On April 1, The San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) began releasing water from Lake Conroe at a slow, controlled rate to help guard against flooding this spring. This is the first of two seasonal lowering periods scheduled this year.
Details of Lowering Policy
From April 1 to May 31, SJRA will lower Lake Conroe one foot from 201 to 200 msl (mean feet above sea level).
During the peak of hurricane season, from August 1 to September 30th, SJRA will lower the lake two feet to 199 msl.
If the lake level has already dropped to the target elevation due to evaporation, no additional releases would be made.
If a storm enters the forecast while seasonal releases are being made, releases would be stopped until rainfall is out of the forecast to avoid overloading the downstream watershed.
Yesterday, SJRA began releasing water at the rate of about 375 cubic feet per second (cfs). This rate is slow enough that it will not flood downstream communities, yet fast enough that, over time, it will give Lake Conroe extra capacity to absorb heavy, spring rains.
On April 1, the SJRA began lowering the level of Lake Conroe by 345 cubic feet per second.
“We should not forget that the Tax Day and Memorial Day floods both happened in the spring,” said Chuck Gilman, SJR’s Director of Water Resources and Flood Management.
Gilman emphasized that the seasonal lowering strategy is temporary while downstream communities address their own flood mitigation strategies such as dredging and additional gates for Lake Houston. Dredging will help restore conveyance of the San Jacinto river. Gates will increase the release rate of Lake Houston. Increasing the release rate is important for two main reasons:
The gates on Lake Houston have one fifteenth the release rate of Lake Conroe’s, creating a bottleneck – 150,000 cfs for Lake Conroe; 10,000 cfs for Lake Houston.
Pre-releasing water from Lake Houston in advance of a storm can take days. A storm can easily veer away during that time, resulting in wasted water. The long lead time significantly raises the level of that risk. More gates will enable the Coastal Water Authority to release water faster and reduce that risk.
Gates on the Lake Conroe Dam can release water 15X faster than the small gates on Lake Houston’s Dam.
Pressure Mounting on Board as Board Changes
During last February’s SJRA board meeting, the board voted to continue the lowering policy, which it began in 2018. However, lowering Lake Conroe has encountered pushback from boat owners who complain about the inconvenience. Board member Brenda Cooper voted against the lowering. All other board members who were present voted to continue it.
However, the board has seven directors and the terms of three will expire this year. As pressure mounts on the board and board members change, the seasonal lowering policy could be in jeopardy.
Mitigation Projects Also Pressured
All the more reason to dredge the mouth bar on the West Fork NOW! By the time Phase 1 is completed, it will have taken 15 months. But six months of that was surveying, bidding, and mobilizing the job. If FEMA and the Corps authorized dredging the mouth bar today, it could be completed before next spring. That would reduce the need to lower Lake Conroe again next year.
Stephen Costello, the City of Houston’s Chief Recovery Officer, speaking at a Kingwood Town Hall Meeting on March 21, said it could take 3 years to add 10 additional gates to Lake Houston. That was the best case. Others have previously estimated it could take 10 years.
It’s unlikely that residents of Lake Conroe would tolerate seasonal lowering of their lake for 3 more years, let alone ten. The longer flood mitigation takes, the more pushback we can expect. That’s yet another reason why we need to accelerate mitigation projects.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/2/2019
581 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Screen-Shot-2019-04-02-at-9.42.29-AM-copy.jpg?fit=1200%2C743&ssl=17431200adminadmin2019-04-02 08:39:162020-01-17 10:01:04SRJA Begins Seasonal Lowering of Lake Conroe to Provide Buffer Against Flooding
The Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium has released its second report. This one addresses the City’s dwindling supply of affordable, multi-family housing, 26 percent of which lie within a currently mapped floodplain and are vulnerable to future flood events.
165,000 multi-family units are vulnerable to flooding
More than 475,000 people who live in these units often face multiple vulnerabilities.
