State Highway 99) east and south to I-10 will open up vast new expanses of forest and farmland to high density development. The biggest threat will be to the East Fork watershed as construction moves through southeast Montgomery County and the northeast tip of Harris County into Liberty County.
Those are my predictions for the biggest stories of 2020. There’s a lot of good news in the forecast and much to remain vigilant about. Life seems to be a constant struggle between those who would increase and decrease our margin of safety when it comes to flooding.
Posted on 12/21/2019 by Bob Rehak
844 Days after 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.