Stormwater detention basins store potentially damaging floodwaters temporarily until channels can safely carry water away. Here’s how they work.
Lack of Detention Ponds Contributes to Flooding
The lack of functioning detention ponds in the new Woodridge Village development contributed to the flooding of at least 196 homes across the southern county line on May 7th earlier this year. Since publishing a series of stories about flooding in Elm Grove, dozens of Montgomery County residents have contacted me about similar complaints.
Woodridge Village had only one of five detention ponds fully functioning when this shot was taken after the May 7th flood. Lack of retention for this clear cut area contributed to damaging 196 homes in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest, plus an unknown number of additional homes in Porter.Drone Footage courtesy of Jim Zura, ZuraProductions.com
All the stories follow a similar pattern. “We never flooded. Then a new development came in and we did.” Residents complain that frequently the new developments alter drainage without adding enough detention to mitigate flooding.
As population growth extends northward in Montgomery County, this will become an oft repeated story. It will affect everyone in Montgomery County, not just those in the southern part and Harris County…unless the loophole is closed.
Case Studies Dramatize Value of Detention Ponds
Doubt the value of detention ponds? Consider these three case studies by FEMA. Each deals with severe rain events and explains how a pond helped reduce or eliminate flooding altogether – for homes that previously flood repetitively. Together, they make a pretty powerful case for closing the loophole.
The second discusses a municipal pond in Pine Forest, a small town in Orange County, TX, north of Beaumont. After construction of the pond, “The community of roughly 500 residents and those living downstream from the ponds reported none of the flooding they had seen in the past.”
Victoria Project Protected Homes and Tax Base During Harvey
Closer to Houston, the third talks about a project in Victoria, TX. When Harvey hit the city of 68,000 in August 2017, 440 homes avoided flood damage. The City had completed the Lone Tree Creek Channel Improvement and Detention Facility Project there more than a decade earlier.
In 2005, the city recognized that its rapid residential growth created an overwhelmed drainage basin. Leaders began the planning stages of the Lone Tree Creek Project. “This project forced the creek to store water in the detention pond and not in the residential area,” said John Johnson, floodplain manager for Victoria.
Bottom line: “We are not moving the problem and recreating it elsewhere,” said Johnson.
“The quality of life is improved, and property resale is up as a result of this project,” said Johnson. “The tax base remained intact and property ownership stabilized in neighborhoods surrounding the Lone Tree Creek Channel. The quality of life is improved, and property resale is up as a result of this project.”
If you, or anyone you know, intend to speak at the Montgomery County Commissioners Court meeting on the 27th, use these real-world examples to reinforce the message to close the loophole.
Help Close the Loophole
Closing the loophole is a no brainer, or at least, it should be. However, if the court on August 27 is packed by developers and not citizens, expect the status quo – more flooding.
Posted by Bob Rehak on August 10, 2019 with drone footage from Jim Zura
711 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Thoughts expressed in this post represent my opinions on matters of public policy and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the great state of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Muck.jpg?fit=1500%2C828&ssl=18281500adminadmin2019-08-10 19:27:042019-08-10 19:31:31FEMA Case Studies Dramatize Value of Detention Ponds in Flood Reduction
The Army Corps has refused to release documents that explain key decisions, delays and plans related to West Fork mouth bar dredging, and a potential placement area for the spoils. At issue are the Corps’ decisions to dredge only 500,000 cubic yards from the area of the mouth bar and to delay approval of the City’s proposed placement area for long-term dredging.
As a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request related to these decisions, I also learned that the Corps:
Is dredging near the mouth bar without a plan
Is almost done with the mouth bar project and hopes to have a plan before it finishes
Has repeatedly delayed a decision on a new placement area that could have saved millions of tax dollars.
Meanwhile, the Corps continues sending sediment to a mine that leaks it back into the river. That mine – in the floodway – has a dubious environmental record at best. This seems to be a case of Government Gone Wild.
Dueling Studies Offer Different Opinions of Harvey-related Mouth Bar Volume
The City of Houston and Army Corps have reportedly argued for a year or more about how much sediment Harvey deposited in the mouth bar. Late last year, FEMA required the City to perform a core-sample study using something called the Stockton Protocol. The City hired Tetra Tech to do it. And Tetra Tech concluded Harvey deposited 1.4 million cubic yards. Here is their study.