45% of all households in Harris County are renters
57% of all households in the City of Houston rent
Half of the renter households in Harris County spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing
The rising prices of rental units, coupled with the low incomes of many renting households, makes the search for safe and affordable housing a major challenge for many of Houston’s most vulnerable residents
Between 1990 and 2017, 1,850 multi-family units were lost each year through demolition
Demolitions, renovations, and redevelopment of older apartment buildings are replacing lower-priced units with higher-priced ones
Updated floodplain maps will likely bring tens of thousands more of the region’s residents into areas of elevated risk
The bulk of the new multi-family construction in the city and county is being built with higher-income renters in mind
Half of all affordable multi-family units are at risk of losing their affordability through the expiration of existing subsidies, demotion or upgrades.
Organized to Give Insight into Strategies
The combined risks of flooding and the accelerating loss of affordable multi-family housing across the City of Houston and Harris County point to the need to understand and consider strategies to address this crisis. The authors break it down into four major sections:
Introduction and overview
Risks and opportunities
An overview of the study areas and case studies highlighting solutions that have helped in other parts of the country
Policy and action considerations
Partial List of Policy Recommendations
In the policy and action considerations section, the report makes many recommendations to protect and support vulnerable families. Below, a partial list:
Establish a housing trust fund for housing recovery
Inventory available developable land outside of the floodway
Establish a privately-funded strike fund to assist affordable housing developers and preserve existing affordable housing
Establish a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program to limit floodplain development
Leverage Local housing Authority’s tax-exempt status to initiate projects
Encourage limited equity cooperatives as an alternative for multi-family residences in need of repair or under bad ownership
Encourage transit oriented development
Create Opportunity Zones outside of floodplains.
Encourage a community land trust model
Bolster incentives to encourage development outside the floodplain
Creating an eviction protection program.
Expanding the number of housing choice vouchers and preventing discrimination against users.
Alerting residents of flood risk.
Implementing a more streamlined system of inspection and permitting that prioritizes rehabilitation of multi-family units.
For More Information
The 108-page report is richly illustrated with maps and charts that give both policy makers and concerned residents hard information with which to build sound policy. It contains so much meat, it’s hard to summarize.
This is not light reading, but it will help illustrate the problems that half the people in the City and County face.
My one wish after reading this? The authors should have used more photography to illustrate the problems; they over-rely on statistics in my opinion. Having done a fair amount of documentary photography myself, I understand how difficult this is. But until people have actually seen the living conditions many are forced to endure, they won’t truly understand the problem.
Years ago, I studied poverty in a Chicago neighborhood called Uptown from 1973-1977 – between the two OPEC oil embargoes. I was trying to understand the effect they had on people. Forty years later, I can’t remember a single statistic from those days. But I can’t forget the image below. This young, shoeless boy was fishing through trash cans looking for soda bottles to redeem so that he could get money to eat. To encourage recycling, soda bottles had a nickel deposit in those days. Behind him: the affordable multi-family housing where he lived.
Kingwood kayaker and wildlife photographer Emily Murphy has done it again. This time her great eye and quick reflexes captured this juvenile bald eagle flying over the San Jacinto West Fork near where Romerica proposes to build 25-50 story high rises. It’s evidence that eagles are nesting nearby.
Juvenile Bald Eagle photographed flying over the San Jacinto River West Fork by Emily Murphy. Catching birds in flight like this is very difficult. It requires a good eye and very fast reflexes. The equipment Murphy uses in her kayak weighs six to seven pounds, making it difficult to hold and maneuver while on the water.
The absence of white in the chin and cheeks of this eagle suggests it is very young and recently fledged. However, Fred Collins from Harris County Precinct 3, who is director of the Kleb Woods Nature Preserve in Tomball, thinks it is older. Says Klebs, “I think this is last year’s chick. I am fairly confident it is not this year’s hatch because it is molting.”
Regardless, the good news is that we seem to have an active and expanding eagle population on the San Jacinto and in Lake Houston. Below are a couple shots I took in January while on a ride-along with HPD Lake Patrol, graciously arranged by Houston City Council Member Dave Martin. Weather conditions were rough; the boat was pitching wildly. But we still photographed several eagles.
