Geologic change happens so slowly, most people won’t live or stay long enough in one place to perceive it. Then something happens to make you crank up the Wayback Machine and look more closely. Yesterday was one of those days for me. The Army Corps announced that it was going to begin dredging part of the West Fork mouth bar area.
That raised the question, “Which part?” That wasn’t announced. So I asked Tim Garfield, retired chief geologist for one of the world’s largest oil companies, what he would do. He felt it was important to re-establish the river’s natural channel. So I asked him where it was. (Spoiler alert: It’s between the mouth bar and Atascocita Point.) But in the process of figuring this out, I learned many more things about the mouth bar and a river I take for granted. I’ll save those for the end.
70 Years of Change on the River
Garfield led me to the Perry-Castañeda Map Collection of Texas Topographic Maps at the UT Library Online. He found this map from 1949 of Moonshine Hill. It’s exactly 70 years old! The 1949 date means we can see where the river was before the dam and lake were built in 1955.
The San Jacinto in 1949 before Lake Houston was impounded in 1955.For a higher resolution version of this map, click here. This map shows what geologists call “the relict channel.”
Kingwood, Atascocita and Huffman Before Settlement
This map shows areas that would eventually become Atascocita, Kingwood, and Huffman. It includes the area where the mouth bar has formed between Kings Point and Atascocita Point.
You can tell a lot by looking at this map. You can tell even more when you superimpose it over a satellite view of the area today in Photoshop. Suddenly, you see how the landscape has changed. In fact, it changed so much that I had problems aligning the two images.
Map Superimposed Over Satellite Image At Varying Opacities
However, the county line and 1960 are still in the same location. So I used those as reference points. Then I varied the opacity in the top layer (the old map) so that you could see more and more of the current landscape. At different percentages, you can see how various features have changed over time.
Here’s what the sequence looks like starting with 1949 and today. I started by cropping tighter on the area of interest, the West Fork where the Corps is dredging. I include several different opacity ratios because some changes become more apparent at one ratio than another.
100% opacity for 1949 map.0% 1949 and 100% today.60% 1949 and 40% today.50% 1949 and 50% today.33% 1949 and 67% today.25% 1949 and 75% today.
Most Visible Changes
Starting from the left:
In the 33/67 image, notice how the river once meandered near US59 and how much further south it was.
In the 50/50 image, notice how much of the Romerica land was swamp in 1949…and still is.
In the 75/25 image, notice how much the river migrated north just north of Kings River estates.
In the 25/75 image, notice how much area the lake claimed.
In the 33/67 image, notice how far north the river has shifted under the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge.
In the 33/67 image, notice how Atascocita Point has grown past the relict channel.
In the 60/40 image, notice how the mouth bar grew at the confluence of a relict stream bed within the lake and the relict channel of the West Fork. You can also see this pretty clearly in the 25/75 image.
In the 25/75 image, notice how the relict West Fork channel used to hug Atascocita Shores.
Key Map
This image shows locations referenced above for those who may not be familiar with them.
Key to locations
Do you see other things that I did not? Please let me know through the contact form on this web site.
As the dredging program moves forward, these maps may also help inform dredging strategy. Stay tuned.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/13/2019
653 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/50-copy.jpg?fit=1500%2C990&ssl=19901500adminadmin2019-06-13 00:32:172019-06-16 09:32:21Living Landscape: San Jacinto River Before Lake Houston and Now
GALVESTON, Texas (June 10, 2019) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District staff executed a modification to the West Fork San Jacinto River Emergency Debris Removal contract June 7, 2019, to dredge an additional 497,400 cubic yards of material that was deposited in the mouth of the San Jacinto River from Hurricane Harvey.
“This contract modification will ensure a decrease in threats to critical infrastructure and lower the risk to potential loss of life,” said Charles Wheeler, USACE Galveston District project manager. “This is an ongoing contract that is part of a Federal Emergency Management Agency mission assignment.”
According to USACE Galveston District officials, the dredged material will be placed at the existing location referred to as Placement Area 2, which is located approximately 10 miles upriver. The additional dredging is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019, with the demobilization of the equipment completed by early 2020.
No Mention of Other Partners
The press release does not mention the City of Houston, Harris County, the State of Texas, or Congressman Dan Crenshaw’s office. Most had been negotiating with FEMA and the Corps as late as last Friday.
On two previous occasions, the City announced agreements in principle with FEMA and the Corps. However, the two sides still had many details to work out relating to volume, storage, permitting and cost. The City and FEMA have tried to reach agreement on the volume of sediment deposited by Harvey since last October – eight months.
