News - Reduce Flooding

Senator Creighton Introduces Bill that Could Speed Up Flood Planning, Mitigation

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, many officials complained bitterly that money from the State’s “rainy day” fund couldn’t be used for flood mitigation projects. Former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett often said, “If Harvey wasn’t a rainy day, I don’t know what is!”

Creighton Introduces Bill That Could Speed Flood Mitigation

Responding to a need that many recognized, in February, Texas State Senator Brandon Creighton introduced SB 695. On March 1, it went to the Senate Water and Rural Affairs Committee. It relates to state policies and programs that affect the funding of flood planning, mitigation, and infrastructure projects.

*SB 695 went to the Senate Water and Rural Affairs Committee last Friday.*

Creighton’s bill would appropriate $3 billion from the state’s economic stabilization fund to a dedicated flood infrastructure fund. The purpose: to make low- or no-interest loans to cities, counties, and water authorities for:

(1) planning for flood protection;

(2) preparing applications for obtaining regulatory approvals at the local, state, or federal level;

(3) activities associated with administrative or legal proceedings by regulatory agencies; and

(4) preparing engineering plans or specifications to provide structural or nonstructural flood mitigation or drainage.

$3 Billion In Ready Cash Could Streamline Process

The main benefit: the bill provides ready cash in emergencies, such as Harvey, to jumpstart mitigation projects.

Because of the complicated way that grant funding now works, political entities must often apply for grants to raise the money for a local match to then apply for a larger grant. The result: lengthy delays.

Example: it took 18 months to obtain $2 million for a San Jacinto River Basin Study that will take another 12-18 months to execute. By the time people start acting on the findings, it could be another year or two.

Hopefully, Creighton’s SB 695 will reduce the time between problems and solutions so that Texas citizens face less flood risk. Click here, to download and review the full text.

Bill Deserves Bi-Partisan Support

This important bill deserves everyone’s support, Democrats and Republicans alike. It could be one of the most important pieces of legislation taken up this year. My understanding is that former Harris County Judge Emmett, Harris County Flood Control and Houston Stronger all backed the idea.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/4/2019

552 Days after Hurricane Harvey

Why Most Flood-Bond Projects Approved to Date Appear to Favor Upstream Locations

A knowledgeable reader with an engineering background looked at this morning’s post about flood-bond projects approved to date. He made an observation that, frankly, fleetingly occurred to me also. He said that the majority of the projects seem to be upstream rather than down. He also questioned the wisdom of that. Should we not start downstream and work back up? That way, he said, you don’t accelerate water rushing downstream to get caught behind a mouth bar. His fear: it could make flooding worse in downstream communities.

Official Flood Control Response

HCFCD logo

So I called Matt Zeve, the Deputy Executive Director at Harris County Flood Control. I related the reader’s concern and asked him why the commissioners approved the projects that they have.

It comes down to three things. said Zeve.

First and foremost, Flood Control didn’t want to stop any projects that were in the works and about to kick off when the bond was passed. Flood control was already pretty far down the road with most of the projects that have been approved.
Second, they have responded to extreme community pressure in some cases.
Third, the availability of partner funding accelerated some projects, too. For instance, two weeks ago, the County received commitments from FEMA, City of Houston, Montgomery County and the SJRA for the San Jacinto River Basin Study. The county quickly approved its share also. The intent: to honor commitments from partners that extend County funding.

Those all sounded like valid reasons. Zeve also acknowledged that in an orderly world, he would have preferred moving from downstream to upstream. Perhaps that may happen as the priority order of bond projects becomes finalized.

Update on Rest of he Priority List

Zeve emphasized that the Flood Control District is working on a rational basis for prioritizing the remainder of the projects on the flood-bond list using criteria, such as worst-first.

But in reality, other factors like partner funding may alter the order. I have to believe that if FEMA came up with $50 million to remove the mouth bar, the dredgers would attack it tomorrow.

Zeve now estimates that the new list should be posted by end-of-day Monday. Check back. We’ll see how Rev 2.0 changes the order now that the low-to-moderate income (LMI) ranking has been removed.

Posted by Bob Rehak on March 2, 2019

550 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Flood Bond Projects Approved to Date by Harris County Commissioners Court

Six months have passed since the passage of the Harris County Flood Bond last August. Several projects have been approved so far that could benefit the San Jacinto watershed.

Tributary Map Showing Where the Water Fell During Harvey

This watershed map shows the volume of water carried by each tributary during Harvey.

*Map of upper San Jacinto watershed basin shows streamflows during Harvey in cubic feet per second (CFS). Source: San Jacinto River Authority.*

Flood Bond Projects Approved to Date

Projects approved so far:

Z-10 will resurvey and remap floodplains country wide. Contractors will factor in new rainfall data and use advanced modeling technologies to provide more accurate information on flooding risks.
CI-012 provides major maintenance for Cypress Creek, an upstream tributary.
CI-035 will update the 2003 Texas Water Development Board Regional Drainage Plan for Major Tributaries of Cypress Creek.
F-20 approved right-of-way acquisition and floodplain preservation, also for Cypress Creek.
Project C-58, final design of Drainage Improvements Along HCFCD Unit F101-06-00 (San Jacinto and Galveston Bay).
C-17, the San Jacinto River Watershed Study in cooperation with the SJRA, Montgomery County, and the City of Houston.
F-14, drainage improvements near Kingwood
F-110, drainage improvements in the Huffman area that drain to the San Jacinto, Luce, and Cedar Bayou watersheds.
F-19, right-of-way acquisition and floodplain preservation along Spring Creek.
Voluntary Home Buyout programs are also in progress county wide and will affect many Forest Cove residents south of Hamblen Road as well as in Humble.

Current Principles Guiding Prioritization

After the equity flap, version 2.0 of the principles that guide project prioritization has been posted online, but a re-prioritized project list has not as of 8:30 am Saturday morning.

How to Track Flood Bond Project Status

To track the progress of projects near you, Harris County Flood Control updates this interactive map constantly. Click on the icon to see a description and the project status.

To see the full list of projects approved for the bond fund, click here. They are arranged in alphabetical order by watershed. San Jacinto River Projects start on page 9. However, don’t overlook related tributary projects, such as additional upstream detention on Spring and Cypress Creeks.