Bald Eagle photographed in Atascocita on Lake Houston from HPD Lake Patrol Boat on 1/31/2019 by Bob Rehak
Nesting Bald Eagle near Walden on Lake Houston. Photographed by Bob Rehak from HPD Lake Patrol Boat on 1/31/2019.
Other Area Wildlife
The Lake, River, swamps and wetlands this time of year teem with nesting birds of many species. Right about now, egrets are pairing up, building nests and laying eggs. So are the roseate spoonbills. Within a few weeks, chicks will hatch and by June, a new generation will be hunting the shorelines. Meanwhile, many other species are migrating through the area about now.
Get out and enjoy the wildlife in our wonderful parks! East End is a favorite location for birders. They have spotted more than 140 species there, including several that are threatened or endangered. Below are several shots that I took in the last two years.
Male great egret returning with stick to build nest. Photo by Bob Rehak.
Roseate Spoonbill in flight. Photo by Bob Rehak.
Female great egret preening on nest. Photo by Bob Rehak.
Great Egret Chicks. Feathers have still not unfurled. Photo by Bob Rehak.
Blue Grosbeak in meadow of East End Park. Photographed by Bob Rehak.
Tricolor Heron. Photo by Bob Rehak.
Black and White. Cormorant and Great Egret. Photo by Bob Rehak.
So grab your binoculars or camera and get out and enjoy this wonderful spring weather. After all, this is why we live here. Kingwood really is the livable forest!
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/30/2019
578 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Emily-Murphy.jpg?fit=826%2C840&ssl=1840826adminadmin2019-03-30 06:52:002019-03-30 06:54:04Juvenile and Nesting Bald Eagles, Plus Other Area Wildlife Photos
SRJA Begins Seasonal Lowering of Lake Conroe to Provide Buffer Against Flooding
On April 1, The San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) began releasing water from Lake Conroe at a slow, controlled rate to help guard against flooding this spring. This is the first of two seasonal lowering periods scheduled this year.
Details of Lowering Policy
If the lake level has already dropped to the target elevation due to evaporation, no additional releases would be made.
If a storm enters the forecast while seasonal releases are being made, releases would be stopped until rainfall is out of the forecast to avoid overloading the downstream watershed.
For the complete text of the SJRA’s seasonal lowering policy, click here.
Rationale for Seasonal Lowering
Yesterday, SJRA began releasing water at the rate of about 375 cubic feet per second (cfs). This rate is slow enough that it will not flood downstream communities, yet fast enough that, over time, it will give Lake Conroe extra capacity to absorb heavy, spring rains.
Gilman emphasized that the seasonal lowering strategy is temporary while downstream communities address their own flood mitigation strategies such as dredging and additional gates for Lake Houston. Dredging will help restore conveyance of the San Jacinto river. Gates will increase the release rate of Lake Houston. Increasing the release rate is important for two main reasons:
Pressure Mounting on Board as Board Changes
During last February’s SJRA board meeting, the board voted to continue the lowering policy, which it began in 2018. However, lowering Lake Conroe has encountered pushback from boat owners who complain about the inconvenience. Board member Brenda Cooper voted against the lowering. All other board members who were present voted to continue it.
However, the board has seven directors and the terms of three will expire this year. As pressure mounts on the board and board members change, the seasonal lowering policy could be in jeopardy.
Mitigation Projects Also Pressured
All the more reason to dredge the mouth bar on the West Fork NOW! By the time Phase 1 is completed, it will have taken 15 months. But six months of that was surveying, bidding, and mobilizing the job. If FEMA and the Corps authorized dredging the mouth bar today, it could be completed before next spring. That would reduce the need to lower Lake Conroe again next year.
Stephen Costello, the City of Houston’s Chief Recovery Officer, speaking at a Kingwood Town Hall Meeting on March 21, said it could take 3 years to add 10 additional gates to Lake Houston. That was the best case. Others have previously estimated it could take 10 years.
