Guidelines for floodplain development can bewilder even professionals. Overlapping jurisdictions often have different guidelines. And guidelines often change, as Houston’s just did. Houston now manages the 100-year and 500-year floodplains differently. Cities also have building codes that include more requirements.
Site of the proposed new marina and high rise development. Shot from over the West Fork shortly after Harvey. Note sand deposited by Harvey. 25 and 50-story high-rises would be built on the narrow strip between the lake and the Barrington at the top of frame.
Overview
People ARE generally allowed to build and place fill in floodplains. However, they must follow local floodplain guidelines and obtain permits that restrict what they can do. They must also submit environmental surveys, mitigate wetlands, and provide hydrologic and hydraulic studies. In Houston, they may move earth from one location to another within a floodplain, but not add to the total volume. The general rule of thumb: zero negative impact on the conveyance of the river.
If a development destroys wetlands, wetland credits must be purchased from a mitigation bank. Mitigation banks place conservation easements on some of our most valuable wetlands. By helping to finance conservation of those areas, destruction of less valuable wetlands elsewhere may be permitted. Generally but not always, the mitigation credits must be within the same watershed. However, this is not always the case. Extenuating circumstances may exist.
KSA once considered placing East End Park in a mitigation bank as a way to help finance its long range parks plan. The conservation easement would ensure that the character of the park never changed. And the money raised would have provided needed improvements to other parks at no cost to residents.
Federal Guidelines and How They Relate to Local
FEMA establishes minimum standards for a community to enroll in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). By enrolling and administering floodplain regulations, it allows their residents the opportunity to purchase Flood Insurance through the NFIP. You must at least build at FEMA’s base flood elevation (BFE). But communities can and do set higher standards. And each may have different guidelines.
Engineers and regulators often talk about “freeboard factors.” Freeboard, a nautical term, means “the height of a ships side between the waterline and the deck.” In a flooding context, freeboard means minimum elevation above the BFE. You often see it described as “BFE + 1 ft.” Or 2 feet. Or X feet. Think of it as a safety margin. Any freeboard above the BFE is considered a local community’s higher standard.
To provide a context, below are links to some of the floodplain management orders/ordinances.
Note Chapters 9 and 13. They changed on September 1, 2018. Changes address building code issues for FEMA X zones. Zone X includes the 500 year flood plain. Many such areas flooded during Harvey.
If a development affects a major waterway like the San Jacinto River, its wetlands, its flow, or endangered wildlife, the Army Corps will also review studies submitted as part of the permitting process. They would look at applications from the point of view of the EPA and Clean Water Act, especially Section 404.Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes a program to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands. … For most discharges that will have only minimal adverse effects, a general permit may be suitable. This is the major focus of the permitting process now underway for the high-rise development in Kingwood.
TCEQ
The Clean Water Act also contains a section 401. It specifically focuses on how States and Tribes can use their water quality standards in Section 401 certifications to protect wetlands. States and Tribes can review and approve, condition, or deny any Federal permits or licenses that may result in a discharge to waters of United States within their borders, including wetlands. States and Tribes make their decisions to deny, certify, or condition permits or licenses primarily by ensuring the activity will comply with applicable water quality standards. In addition, States and Tribes look at whether the activity will violate effluent limitations, new source performance standards, toxic pollutants restrictions and other water resource requirements of State or Tribal law.
Jurisdictional Divides
The Houston ordinance only applies to Houston’s jurisdiction. Houston does not influence neighbors and cannot control or force their policies on other jurisdictions. That is important since Kingwood is surrounded by Humble, unincorporated Harris County (Atascocita and Huffman), and unincorporated Montgomery County.
The Key
Understand that if a developer/individual meets the requirements identified in the floodplain ordinance(s), they can develop in the floodplain (including the floodway). Floodplain administrators must follow the law. However, they try to discourage dangerous floodplain development by “working to rule.” By strictly following all rules with no wiggle room, floodplain administrators can drag permitting processes out. A knowledgeable floodplain administrator can find problems with plans, surveys, and engineering reports for years. By requesting revisions, they can make life so difficult for applicants that it affects the economics of their developments. Eventually they may decide that a project falls into that great black box called “too hard to do,” and walk away.
Words of Wisdom
A regulator told me today that the more people who protest a permit, the harder they are to ignore.
If you have concerns about the high rise development in Kingwood, make sure you register them with the Army Corps (which is currently reviewing the permitting from a CWA 404 perspective). The deadline: January 29.
