How to Protect Yourself from Flooding Due to Sand Mining

It’s hard for me to write this because I hate government regulation. But when an industry acts so irresponsibly in the pursuit of profit that it endangers my safety, my family, my property, and my community, I will fight to regulate it. I am at that point now with the Texas Aggregate and Concrete Association, which represents sand miners. 

The Problem

During Harvey, 131,000 cubic feet of water per second raced down the West Fork … through approximately 20 square miles of sand mines … located in the floodway … below a major dam … in a subtropical climate … prone to hurricanes and torrential rainfalls … where floods would blow through dikes made of sand … and reroute the river through the center of mines. (I’m guessing the Safety Committee was overruled.)

As a result, an abnormally large amount of sediment washed downstream; clogged rivers, streams and ditches; and helped create massive sediment dams. Those dams contributed to the flooding of thousands of homes and businesses with water contaminated by sewage when treatment plants were also overwhelmed. 

I don’t care how much TACA contributes to the economy or politicians. The flooding they helped create cost Kingwood College $60 million, Humble ISD $100 million, TexDoT $20 million, homeowners billions, businesses billions more, retirees their savings, and taxpayers $70 million for dredging. But worst of all, it cost 13 people their lives and endangered the life of my community. Forty-four percent of the businesses in the Lake Houston Area Chamber were damaged due to the flood.

Moreover, we have not yet begun to tally the long-term health costs of wading through floodwaters contaminated with sewage and years spent repairing moldy homes while trying to live in them.

The river took a shortcut through this West Fork mine during Harvey, blowing through dikes and roads as it carried sediment downstream. In other mines, it even swept away stockpiles.
The sediment swept downstream contributed to the growth of massive sandbars like this one that almost totally blocks the West Fork where it meets Lake Houston. As much as ten feet was deposited in this area during Harvey (five below water/five above). It continues to back water up throughout the Humble/Kingwood corridor.

If you want more responsible sand mining, the time to fight for it is now. 

Remember the Most Important Thing

 To reduce sediment during floods, move sand mining out of the flood plain. This should not be a huge economic burden. Houston became the fourth largest city in America overnight without sand mines in the floodway of the San Jacinto. 

The Solution

  1. Start with your state senator and state representative. Urge them to sponsor legislation that:
  2. Contact friends and relatives in other parts of the state. Urge them to do the same with their representatives and senators. Let them know that without their support, the homes, lives, businesses and health of their constituents could also be endangered by the same irresponsible business practices. It’s good to be business friendly, but not good to be resident hostile.
  3. Contact the heads of the transportation committees in the House and Senate. Contact Governor Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Patrick. Urge them to demand that TexDoT refrains from purchasing any sand produced in floodways. TexDoT is the miners’ biggest customer.
  4. If they refuse to support legislation that enforces responsible operation of sand mines, ask if they will support a progressive tax on sand mines.  The tax would be based on their distance from the river. The further from the river, the lower the tax. Set the tax so that mining in or near a flood plain becomes disadvantageous and mining outside of the flood plain creates a cost advantage.
  5. Contact other groups or associations that you belong to that may have lobbying efforts in place that could help. We need allies to counteract the millions that TACA has spent on lobbying and political contributions. For instance, is your insurance through USAA? They have an active lobbying effort and the flooding affected them adversely. They would form a natural ally. Look for similar allies – through your work, your church, your bank, your trade associations, insurance company, or environmental groups you support. You can bet TACA is doing the same – with developers, contractors and their trade associations. 
  6. Ask your local city council and county representatives to endorse your efforts. Sad to say, but a letter or call from them counts more than letters from an ordinary citizen.
  7. Put extra effort against committee chairs in the State Senate and House. They have seniority and clout. If this comes down to “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” at the end of the session, their influence could make the difference.

Keep track of your efforts. If you are so inclined, let me know about them. I will tabulate the results and publish them periodically. 

Some Tips

  • Start a grass roots movement in your neighborhood, church or club. Reach out to friends, neighbors and relatives – especially those who flooded.
  • Personal letters count for more than form letters.
  • Be polite.
  • Tell them how flooding personally affected you and why you feel regulation is important.
  • Emphasize that what happened here could happen anywhere in the state and that mining in floodways is not necessary for economic growth. 
  • In fact, it can contribute to flooding that causes people to move away.
  • Tomorrow I will post fact sheets for your reference on key issues related to sand mining and their role in flooding. Refer people to them.

This battle will not be won or lost because Dan Huberty or Brandon Creighton endorse it. It will be won or lost in places like West Texas and North Texas that don’t often flood. The majority of the votes live there. So cast a wide net. Remember: silence is an endorsement of the way things are now. If you want change, let others know. Speak up now.

As always, these thoughts represent my opinions on matters of public policy. They are protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

Posted by Bob Rehak on December 13, 2018

472 Days after Hurricane Harvey

ReduceFlooding.com’s Recommendations for the 2019 Legislative Session

 As we approach the next legislative session, we have a rare chance to pass meaningful legislation that could reduce sedimentation from sand mining. Such legislation has been defeated repeatedly in the past by lobbying efforts of the Texas Aggregate and Concrete Association (TACA). TACA has spent millions to lobby against regulations that protect downstream citizens and property.

