It’s official. There are now two dredges actually dredging on the West Fork. Dredge #2, owned and operated by Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, moved downriver from the command site on October 16.
Getting 2-foot Pipe Through Water One Foot Deep
However, the company had not yet reached placement area #2 with the pipeline. Great Lakes had to dredge their way upstream through water less than one-foot deep in places to get to the placement area with five miles of pipeline that is 2 feet in diameter.
Next Steps: Patches and Pressure Testing
After reaching the placement area with pipe, Great Lakes then had to test it. During testing, dredgers slowly increase pressure in pipe as they look for leaks. The most common place to find leaks is at the joints, but sometimes they need to replace entire sections of pipe. The dredgers then make repairs in the water from pontoons loaded with backhoes and welding equipment. Backhoes bring the pipe up from the bottom of the river and position it in the welding machines.
After that, the dredging company had to test the booster pumps and throttles as they started them up. They also perform dye tests to calibrate velocity measurements. This helps ensure that water in each stage is moving at the same rate of speed. Great Lakes and its subcontractor Callan Marine will each use up to three booster pumps to keep five miles of sediment-laden water moving upriver to their respective placement areas.
One of three booster pumps that Great Lakes will use. This one can be seen from the northbound 59 feeder road.
While dredge #1, which started the same process on September 20 is diesel, dredge #2 is electric. Electric dredges run quieter, but take longer to warm up. As my source said, “An electric dredge slowly heats up the equipment to drive the moisture out; water and electricity don’t mix well.”
Now Working 24/7 Until Completion
With all those steps complete, dredging is now in full swing. By this weekend, both dredgers will be working 24/7 until completion.
To help jumpstart dredging, Great Lakes hired Callan Marine as a subcontractor. Callan had equipment available earlier and started this same process on September 20. The diagram below shows how both companies plan to work together.
Dredge #1 started at the halfway point and will work its way east to the end point. Dredge #2 started at River Grove Park and is working its way toward the midpoint.
Great Lakes will start at the western edge of the project area and work its way to the middle. Meanwhile, Callan, which started in the middle will work its way to the project’s end point – east of the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge (by Chimichurri’s).
Callan will send its spoils to placement area #1 while Great Lakes will send its to placement area #2.
No News Yet on Next Phase of Dredging
When City of Houston representatives including City Council Member Dave Martin returned from Austin two weeks ago for a high level meeting about the need to remove the mouth bar, hopes were running high. Decisions makers needed only an environmental survey and a placement area before the mouth bar project could proceed. Reportedly, they had reached agreement in principle on all other requirements including funding. However, the City has made no announcements yet about either the survey or a third placement area.
It took 3.5 months for contractors to fully mobilize for the current project. If FEMA, the Corps, the State, and the City can lock down phase two before mid-April, 2019, taxpayers have a chance to save the cost of another mobilization/demobilization – about $18 million.
It would also save precious time. Without having to remobilize, dredgers would have a chance to cut a channel through the mouth bar before the onset of next hurricane season.
Revised, estimated timeline for first phase of the West Fork Emergency Dredging Project
What About River Grove Boat Launch?
Cutting a channel through the side bar at River Grove will probably be the last thing Great Lakes does as part of this phase of dredging. Dredgers are concerned about boater safety and worry that opening the channel now will increase the number of boats on the river and the chance of accidents.
When I go to various flood mitigation meetings around town, I often hear – with some jealously and resentment – that the San Jacinto River Watershed seems to be getting the lion’s share of flood mitigation funding. This is not true, but it’s a popular misperception. Those who believe they are underfunded tell me constantly how unfair they think it is.
Flood Damage and Mitigation Funding Varies Greatly by Watershed
I wondered if there could be a correlation between underfunding of flood mitigation projects and excessive damage. That led me to another report that lists spending by watersheds in dollars: Harris County Flood Control District’s (HCFCD) annual federal briefing. It’s Flood Control’s annual report to the Federal Government about how Federal funds are being spent here. The link above is to the 2018 version, published last March. That was just BEFORE the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started its West Fork dredging project. Note also, it was BEFORE Harris County passed its $2.5 billion flood bond in August. So what follows is a snapshot of the way things were BEFORE Harvey, not now.