The Corps, however, evidently did not buy the results. The Corps conducted another study for FEMA using a different protocol. It concluded Harvey deposited 500,000 cubic yards.
The Corps, however, refused to release the results of that study for public review.
FEMA and the Corps went ahead and hired Great Lakes to dredge that volume from the mouth bar. That job is now more than half complete.
While inventorying the documents that the Corps DID send me, I also discovered that they are now dredging the mouth bar area – without a plan. I know this because I requested the plan and they did not supply it. A Corps representative then explained that they are still working on the plan. They hope to have it done before they complete the $17 million job.
At the current price of diesel (about $3/gallon), that’s about $15,000 per day for fuel alone. More than $100,000 per week. And more than $400,000 per month. Waaaaay more than the limit on my gas cards. So what does the Corps get for all that?
A year ago, this same mine was caught on camera deliberately sending its process water straight into the West Fork.
Video provided to ReduceFlooding.Com. Source wishes to remain anonymous.
Yet, while approving this site, the Corps reportedly has environmental concerns over a much closer disposal site that would require less fuel and fewer boosters. It’s also on higher ground and out of the floodway. It’s Berry Madden’s property in Humble immediately west of Kings Lake Estates between the West Fork and 1960.
Five different proposed placement areas on Madden property avoid wetlands (the cross-hatched areas).
The Corps may or may not have good reasons for disliking the property, but they won’t reveal them whatever they are.
After more than a year of environmental and archeological studies costing Madden more than $100,000, the Corps still has not approved or rejected his property. Nor have they explained delays in approving or rejecting it. The documents that the Corps DID supply show that they are throwing one obstacle after another in Madden’s path. Despite the fact that he’s on higher ground and farther from the river than the current placement area.
Meanwhile, the Corps subsidizes the sub-optimal sand mine/placement area above. Go figure!
Potential Setback for Future Dredging
One of the consequences of NOT having an approved site to store additional spoils is that it could delay future phases of dredging. Those potentially include:
Additional mouth bar dredging
59 to River Grove Park
Maintenance dredging
Mouths of ditches such as Ben’s Branch
FOIA Scorecard
I filed my Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Army Corps 50 days ago. I requested:
Their plans for mouth-bar dredging
Conference reports of meetings where the mouth bar was discussed
Documents relating to the approval of Berry Madden’s property in Humble as a potential storage site.
About a month ago, they requested a clarification. “What do you mean by ‘plans’?” Seriously! The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needed to have the concept of plans explained????!!!
After more delays and excuses, five days ago, I received a compact disk in the mail with approximately 800 total pages of material. The Corps:
OMITTED any mouth-bar plans.
OMITTED the Corps study that contradicted the Tetra Tech study.
WITHHELD 118 pages of material that could have explained their decision.
REDACTED key correspondence relating to Madden’s property.
SUBSTITUTED dredging status reports from contractor meetings for conference reports of meetings among City, State and Federal officials where decisions about the mouth bar were considered.
Government Gone Wild
After several phone calls in which I tried to cajole them into supplying the Corps’ study, I received another email from the Corps. It said that they considered my original FOIA request closed. They then asked me to submit another one for the same material that I requested in June. They seem to be treating this as a national-security issue, not a public-safety issue. Why?
Unfortunately, that does not allow informed discussion among the public, whose safety is at stake. Nor does it recognize the fact that they have already made a decision, i.e, to dredge 500,000 cubic yards and have half-completed the project. So how does this qualify as “pre-decisional”?
That leaves the State, County, City and the public in the lurch. Maybe a Congressional investigation could sort this out. That’s what it will take.
At this point, it’s not clear how, when or if the mouth-bar job will be finished. Five hundred thousand cubic yards is a small fraction of what needs to be removed to restore conveyance to the river.
It’s also not clear how many more hurdles the Corps will put in the way of a placement area farther from the river on higher ground. Or why.
A curtain of secrecy has descended upon this job. I will continue to follow the story. The public has a right to know.
Open Offer to Corps to Rebut Criticisms
If the Corps feels I have criticized it unjustly, I invite a spokesperson to explain the Corps point of view. I promise to reprint the rebuttal verbatim.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/9/2019
710 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts in this post represent my opinions on matters of public interest and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ACEO.jpg?fit=1500%2C1069&ssl=110691500adminadmin2019-08-08 23:19:482019-08-09 16:25:54Government Gone Wild: Army Corp Refuses to Release Dredging Documents that Explain Decisions, Delays
Callan has already begun demobilizing. So far, the company has unhooked its dredge from its pipeline and is removing its booster pumps and other equipment from the river. Callan should have all of its equipment back at the command site dock by this weekend.