It’s unlikely that residents of Lake Conroe would tolerate seasonal lowering of their lake for 3 more years, let alone ten. The longer flood mitigation takes, the more pushback we can expect. That’s yet another reason why we need to accelerate mitigation projects.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/2/2019
581 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium Releases Report on Affordable Multifamily Housing
The Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium has released its second report. This one addresses the City’s dwindling supply of affordable, multi-family housing, 26 percent of which lie within a currently mapped floodplain and are vulnerable to future flood events.
Like the group’s first report which addressed the causes of flooding watershed by watershed throughout Houston, this is a true work of scholarship. Major contributors to the report include the University of Houston’s Community Design Resource Center, Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation Houston. The Cullen Foundation generously funded the report. Other major sponsors of the Consortium include the Houston Endowment, Kinder Foundation, and The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation.
Major Findings about Multi-family Housing
The report found:
Organized to Give Insight into Strategies
The combined risks of flooding and the accelerating loss of affordable multi-family housing across the City of Houston and Harris County point to the need to understand and consider strategies to address this crisis. The authors break it down into four major sections:
Partial List of Policy Recommendations
In the policy and action considerations section, the report makes many recommendations to protect and support vulnerable families. Below, a partial list:
For More Information
The 108-page report is richly illustrated with maps and charts that give both policy makers and concerned residents hard information with which to build sound policy. It contains so much meat, it’s hard to summarize.
To download and read the full text, click here. Warning: 50 meg PDF.
One Wish…Rely Less on Statistics
My one wish after reading this? The authors should have used more photography to illustrate the problems; they over-rely on statistics in my opinion. Having done a fair amount of documentary photography myself, I understand how difficult this is. But until people have actually seen the living conditions many are forced to endure, they won’t truly understand the problem.
Years ago, I studied poverty in a Chicago neighborhood called Uptown from 1973-1977 – between the two OPEC oil embargoes. I was trying to understand the effect they had on people. Forty years later, I can’t remember a single statistic from those days. But I can’t forget the image below. This young, shoeless boy was fishing through trash cans looking for soda bottles to redeem so that he could get money to eat. To encourage recycling, soda bottles had a nickel deposit in those days. Behind him: the affordable multi-family housing where he lived.
For more Chicago Uptown images see the BobRehak.com.
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 31, 2019
579 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Juvenile and Nesting Bald Eagles, Plus Other Area Wildlife Photos
Kingwood kayaker and wildlife photographer Emily Murphy has done it again. This time her great eye and quick reflexes captured this juvenile bald eagle flying over the San Jacinto West Fork near where Romerica proposes to build 25-50 story high rises. It’s evidence that eagles are nesting nearby.
The absence of white in the chin and cheeks of this eagle suggests it is very young and recently fledged. However, Fred Collins from Harris County Precinct 3, who is director of the Kleb Woods Nature Preserve in Tomball, thinks it is older. Says Klebs, “I think this is last year’s chick. I am fairly confident it is not this year’s hatch because it is molting.”
Regardless, the good news is that we seem to have an active and expanding eagle population on the San Jacinto and in Lake Houston. Below are a couple shots I took in January while on a ride-along with HPD Lake Patrol, graciously arranged by Houston City Council Member Dave Martin. Weather conditions were rough; the boat was pitching wildly. But we still photographed several eagles.
Other Area Wildlife
The Lake, River, swamps and wetlands this time of year teem with nesting birds of many species. Right about now, egrets are pairing up, building nests and laying eggs. So are the roseate spoonbills. Within a few weeks, chicks will hatch and by June, a new generation will be hunting the shorelines. Meanwhile, many other species are migrating through the area about now.
Get out and enjoy the wildlife in our wonderful parks! East End is a favorite location for birders. They have spotted more than 140 species there, including several that are threatened or endangered. Below are several shots that I took in the last two years.
So grab your binoculars or camera and get out and enjoy this wonderful spring weather. After all, this is why we live here. Kingwood really is the livable forest!
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/30/2019
578 Days since Hurricane Harvey