SJR Flood Mitigation Projects Underfunded Until Recently
A re-reading of that Federal Briefing confirmed my suspicions and the findings of the Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium. The San Jacinto River watershed is by far the biggest in Harris County. With the exception of a few buyouts and flood gages, until now, it has received NO federal dollars for flood mitigation projects (at least through the County).
Source: Harris County Flood Control 2018 Federal Briefing. Harris County has 22 watersheds. The San Jacinto appears to be the largest.
Previously, projects were completed for the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs, Halls Bayou, Buffalo Bayou, Vince Bayou, Little Vince Bayou, and Cypress Creek. There are no capital projects listed for the San Jacinto River Watershed, past or present.
Sims Bayou had 19% of the budget and 2% of the damage.
Clear Creek had 13% of the budget and 7% of the damage.
Greens Bayou had 8% of the budget and 7% of the damage.
Brays Bayou had 23% of the budget and 18% of the damage.
Hunting Bayou had 8% of the budget and 1% of the damage.
White Oak Bayou had 14% of the budget and 3% of the damage.
With No Budget, SJR Tied for Third Highest Amount of Damage
Compared to the six creeks and bayous above, the San Jacinto River had 0% of the budget and 14% of the damage. Here’s how it looks in graph form, taken from the Flood Mitigation Consortium report.
The Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium Report dramatizes the need for equity in funding throughout the region. For a complete breakdown of all watersheds, see the table on page 25 of the report.
What can we deduce from this?
Flood mitigation spending, without a doubt, reduces damage.
The San Jacinto River watershed is by far the most underfunded compared to others.
Vigilance Needed
People in the Lake Houston Area need to fight future underfunding. We have been too quiet and therefore neglected for far too long. We must remain vigilant in coming years to ensure that the projects we have been promised (additional dredging, detention and floodgates, plus better ditch maintenance) are in fact delivered.
Harris County and the federal government together are spending $1.342 billion dollars on capital projects for Sims Bayou, Clear Creek, Greens Bayou, Brays Bayou, Hunting Bayou and White Oak Bayou. The San Jacinto currently gets only one twentieth of that due to the current Corps dredging project.
Before you call Judge Emmett and your county commissioners, I would like to point out that they have already committed to a more equitable distribution of project dollars from the $2.5 billion flood bond passed in August and that the Lake Houston area should get its fair share in the future. Phone calls at this moment are not necessary. Vigilance is. We can’t change the past, but together we can change the future.
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 24, 2018
421 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/HarrisCountyWatersheds.jpg?fit=1500%2C972&ssl=19721500adminadmin2018-10-24 15:54:112018-10-24 16:03:44San Jacinto River Watershed: Underfunded, Overdamaged
As this site has grown, the Reports section started to get unwieldy. To make information easier to find, I separated it under tabs. Some of the tabs even have subsections. Here’s a list of current tabs and some significant new additions to the report data base.
Contains Supreme and Trial Court rulings on the 2010 amendment to the City Charter that created a Dedicated Pay-As-You-Go Fee for Drainage and Street Improvements. Also contains the 2010 and 2018 wording for comparison purposes (hint: they differ by one word). Finally, it contains a link to my post that tries to put everything in context.
Contains all of the information relating to the current (Phase 1) US Army Corps of Engineers Emergency West Fork Dredging Project. Includes all contract documents including plans, specs, value engineering study, all eight amendments to the contract, the original bids, and the revised bids after vetting. Also contains a presentation by Kissling and Garfield, two Lake Houston area geologists who argue for expanding the scope to include the mouth bar. Finally, includes a template for maintenance dredging using Galveston Bay as the example.