The Corps’ announcement reveals just how far apart the two sides were in their volume estimates – about 900,000 cubic yards. That difference means much of the mouth bar area will remain undredged – at least for now.
With approval to remove only about 500,000 cubic yards, the dredgers will have to cut a channel around the mouth bar, most likely on the deeper Atascocita side. Ironically, that would mean leaving behind sand deposited above water by Harvey – a decision that could confuse the public.
Today, the Great Lakes dredge has anchored near Kings Harbor. Judging by the weeds and logs in the pictures below, it appears that they will have to dredge their way TO the mouth bar. That could use up some of the precious approved volume. It could also take several weeks to position and calibrate all the equipment necessary to pump sediment 10 miles upriver.
Great Lakes Dredge has moved downriver east of West Lake Houston Parkway. It is anchored in front of Raffa’s in Kings Harbor.Wider shot taken from the pier in Kings Harbor facing west toward the Great Lakes Dredge and the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge.Callan dredge operating on the other side of the pier. Dredgers are responsible only for work in the channel, not tidying up the shoreline.While taking this shot this morning, I noticed that workers were finally starting to renovate Sharkey’s, one of the most popular restaurants in Kings Harbor before Harvey.
What Comes Next?
Pumping sediment from the mouth bar to PA-2 will require the horsepower of the larger Great Lakes dredge. It will also require several extra booster pumps and miles of additional 24 inch pipeline. The Great Lakes dredge has now moved downstream and is anchored east of the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge near Kings Harbor.
Last week, dredge pipe re-appeared under the 59 bridge after being gone for two months. That fueled rumors that the two sides had finally worked out some kind of deal. At this hour, the mystery is where does the Corps’ decision leave all the other parties in this process? More important, where does it leave the remainder of the mouth bar?
The City, Corps, FEMA and TDEM would have to increase the approved volume after the next phase starts or…
The City, County and TDEM would have to remove the rest without FEMA and the Corps.
However, money is just part of the problem. The second option might require permitting another placement area. Permitting could delay the project. But permitting a closer placement area might also save money. It gets complicated.
PA 1 is filling up rapidly as the pictures below show. And PA-2 is so far upriver from the mouth bar that would cost extra millions of dollars to use.
Tail end of the Callan dredge pipe empties sediment into an old sand pit off Townsend in Humble.Several months ago, this was all water. The owner of the pit is now selling sand to an asphalt companyand the pit is still filling rapidly.
Easy Way to Save Money
Shortening the distance between the mouth bar and the placement area could reduce the amount of diesel and manpower needed to run the booster bumps. Each booster uses more than one thousand gallons of diesel per day. So costs add up rapidly. That’s why the Corps is still considering other placement areas.
Berry Madden owns several thousand acres south of River Grove Park between the river and FM1960. According to Madden, using his property could save the government $5.5 million in pumping costs. And that’s just on the first 500,000 cubic yards. If 2 million cubic yards is an accurate estimate for the total mouth bar, using Madden’s property could save $22 million. That’s even more than the remobilization costs we were trying to save.
I hope we don’t stretch this out too much longer or make it any more difficult. My truck needs some repairs and I’m afraid, as a taxpayer, that I may not be able to afford them!
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/12/19
652 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/BensBranch_01_01.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2019-06-12 12:26:022020-01-17 10:21:08Army Corps Moving Forward with Partial Mouth Bar Dredging to Reduce Flood Risk
Yet more drone footage by local resident and videographer Jim Zura of Zura Productions revealed that Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest weren’t the only areas with flooding problems on May 7, 2019. The low-lying Romerica land is in the floodway and floodplain of the San Jacinto West Fork. A large part of the property is also classified as wetlands.
Flood Follies
May continued the developers’ long standing tradition of flooding follies.
Zura Videos Show Scope of Flooding Day After May 7
Zura filmed three short drone videos linked below. The first two from River Grove Park show the extent of Romerica’s flooding problems on May 7. The third shows street flooding on May 3 on much higher ground.
Romerica has reportedly decided to reapply for a permit from the Army Corps. As they develop the required surveys and studies coming out of Round One, they have taken down many of the websites that previously caused them so many problems. For instance, they removed the site offering EB-5 visas to foreign investors through their American Vision program. However, I have screen captures of all the suspect websites.
Zura’s video underscores the folly of developing this property into anything other than a park. I hope Mr. Haddad and Mr. Covarrubias watch these videos closely.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Zura-RG-Romerica.jpg?fit=1500%2C838&ssl=18381500adminadmin2019-06-11 21:44:272019-06-11 21:47:25Zura Drone Videos Reveal Romerica Had Flooding Problems on May 7 Also
Living Landscape: San Jacinto River Before Lake Houston and Now
Geologic change happens so slowly, most people won’t live or stay long enough in one place to perceive it. Then something happens to make you crank up the Wayback Machine and look more closely. Yesterday was one of those days for me. The Army Corps announced that it was going to begin dredging part of the West Fork mouth bar area.