Yesterday, Keith Jordan, a resident of Kings Lake Estates, greeted the news joyfully. “Hallelujah! It’s simply amazing how quiet it is tonight. It’s been a long 8 months!” Jordan had a booster pump anchored behind his home the entire time and complained several times to the Corps about noise.
Callan operated the blue dredge that worked the area downstream from the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge since approximately January.
Callan dredge near King’s Harbor on Jan. 31, 2019. West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge in background. Callan booster pump on far side of bridge.
Mouth Bar Contract Extension Ahead of Schedule
In other news, Great Lakes is far ahead of schedule on a contract extension. The extension is a separate mission assignment from FEMA to the Corps for slightly more than $17 million. It involves dredging 500,000 cubic yards of sediment from the mouth bar. The Corps originally thought the extension would take until January, 2020. However, at the current rate, Great Lakes could finish next month – in less than half the time predicted.
Five-hundred thousand cubic yards will barely scratch the surface of what needs to be removed and may not even be sufficient to cut a channel through the mouth bar area, thus leaving most of the mouth bar intact. It is unclear at this time what the plans are to restore conveyance through this area of the West Fork.
Current Dredging Photos from Carolyn Daniel
A reader, Carolyn Daniel, sent me several pictures taken earlier this week from the window of an airplane as it descended into Bush Intercontinental Airport. They show the Great Lakes Dredge south of the mouth bar. The company also removed vegetation from leading edge of the mouth bar itself. Perhaps they hoped that river currents could help erode the bar which contains far more than 500,000 cubic yards.
Great Lakes Dredge near Mouth Bar with Kingwood in background. Looking north. Town Center is on left and Kings Point on the right. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Daniel. Taken 8/5/2019.Seconds later, as her plane descended, Carolyn Daniel grabbed this shot of mouth bar dredging. Also looking north, it shows Atascocita Point in the foreground and Fosters Mill and Kings Point in the background.
These images illustrate the enormity of the task ahead and the need to be ruthlessly efficient with resources and time.
Challenges Ahead
Tomorrow, I will look at some of the challenges ahead, and some of the obstacles to restoring conveyance.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/8/2019with photos from Carolyn Daniel
709 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_3555.jpeg?fit=1500%2C1125&ssl=111251500adminadmin2019-08-08 17:40:342019-08-08 17:40:44First Phase of West Fork Dredging Completed
FEMA Case Studies Dramatize Value of Detention Ponds in Flood Reduction
On August 27, Montgomery County Commissioners will consider a request to close a loophole that lets developers avoid building detention ponds.
Stormwater detention basins store potentially damaging floodwaters temporarily until channels can safely carry water away. Here’s how they work.
Lack of Detention Ponds Contributes to Flooding
The lack of functioning detention ponds in the new Woodridge Village development contributed to the flooding of at least 196 homes across the southern county line on May 7th earlier this year. Since publishing a series of stories about flooding in Elm Grove, dozens of Montgomery County residents have contacted me about similar complaints.
As population growth extends northward in Montgomery County, this will become an oft repeated story. It will affect everyone in Montgomery County, not just those in the southern part and Harris County…unless the loophole is closed.
Case Studies Dramatize Value of Detention Ponds
Doubt the value of detention ponds? Consider these three case studies by FEMA. Each deals with severe rain events and explains how a pond helped reduce or eliminate flooding altogether – for homes that previously flood repetitively. Together, they make a pretty powerful case for closing the loophole.
The first talks about how a pond in Smithville, TX, that was under construction at the time of Harvey. It helped reduce the severity of flooding.
The second discusses a municipal pond in Pine Forest, a small town in Orange County, TX, north of Beaumont. After construction of the pond, “The community of roughly 500 residents and those living downstream from the ponds reported none of the flooding they had seen in the past.”
Victoria Project Protected Homes and Tax Base During Harvey
Closer to Houston, the third talks about a project in Victoria, TX. When Harvey hit the city of 68,000 in August 2017, 440 homes avoided flood damage. The City had completed the Lone Tree Creek Channel Improvement and Detention Facility Project there more than a decade earlier.