Gathers all the information published by HCFCD that has been discussed on this site, including all the information and project lists related to the 2018 $2.5 billion flood bond. Also includes a new item, the 2018 Federal Briefing that is Flood Control’s annual progress report to Congress. This doc shows all the Federal money being spent in different parts of Harris County. It was published before the Corps started its current dredging project. It shows that the Lake Houston Area was the only part of the County NOT receiving Federal help at the time.
Includes new information from Rice, University of Houston, USGS, the SJRA, NOAA, Texas General Land Office, Texas State Comptroller, and Texas Water Development Board. Also includes a link to a Slate Magazine article about floodplain development in Houston.
New Report on the State Recovery Plan from the Texas General Land Office: 360 Pages!
Contains most of the original reports posted on this site plus a few new ones. Most of the dredging information was moved out of this section because it was getting voluminous enough to require its own tab.
A brand new section on what could become a long-term flooding threat to Montgomery and northern Harris Counties. Includes information from the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, and USGS.
Information about how sand mines are appraised in Montgomery County. Also, how the flood could affect the appraisal on your house and what you can do about it.
This contains information about mitigation efforts that don’t fall into one of the categories above, for instance, the engineering report on adding gates to the Lake Houston Dam.
Please Help This Site Grow
Click on a tab to expand or contract it. Hope this helps make information easier to find. Remember, too, there’s always the search bar! I hope these changes make all the information easier to digest. In about a year, this site has amassed thousands of pages of reports and its still growing every day.
From the beginning, my goal for this site has been to create a one-stop resource for all information related to flooding in the Lake Houston area.
If you know of something that should be added, please email me through the contact page on this site. And please send more of your flood pics for the new Submissions page. Thanks!
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 23, 2018
420 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GLO-Cover.jpg?fit=1500%2C1948&ssl=119481500adminadmin2018-10-22 23:45:172018-10-22 23:45:17New Reports and Data on ReduceFlooding.com
Second Dredge Starts Dredging
It’s official. There are now two dredges actually dredging on the West Fork. Dredge #2, owned and operated by Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, moved downriver from the command site on October 16.
Getting 2-foot Pipe Through Water One Foot Deep
However, the company had not yet reached placement area #2 with the pipeline. Great Lakes had to dredge their way upstream through water less than one-foot deep in places to get to the placement area with five miles of pipeline that is 2 feet in diameter.
Next Steps: Patches and Pressure Testing
After reaching the placement area with pipe, Great Lakes then had to test it. During testing, dredgers slowly increase pressure in pipe as they look for leaks. The most common place to find leaks is at the joints, but sometimes they need to replace entire sections of pipe. The dredgers then make repairs in the water from pontoons loaded with backhoes and welding equipment. Backhoes bring the pipe up from the bottom of the river and position it in the welding machines.
After that, the dredging company had to test the booster pumps and throttles as they started them up. They also perform dye tests to calibrate velocity measurements. This helps ensure that water in each stage is moving at the same rate of speed. Great Lakes and its subcontractor Callan Marine will each use up to three booster pumps to keep five miles of sediment-laden water moving upriver to their respective placement areas.
One of three booster pumps that Great Lakes will use. This one can be seen from the northbound 59 feeder road.
While dredge #1, which started the same process on September 20 is diesel, dredge #2 is electric. Electric dredges run quieter, but take longer to warm up. As my source said, “An electric dredge slowly heats up the equipment to drive the moisture out; water and electricity don’t mix well.”
Now Working 24/7 Until Completion
With all those steps complete, dredging is now in full swing. By this weekend, both dredgers will be working 24/7 until completion.
To help jumpstart dredging, Great Lakes hired Callan Marine as a subcontractor. Callan had equipment available earlier and started this same process on September 20. The diagram below shows how both companies plan to work together.
Dredge #1 started at the halfway point and will work its way east to the end point. Dredge #2 started at River Grove Park and is working its way toward the midpoint.
Great Lakes will start at the western edge of the project area and work its way to the middle. Meanwhile, Callan, which started in the middle will work its way to the project’s end point – east of the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge (by Chimichurri’s).