Comments and requests for additional information should reference USACE file number, SWG-2016-00384, and should be submitted to:
Evaluation Branch, North Unit
Regulatory Division, CESWG-RD-E
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 1229
Galveston, Texas 77553-1229
409-766-3869 Phone
409-766-6301 Fax
swg_public_notice@usace.army.mil
Posted By Bob Rehak on January 9, 2019
498 Days Since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Harvey-SanJac_179-e1546828712317.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2019-01-06 21:33:032019-01-13 12:35:07Guide to Lake Houston Area Floodplain Regulations
If you witness illegal discharges, dumping, or mining, following these guidelines will ensure the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) can act on evidence you provide. Make sure you follow proper procedures.
After Harvey, fresh sand deposits several feet thick and foul water lined the shores of the west fork of the San Jacinto adjacent to Kingwood.
If you want TCEQ to use your information in an enforcement case, you cannot remain anonymous.
You must complete a notarized affidavit. Your contact information will be confidential. But understand that you must be willing to testify in any formal enforcement hearing.
You may not enter property of another person to document a violation. No trespass.
Follow the Commission’s procedures and protocols outlined in the link above.
If the Commission initiates an investigation, you must sign affidavits authenticating the information you provided.
You must confirm that you followed TCEQ protocols and procedures.
If the case proceeds to a formal hearing or trial, you will be required to testify. You must explain information you provided, and you may be cross-examined by the defendant’s attorney. This could include questions regarding your testimony and motives.
Given all the different types of complaints and evidence people submit, procedures can get quite complex. For instance, if you submit water samples, the TCEQ has specific requirements for testing and chain of custody.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Harvey-SanJac_3-e1546743219721.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2019-01-05 20:29:252019-01-05 20:55:04How to Submit Evidence that Gets Results from the TCEQ
Good news: The Emergency West Fork Dredging Project is still active. The government allocated funds for the project before the shutdown. Also, because FEMA designated it an emergency, it enjoys preferred status. Dredges are still dredging.
Bad news: Every other Lake Houston area flood mitigation project that depends on federal dollars is on hold.
Watershed study? 10 months and still waiting for approval.
Additional gates for Lake Houston? Hit the pause button.
More upstream detention. Deep freeze.
Additional dredging? Why rush it?
The Really Bad News
I’d say that’s the end of the story, but it’s not. Tonight the Associated Press reports that President Trump warns the shutdown could continue for months or years. Even considering the obvious hyperbole, I shudder to think of employees’ reactions. At a certain point, people put families and futures in front of jobs that pay zero. Maybe Trump could hold out for years. But a GS-7 with a bachelor’s degree and student loans to pay off? Someone making $35K per year?
The reason most people take a pay cut to go into government service is because it’s a steady gig. But yank that paycheck out from under them. Woooooosh! That’s the sound of talent and institutional knowledge creating a vacuum as it sprints out the door.
Rebraining Projects
A prolonged government shutdown will turn the Mo down Low. Lose momentum and you have to spend more energy to regain it. You lose time. You lose money. You lose talent. And when it’s over, you have to rebrain projects. Recruitment. Training. Getting people back up to speed. Clearing out backlogs…that could really last years.
Sweating Details and Bullets
So while the mouth bar project is on hold, dredging behind the mouth bar continues. Officials hoped they could save $18 million in demobilization and remobilization fees by having the mouth bar project ready to start when the Emergency Project finished. But that window is rapidly narrowing. Back in October, when we thought we had six months to work out details, everyone felt comfy and confident. Now with three months left, officials are sweating the details while residents sweat bullets. Here’s why.
Problems Likely to Migrate Downstream
As I discussed in yesterday’s post, River Grove Park has experienced greater-than-usual flooding. Crests usually experienced every other year now happen once every other month. The river has crested over 50 feet six times in 11 months. That’s likely due to the backwater effect created by “Sand Island” (as dredgers have named it). Sand Island virtually blocks off the river creating a backwater effect. See its location relative to River Grove below.
The Army Corps has nicknamed the giant blockage immediately downstream from River Grove Park “Sand Island.”
The next picture shows how this massive dune virtually blocks the entire West Fork. I took the picture two weeks after Harvey. During floods, when water moves quickly, Sand Island has created a ten-foot difference between water upstream and downstream.
Sand Island causes higher-than-normal floods at greater -than -normal frequencies because of backwater effects.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, the Corps’ prime contractor on this job has finished dredging through the side bar at River Grove . Now they are attacking Sand Island (see below).
The focus of dredging has moved from the side bar at River Grove to Sand Island. Once removed, the flooding problems at River Grove will likely migrate downstream.
As they remove this blockage, downstream residents in Atascocita Point have reported water rising higher in their yards during floods. Once dredgers completely remove Sand Island, flooding problems will likely migrate downstream to the next major blockage, the mouth bar.