That raised the question, “Which part?” That wasn’t announced. So I asked Tim Garfield, retired chief geologist for one of the world’s largest oil companies, what he would do. He felt it was important to re-establish the river’s natural channel. So I asked him where it was. (Spoiler alert: It’s between the mouth bar and Atascocita Point.) But in the process of figuring this out, I learned many more things about the mouth bar and a river I take for granted. I’ll save those for the end.
70 Years of Change on the River
Garfield led me to the Perry-Castañeda Map Collection of Texas Topographic Maps at the UT Library Online. He found this map from 1949 of Moonshine Hill. It’s exactly 70 years old! The 1949 date means we can see where the river was before the dam and lake were built in 1955.
Kingwood, Atascocita and Huffman Before Settlement
This map shows areas that would eventually become Atascocita, Kingwood, and Huffman. It includes the area where the mouth bar has formed between Kings Point and Atascocita Point.
You can tell a lot by looking at this map. You can tell even more when you superimpose it over a satellite view of the area today in Photoshop. Suddenly, you see how the landscape has changed. In fact, it changed so much that I had problems aligning the two images.
Map Superimposed Over Satellite Image At Varying Opacities
However, the county line and 1960 are still in the same location. So I used those as reference points. Then I varied the opacity in the top layer (the old map) so that you could see more and more of the current landscape. At different percentages, you can see how various features have changed over time.
Here’s what the sequence looks like starting with 1949 and today. I started by cropping tighter on the area of interest, the West Fork where the Corps is dredging. I include several different opacity ratios because some changes become more apparent at one ratio than another.
Most Visible Changes
Starting from the left:
Key Map
This image shows locations referenced above for those who may not be familiar with them.
Do you see other things that I did not? Please let me know through the contact form on this web site.
As the dredging program moves forward, these maps may also help inform dredging strategy. Stay tuned.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/13/2019
653 Days after Hurricane Harvey
Army Corps Moving Forward with Partial Mouth Bar Dredging to Reduce Flood Risk
The Army Corps announced Monday that it will begin dredging approximately 500,000 cubic yards of the giant sand bar at the mouth of the San Jacinto West Fork. It has been linked to flooding in the Humble-Kingwood-Atascocita area. However, previous estimates put the total volume at close to 2 million cubic yards, with the volume due to Harvey at 1.4 million cubic yards.
Text of Press Release
GALVESTON, Texas (June 10, 2019) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District staff executed a modification to the West Fork San Jacinto River Emergency Debris Removal contract June 7, 2019, to dredge an additional 497,400 cubic yards of material that was deposited in the mouth of the San Jacinto River from Hurricane Harvey.
“This contract modification will ensure a decrease in threats to critical infrastructure and lower the risk to potential loss of life,” said Charles Wheeler, USACE Galveston District project manager. “This is an ongoing contract that is part of a Federal Emergency Management Agency mission assignment.”
According to USACE Galveston District officials, the dredged material will be placed at the existing location referred to as Placement Area 2, which is located approximately 10 miles upriver. The additional dredging is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019, with the demobilization of the equipment completed by early 2020.
No Mention of Other Partners
The press release does not mention the City of Houston, Harris County, the State of Texas, or Congressman Dan Crenshaw’s office. Most had been negotiating with FEMA and the Corps as late as last Friday.
On two previous occasions, the City announced agreements in principle with FEMA and the Corps. However, the two sides still had many details to work out relating to volume, storage, permitting and cost. The City and FEMA have tried to reach agreement on the volume of sediment deposited by Harvey since last October – eight months.
In February, the City, hired Tetra Tech to collect and analyze core samples from the mouth bar. In late April, Tetra Tech estimated, through a protocol recommended by FEMA, that Harvey deposited 1.4 million cubic yards of sediment at the mouth of the river.
Two Sides Far Apart in Negotiating Volume
The Corps’ announcement reveals just how far apart the two sides were in their volume estimates – about 900,000 cubic yards. That difference means much of the mouth bar area will remain undredged – at least for now.
Great Lakes Dredge Moving into Position
Great Lakes finished dredging its half of Phase One on April 12, exactly two months ago. The company has waited patiently ever since for the decision that finally came last Friday.