In 2005, the city recognized that its rapid residential growth created an overwhelmed drainage basin. Leaders began the planning stages of the Lone Tree Creek Project. “This project forced the creek to store water in the detention pond and not in the residential area,” said John Johnson, floodplain manager for Victoria.
“The quality of life is improved, and property resale is up as a result of this project,” said Johnson. “The tax base remained intact and property ownership stabilized in neighborhoods surrounding the Lone Tree Creek Channel. The quality of life is improved, and property resale is up as a result of this project.”
Learn More about Flood Mitigation Best Practices
For more information about flood mitigation best practices, see FEMA.
If you, or anyone you know, intend to speak at the Montgomery County Commissioners Court meeting on the 27th, use these real-world examples to reinforce the message to close the loophole.
Help Close the Loophole
Closing the loophole is a no brainer, or at least, it should be. However, if the court on August 27 is packed by developers and not citizens, expect the status quo – more flooding.
Posted by Bob Rehak on August 10, 2019 with drone footage from Jim Zura
711 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Thoughts expressed in this post represent my opinions on matters of public policy and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the great state of Texas.
Government Gone Wild: Army Corp Refuses to Release Dredging Documents that Explain Decisions, Delays
The Army Corps has refused to release documents that explain key decisions, delays and plans related to West Fork mouth bar dredging, and a potential placement area for the spoils. At issue are the Corps’ decisions to dredge only 500,000 cubic yards from the area of the mouth bar and to delay approval of the City’s proposed placement area for long-term dredging.
As a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request related to these decisions, I also learned that the Corps:
Meanwhile, the Corps continues sending sediment to a mine that leaks it back into the river. That mine – in the floodway – has a dubious environmental record at best. This seems to be a case of Government Gone Wild.
Dueling Studies Offer Different Opinions of Harvey-related Mouth Bar Volume
The City of Houston and Army Corps have reportedly argued for a year or more about how much sediment Harvey deposited in the mouth bar. Late last year, FEMA required the City to perform a core-sample study using something called the Stockton Protocol. The City hired Tetra Tech to do it. And Tetra Tech concluded Harvey deposited 1.4 million cubic yards. Here is their study.
The Corps, however, evidently did not buy the results. The Corps conducted another study for FEMA using a different protocol. It concluded Harvey deposited 500,000 cubic yards.
FEMA and the Corps went ahead and hired Great Lakes to dredge that volume from the mouth bar. That job is now more than half complete.
As part of their refusal to release their study, they cited the need to keep “pre-decision” information confidential so that inter- and intra-agency personnel could debate the merits of proposals freely. I get that. What I don’t get is how they justify this as “pre-decision.” The job is almost complete!
Dredging Without a Plan
While inventorying the documents that the Corps DID send me, I also discovered that they are now dredging the mouth bar area – without a plan. I know this because I requested the plan and they did not supply it. A Corps representative then explained that they are still working on the plan. They hope to have it done before they complete the $17 million job.
Wasteful Spending?
The Corps could be saving much of that money by using Berry Madden’s property near Kings Lake Estates as a disposal site. That’s because they need more than 5,000 gallons of diesel per day and two extra boosters (plus their crews) to pump sediment 10 miles upriver to an old West Fork sand mine in the floodway.
At the current price of diesel (about $3/gallon), that’s about $15,000 per day for fuel alone. More than $100,000 per week. And more than $400,000 per month. Waaaaay more than the limit on my gas cards. So what does the Corps get for all that?
Dike Breaches of Placement Area in Floodway
Minor floods last December breached the dike of that sand mine at least three times. Sediment continues to sweep out of the mine.
It has caused additional shoaling (see below) that will need to be removed some day near the I-69 bridge. It even buried Great Lakes pipes, causing cost overruns for Phase 1.
A year ago, this same mine was caught on camera deliberately sending its process water straight into the West Fork.
Yet, while approving this site, the Corps reportedly has environmental concerns over a much closer disposal site that would require less fuel and fewer boosters. It’s also on higher ground and out of the floodway. It’s Berry Madden’s property in Humble immediately west of Kings Lake Estates between the West Fork and 1960.
After more than a year of environmental and archeological studies costing Madden more than $100,000, the Corps still has not approved or rejected his property. Nor have they explained delays in approving or rejecting it. The documents that the Corps DID supply show that they are throwing one obstacle after another in Madden’s path. Despite the fact that he’s on higher ground and farther from the river than the current placement area.