The mouth bar virtually blocks the West Fork where it enters Lake Houston. It stretches from Kings Point to Atascocita Point, but is not within the scope of the current dredging project. Expansion of the scope has been halted by the government shutdown.
However, there’s a big difference between Sand Island and the Mouth Bar.
Parks, vacant land, and golf courses surround Sand Island.
People, kids and homes surround the Mouth Bar.
Let’s pray that the government shutdown ends quickly. In this area, government can really make a huge and important difference – immediately.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/5/2019
494 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Locator.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2019-01-05 03:25:172019-01-06 12:24:47How Government Shutdown Affects All Lake Houston Area Flood Mitigation Projects
Guide to Lake Houston Area Floodplain Regulations
Guidelines for floodplain development can bewilder even professionals. Overlapping jurisdictions often have different guidelines. And guidelines often change, as Houston’s just did. Houston now manages the 100-year and 500-year floodplains differently. Cities also have building codes that include more requirements.
Site of the proposed new marina and high rise development. Shot from over the West Fork shortly after Harvey. Note sand deposited by Harvey. 25 and 50-story high-rises would be built on the narrow strip between the lake and the Barrington at the top of frame.
Overview
People ARE generally allowed to build and place fill in floodplains. However, they must follow local floodplain guidelines and obtain permits that restrict what they can do. They must also submit environmental surveys, mitigate wetlands, and provide hydrologic and hydraulic studies. In Houston, they may move earth from one location to another within a floodplain, but not add to the total volume. The general rule of thumb: zero negative impact on the conveyance of the river.
If a development destroys wetlands, wetland credits must be purchased from a mitigation bank. Mitigation banks place conservation easements on some of our most valuable wetlands. By helping to finance conservation of those areas, destruction of less valuable wetlands elsewhere may be permitted. Generally but not always, the mitigation credits must be within the same watershed. However, this is not always the case. Extenuating circumstances may exist.
KSA once considered placing East End Park in a mitigation bank as a way to help finance its long range parks plan. The conservation easement would ensure that the character of the park never changed. And the money raised would have provided needed improvements to other parks at no cost to residents.
Federal Guidelines and How They Relate to Local
FEMA establishes minimum standards for a community to enroll in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). By enrolling and administering floodplain regulations, it allows their residents the opportunity to purchase Flood Insurance through the NFIP. You must at least build at FEMA’s base flood elevation (BFE). But communities can and do set higher standards. And each may have different guidelines.
Engineers and regulators often talk about “freeboard factors.” Freeboard, a nautical term, means “the height of a ships side between the waterline and the deck.” In a flooding context, freeboard means minimum elevation above the BFE. You often see it described as “BFE + 1 ft.” Or 2 feet. Or X feet. Think of it as a safety margin. Any freeboard above the BFE is considered a local community’s higher standard.
To provide a context, below are links to some of the floodplain management orders/ordinances.
Houston Guidelines
Houston Ordinance
HOW Ordinance is Executed
Note Chapters 9 and 13. They changed on September 1, 2018. Changes address building code issues for FEMA X zones. Zone X includes the 500 year flood plain. Many such areas flooded during Harvey.
Humble Guidelines
Flood Damage Protection Ordinance
Harris County Guidelines for Unincorporated Areas
Main Website
Laws
Cheat Sheet: Quick View of Changes Implemented in January
Montgomery County For Unincorporated Areas
Floodplain
Drainage Manual For Commercial Developments Greater than 15,000 SF
Army Corps
If a development affects a major waterway like the San Jacinto River, its wetlands, its flow, or endangered wildlife, the Army Corps will also review studies submitted as part of the permitting process. They would look at applications from the point of view of the EPA and Clean Water Act, especially Section 404. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes a program to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands. … For most discharges that will have only minimal adverse effects, a general permit may be suitable. This is the major focus of the permitting process now underway for the high-rise development in Kingwood.
TCEQ
The Clean Water Act also contains a section 401. It specifically focuses on how States and Tribes can use their water quality standards in Section 401 certifications to protect wetlands. States and Tribes can review and approve, condition, or deny any Federal permits or licenses that may result in a discharge to waters of United States within their borders, including wetlands. States and Tribes make their decisions to deny, certify, or condition permits or licenses primarily by ensuring the activity will comply with applicable water quality standards. In addition, States and Tribes look at whether the activity will violate effluent limitations, new source performance standards, toxic pollutants restrictions and other water resource requirements of State or Tribal law.
Jurisdictional Divides
The Houston ordinance only applies to Houston’s jurisdiction. Houston does not influence neighbors and cannot control or force their policies on other jurisdictions. That is important since Kingwood is surrounded by Humble, unincorporated Harris County (Atascocita and Huffman), and unincorporated Montgomery County.