Today, the Great Lakes dredge has anchored near Kings Harbor. Judging by the weeds and logs in the pictures below, it appears that they will have to dredge their way TO the mouth bar. That could use up some of the precious approved volume. It could also take several weeks to position and calibrate all the equipment necessary to pump sediment 10 miles upriver.
What Comes Next?
Pumping sediment from the mouth bar to PA-2 will require the horsepower of the larger Great Lakes dredge. It will also require several extra booster pumps and miles of additional 24 inch pipeline. The Great Lakes dredge has now moved downstream and is anchored east of the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge near Kings Harbor.
Last week, dredge pipe re-appeared under the 59 bridge after being gone for two months. That fueled rumors that the two sides had finally worked out some kind of deal. At this hour, the mystery is where does the Corps’ decision leave all the other parties in this process? More important, where does it leave the remainder of the mouth bar?
Other Money Available
The state approved an additional $30 million for dredging the mouth bar last week. The county also allocated $10 million in the flood bond approved by voters last year (see item CI-61). That $40 million along with another $18 million committed by the City of Houston would add up to $58 million. In addition to the unspecified sum FEMA is fronting now, that might be enough to remove the entire mouth bar. That could happen one of two ways:
However, money is just part of the problem. The second option might require permitting another placement area. Permitting could delay the project. But permitting a closer placement area might also save money. It gets complicated.
PA 1 is filling up rapidly as the pictures below show. And PA-2 is so far upriver from the mouth bar that would cost extra millions of dollars to use.
Easy Way to Save Money
Shortening the distance between the mouth bar and the placement area could reduce the amount of diesel and manpower needed to run the booster bumps. Each booster uses more than one thousand gallons of diesel per day. So costs add up rapidly. That’s why the Corps is still considering other placement areas.
Berry Madden owns several thousand acres south of River Grove Park between the river and FM1960. According to Madden, using his property could save the government $5.5 million in pumping costs. And that’s just on the first 500,000 cubic yards. If 2 million cubic yards is an accurate estimate for the total mouth bar, using Madden’s property could save $22 million. That’s even more than the remobilization costs we were trying to save.
I hope we don’t stretch this out too much longer or make it any more difficult. My truck needs some repairs and I’m afraid, as a taxpayer, that I may not be able to afford them!
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/12/19
652 Days after Hurricane Harvey
Zura Drone Videos Reveal Romerica Had Flooding Problems on May 7 Also
Yet more drone footage by local resident and videographer Jim Zura of Zura Productions revealed that Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest weren’t the only areas with flooding problems on May 7, 2019. The low-lying Romerica land is in the floodway and floodplain of the San Jacinto West Fork. A large part of the property is also classified as wetlands.
Flood Follies
May continued the developers’ long standing tradition of flooding follies.
Both the TCEQ and US Fish & Wildlife Service complained about the flooding and wetlands when protesting Romerica’s permit application to build high rises in an old riverbed of the West Fork. Between February of 2018 and January of this year, the Romerica property flooded six times – once every other month. In April, Romerica requested an extension of the time allowed to respond to 727 protest letters. The Army Corps withdrew their application instead, but without prejudice. That means the developer may reapply at a future date.
Zura Videos Show Scope of Flooding Day After May 7
Zura filmed three short drone videos linked below. The first two from River Grove Park show the extent of Romerica’s flooding problems on May 7. The third shows street flooding on May 3 on much higher ground.
The first shows how deep the water was in River Grove’s popular boardwalk area. It also shows wetlands adjacent to Woodland Hills, near where Romerica wants to build a commercial and retail mall.
The second shows how much of the developer’s property was flooded after a four inch rain the night before.
The third video shows trucks trying to navigate down a residential street on much higher ground.
Romerica Reportedly Reapplying for Permit
Romerica has reportedly decided to reapply for a permit from the Army Corps. As they develop the required surveys and studies coming out of Round One, they have taken down many of the websites that previously caused them so many problems. For instance, they removed the site offering EB-5 visas to foreign investors through their American Vision program. However, I have screen captures of all the suspect websites.
Zura’s video underscores the folly of developing this property into anything other than a park. I hope Mr. Haddad and Mr. Covarrubias watch these videos closely.
The Producers Sequel called The Developers?
This is starting to feel like a remake of a Mel Brooks 1960s movie called The Producers. In the movie, a Broadway producer discovers that he can make a lot more money with a flop than a hit by overselling shares in the production, because no one will audit the books of a play presumed to have lost money. If I were developing the sequel, I would call it The Developers and base it on two foreign investors trying to recreate a suburban Atlantis for which they can also sell flood insurance backed by (you guessed it) the U.S. Government.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/11/2019
651 Days since Hurricane Harvey