Meanwhile, the Corps subsidizes the sub-optimal sand mine/placement area above. Go figure!
Potential Setback for Future Dredging
One of the consequences of NOT having an approved site to store additional spoils is that it could delay future phases of dredging. Those potentially include:
FOIA Scorecard
I filed my Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Army Corps 50 days ago. I requested:
About a month ago, they requested a clarification. “What do you mean by ‘plans’?” Seriously! The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needed to have the concept of plans explained????!!!
After more delays and excuses, five days ago, I received a compact disk in the mail with approximately 800 total pages of material. The Corps:
Government Gone Wild
After several phone calls in which I tried to cajole them into supplying the Corps’ study, I received another email from the Corps. It said that they considered my original FOIA request closed. They then asked me to submit another one for the same material that I requested in June. They seem to be treating this as a national-security issue, not a public-safety issue. Why?
Unfortunately, that does not allow informed discussion among the public, whose safety is at stake. Nor does it recognize the fact that they have already made a decision, i.e, to dredge 500,000 cubic yards and have half-completed the project. So how does this qualify as “pre-decisional”?
You’ll have to ask the man who signed this letter.
In my opinion, this is clearly a government agency out of control. The Corps has made a decision to dredge only 500,000 cubic yards – despite scientific evidence supporting a higher volume of 1.4 million cubic yards. And that scientific evidence was acquired using a protocol that the CORPS AND FEMA DEMANDED.
Who Will Pick Up the Pieces?
That leaves the State, County, City and the public in the lurch. Maybe a Congressional investigation could sort this out. That’s what it will take.
At this point, it’s not clear how, when or if the mouth-bar job will be finished. Five hundred thousand cubic yards is a small fraction of what needs to be removed to restore conveyance to the river.
It’s also not clear how many more hurdles the Corps will put in the way of a placement area farther from the river on higher ground. Or why.
A curtain of secrecy has descended upon this job. I will continue to follow the story. The public has a right to know.
Open Offer to Corps to Rebut Criticisms
If the Corps feels I have criticized it unjustly, I invite a spokesperson to explain the Corps point of view. I promise to reprint the rebuttal verbatim.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/9/2019
710 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts in this post represent my opinions on matters of public interest and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
First Phase of West Fork Dredging Completed
The Army Corps has completed the original scope of its West Fork Emergency Dredging Project. Great Lakes, the prime contractor, finished its portion of the job in mid-April. This week, Callan Marine, the subcontractor, finished its portion of the dredging.
Subcontractor Callan Marine Now Demobilizing
Callan has already begun demobilizing. So far, the company has unhooked its dredge from its pipeline and is removing its booster pumps and other equipment from the river. Callan should have all of its equipment back at the command site dock by this weekend.
Yesterday, Keith Jordan, a resident of Kings Lake Estates, greeted the news joyfully. “Hallelujah! It’s simply amazing how quiet it is tonight. It’s been a long 8 months!” Jordan had a booster pump anchored behind his home the entire time and complained several times to the Corps about noise.
Callan operated the blue dredge that worked the area downstream from the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge since approximately January.
Mouth Bar Contract Extension Ahead of Schedule
In other news, Great Lakes is far ahead of schedule on a contract extension. The extension is a separate mission assignment from FEMA to the Corps for slightly more than $17 million. It involves dredging 500,000 cubic yards of sediment from the mouth bar. The Corps originally thought the extension would take until January, 2020. However, at the current rate, Great Lakes could finish next month – in less than half the time predicted.
Current Dredging Photos from Carolyn Daniel
A reader, Carolyn Daniel, sent me several pictures taken earlier this week from the window of an airplane as it descended into Bush Intercontinental Airport. They show the Great Lakes Dredge south of the mouth bar. The company also removed vegetation from leading edge of the mouth bar itself. Perhaps they hoped that river currents could help erode the bar which contains far more than 500,000 cubic yards.
These images illustrate the enormity of the task ahead and the need to be ruthlessly efficient with resources and time.
Challenges Ahead
Tomorrow, I will look at some of the challenges ahead, and some of the obstacles to restoring conveyance.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/8/2019 with photos from Carolyn Daniel
709 Days since Hurricane Harvey