How Texas Fails to Protect Citizens & Property

Did you know that Texas, unlike other states and countries:

At the moment, people still hurt from Hurricane Harvey. By the next legislative session in 2021, the energy required for regulatory reform may die. The time to do something is now if we are going to do it. But what to do?

There are approximately 20 square miles of sand mines upstream from the Lake Houston area on both forks of the San Jacinto. 

ReduceFlooding.com Recommendations 

After studying government regulations and scientific literature from around the world for a year, I have concluded that citizens need three things to protect themselves from the ravages of Texas sand miners. The legislature needs to:

  1. Publish and enforce best management practices for sand mining that bring Texas standards up to those common in the rest of the country and the world. Among them, prohibit mining in erosion hazard zones. The water supply for two million people deserves nothing less.
  2. Put some teeth into penalties for non-compliance. Mines have left dikes unrepaired and open to the river for years without fines. Yet TCEQ fines average about $800 in the seven years since HB571. That’s a slap on the wrist and no meaningful incentive to change business practices.
  3. Establish a water protection district for the San Jacinto, such as the John Graves district on the Brazos. It pushes mining back beyond the 100–year flood plain and makes miners post a performance bond that ensures reclamation of the property when they are done mining.

TACA Recommendations

Not surprisingly, TACA has a different set of recommendations. See the full text here.

Instead of moving farther back from the river, they are lobbying to move INTO the river.

To “mitigate adverse impacts of sedimentation associated with flooding,” the association proposes:

  1. Building sand traps in the river that would allow them to mine river sand in exchange for payments to the SJRA.
  2. Selective dredging of impacted areas.
  3. Converting sand pits to a network of off-channel floodwater storage structures to mitigate flooding. 
  4. Letting land conservancies turn abandoned mines into wetlands or natural areas for wildlife habitat preservation.

Discussion of Differences

The ReduceFlooding.com recommendations would prevent damage from excess sedimentation currently attributable to sand mines.

TACA recommendations might help – in some cases – if miners actually implemented them. And if they followed best practices in doing so.

But those are big “IFs.” Nothing in TACA’s proposals actually obligates them to do anything. 

Sediment Traps

They say only that the option “can be” implemented, not that they will implement it. They also don’t specify what the traps are. While meeting in Austin with TACA, the TCEQ and legislators two weeks ago, I asked and got three different answers from three different people. They basically wanted to mine sand bars in the river adjacent to their property. However, river mining has proven so damaging in other parts of the world that it is outlawed in many countries, including most of Europe. 

“Selective” Dredging

Sounds good. But note the qualifier “selective.” Who selects? When KSA asked mines to remove the sand deposited in River Grove Park, no mine would take it. They said it was unsuitable for sale. And that’s the same kind of sand and sediment found in the mouth bar.

So is this offer an empty promise? I suspect it is. I’ll believe it when I see these words in print: “We promise to dredge the mouth bar at our expense.”

In the meantime, I will keep wondering. How will they get sand 10-20 miles upstream and make it cost competitive with the sand that they take from  their mines? It’s a pipe dream, no pun intended –

Off-Channel Floodwater Storage  

Note that they have committed only to developing a strategy. They say the lakes “could be” cost effective, but the Texas Water Conservation Association disagrees. The TWCA says that this strategy relies on pumps which cannot move water fast enough during floods. They also explicitly state that this approach is not cost effective. See page 10 of their report on Flooding in Texas.

Donating Abandoned Mines

Donating abandoned mines to land conservancies? Basically, they’re donating  liabilities (i.e., their obligation to reclaim mines) to a third party. 

We Need Promises, Not Puffery

In closing, TACA claims their recommendations will cost taxpayers NOTHING. Maybe TACA thinks Mexico will pay for everything. Or maybe they think they won’t have to do anything after this legislative session.

Before closing, TACA pats itself on the back. They claim, “As an industry that is focused on stewardship of our natural resources…we stand ready to work together with all stakeholders…”  

In my opinion, that’s where the BS gets nose deep and the English language – our currency of communication – is devalued to ZERO. I’ve met with these people three times (including the trip in Austin) and…

In six months, they haven’t once made any solid commitments to changing the way they do business in order to protect downstream residents and businesses. They haven’t even discussed it.

They just keep making the same empty promises in an attempt to delay any meaningful discussion of issues past legislative deadlines. This paper makes them appear positive when, in reality, their current business practices have contributed to the destruction of billions of dollars of property and helped undermine the infrastructure of entire communities.

Tomorrow…more about how you can help if you wish to get involved.

These are my opinions on matters of public policy, protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the Great State of Texas.

Posted by Bob Rehak on December 11, 2018

470 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Drone Footage of River Grove Park Shows Scope of Last Flood

Jim Zura, owner of Zura Productions, sent me three clips shot from his drones last Saturday at River Grove Park. They show just how wide the river got at this low point at the peak of the flood. They also show the impact of dredging on the massive side bar that blocked the drainage ditch which runs through the park.

At this point, dredging is only about 20% complete. So we have not yet seen the full effect, nor will we until the mouth bar issue is addressed. 

Flying into River Grove and looking down on parking lot.
Flying out over river to dredged area
Flying out over playing fields

My thanks to Jim Zura for letting me share his work with the community. This impressive footage enhances our understanding of the world around us.

Posted on December 12, 2018, by Bob Rehak with permission from Jim Zura, Zura Productions

470 Days since Hurricane Harvey