The Key
Understand that if a developer/individual meets the requirements identified in the floodplain ordinance(s), they can develop in the floodplain (including the floodway). Floodplain administrators must follow the law. However, they try to discourage dangerous floodplain development by “working to rule.” By strictly following all rules with no wiggle room, floodplain administrators can drag permitting processes out. A knowledgeable floodplain administrator can find problems with plans, surveys, and engineering reports for years. By requesting revisions, they can make life so difficult for applicants that it affects the economics of their developments. Eventually they may decide that a project falls into that great black box called “too hard to do,” and walk away.
Words of Wisdom
If you have concerns about the high rise development in Kingwood, make sure you register them with the Army Corps (which is currently reviewing the permitting from a CWA 404 perspective). The deadline: January 29.
Comments and requests for additional information should reference USACE file number, SWG-2016-00384, and should be submitted to:
How to Submit Evidence that Gets Results from the TCEQ
If you witness illegal discharges, dumping, or mining, following these guidelines will ensure the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) can act on evidence you provide. Make sure you follow proper procedures.
Rules of Evidence
TCEQ procedures pertain to the way you gather, collect, label, and document evidence. This link contains a great deal of information about the process, requirements, etc.
A brief summary follows:
Given all the different types of complaints and evidence people submit, procedures can get quite complex. For instance, if you submit water samples, the TCEQ has specific requirements for testing and chain of custody.
For Photographic Evidence
Photos and videos have specific procedures. Make sure you include:
If shooting film, also make sure you include negatives and prints.
How to Submit Evidence
It takes time and money to investigate cases. Following these guidelines ensures that that time and money will not be wasted.
You can contact TCEQ 24 hours every day about complaints. To submit a complaint under their jurisdiction :
Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/5/2019
495 Days after Hurricane Harvey
How Government Shutdown Affects All Lake Houston Area Flood Mitigation Projects
Good news: The Emergency West Fork Dredging Project is still active. The government allocated funds for the project before the shutdown. Also, because FEMA designated it an emergency, it enjoys preferred status. Dredges are still dredging.
Bad news: Every other Lake Houston area flood mitigation project that depends on federal dollars is on hold.
The Really Bad News
I’d say that’s the end of the story, but it’s not. Tonight the Associated Press reports that President Trump warns the shutdown could continue for months or years. Even considering the obvious hyperbole, I shudder to think of employees’ reactions. At a certain point, people put families and futures in front of jobs that pay zero. Maybe Trump could hold out for years. But a GS-7 with a bachelor’s degree and student loans to pay off? Someone making $35K per year?
The reason most people take a pay cut to go into government service is because it’s a steady gig. But yank that paycheck out from under them. Woooooosh! That’s the sound of talent and institutional knowledge creating a vacuum as it sprints out the door.
Rebraining Projects
A prolonged government shutdown will turn the Mo down Low. Lose momentum and you have to spend more energy to regain it. You lose time. You lose money. You lose talent. And when it’s over, you have to rebrain projects. Recruitment. Training. Getting people back up to speed. Clearing out backlogs…that could really last years.
Sweating Details and Bullets
So while the mouth bar project is on hold, dredging behind the mouth bar continues. Officials hoped they could save $18 million in demobilization and remobilization fees by having the mouth bar project ready to start when the Emergency Project finished. But that window is rapidly narrowing. Back in October, when we thought we had six months to work out details, everyone felt comfy and confident. Now with three months left, officials are sweating the details while residents sweat bullets. Here’s why.
Problems Likely to Migrate Downstream
As I discussed in yesterday’s post, River Grove Park has experienced greater-than-usual flooding. Crests usually experienced every other year now happen once every other month. The river has crested over 50 feet six times in 11 months. That’s likely due to the backwater effect created by “Sand Island” (as dredgers have named it). Sand Island virtually blocks off the river creating a backwater effect. See its location relative to River Grove below.
The next picture shows how this massive dune virtually blocks the entire West Fork. I took the picture two weeks after Harvey. During floods, when water moves quickly, Sand Island has created a ten-foot difference between water upstream and downstream.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, the Corps’ prime contractor on this job has finished dredging through the side bar at River Grove . Now they are attacking Sand Island (see below).
As they remove this blockage, downstream residents in Atascocita Point have reported water rising higher in their yards during floods. Once dredgers completely remove Sand Island, flooding problems will likely migrate downstream to the next major blockage, the mouth bar.
However, there’s a big difference between Sand Island and the Mouth Bar.
Let’s pray that the government shutdown ends quickly. In this area, government can really make a huge and important difference – immediately.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/5/2019
494 Days since Hurricane Harvey