Callan will send its spoils to placement area #1 while Great Lakes will send its to placement area #2.
No News Yet on Next Phase of Dredging
When City of Houston representatives including City Council Member Dave Martin returned from Austin two weeks ago for a high level meeting about the need to remove the mouth bar, hopes were running high. Decisions makers needed only an environmental survey and a placement area before the mouth bar project could proceed. Reportedly, they had reached agreement in principle on all other requirements including funding. However, the City has made no announcements yet about either the survey or a third placement area.
It took 3.5 months for contractors to fully mobilize for the current project. If FEMA, the Corps, the State, and the City can lock down phase two before mid-April, 2019, taxpayers have a chance to save the cost of another mobilization/demobilization – about $18 million.
It would also save precious time. Without having to remobilize, dredgers would have a chance to cut a channel through the mouth bar before the onset of next hurricane season.
Revised, estimated timeline for first phase of the West Fork Emergency Dredging Project
What About River Grove Boat Launch?
Cutting a channel through the side bar at River Grove will probably be the last thing Great Lakes does as part of this phase of dredging. Dredgers are concerned about boater safety and worry that opening the channel now will increase the number of boats on the river and the chance of accidents.
Posted on October 25, 2018 by Bob Rehak
422 Days since Hurricane Harvey
San Jacinto River Watershed: Underfunded, Overdamaged
When I go to various flood mitigation meetings around town, I often hear – with some jealously and resentment – that the San Jacinto River Watershed seems to be getting the lion’s share of flood mitigation funding. This is not true, but it’s a popular misperception. Those who believe they are underfunded tell me constantly how unfair they think it is.
Flood Damage and Mitigation Funding Varies Greatly by Watershed
So I’ve done some research on this subject and would like to call your attention to two reports. The first is a regional report by the Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium called Strategies for Flood Mitigation. It examines equity in funding between different watersheds. It found that the San Jacinto River Watershed has 3% of the region’s population, historically has received 0% of the region’s flood mitigation funding, and yet sustained 14% of the region’s damages during Harvey. That would seem to suggest that San Jacinto River Watershed residents suffered almost five times more damage per capita than other watersheds.
I wondered if there could be a correlation between underfunding of flood mitigation projects and excessive damage. That led me to another report that lists spending by watersheds in dollars: Harris County Flood Control District’s (HCFCD) annual federal briefing. It’s Flood Control’s annual report to the Federal Government about how Federal funds are being spent here. The link above is to the 2018 version, published last March. That was just BEFORE the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started its West Fork dredging project. Note also, it was BEFORE Harris County passed its $2.5 billion flood bond in August. So what follows is a snapshot of the way things were BEFORE Harvey, not now.
SJR Flood Mitigation Projects Underfunded Until Recently
A re-reading of that Federal Briefing confirmed my suspicions and the findings of the Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium. The San Jacinto River watershed is by far the biggest in Harris County. With the exception of a few buyouts and flood gages, until now, it has received NO federal dollars for flood mitigation projects (at least through the County).
Source: Harris County Flood Control 2018 Federal Briefing. Harris County has 22 watersheds. The San Jacinto appears to be the largest.
By far, the vast majority of the money spent goes to capital improvement projects such as channelization and detention. Virtually all of that money is spent in six areas according to the Active Federal Projects Summary in the HCFCD Federal Briefing. They are:
Previously, projects were completed for the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs, Halls Bayou, Buffalo Bayou, Vince Bayou, Little Vince Bayou, and Cypress Creek. There are no capital projects listed for the San Jacinto River Watershed, past or present.
Higher Percentages of Budget than Damage
So how did the watersheds fare that are receiving federal funding? According to pages 24 and 25 of the Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium report:
With No Budget, SJR Tied for Third Highest Amount of Damage
Compared to the six creeks and bayous above, the San Jacinto River had 0% of the budget and 14% of the damage. Here’s how it looks in graph form, taken from the Flood Mitigation Consortium report.
The Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium Report dramatizes the need for equity in funding throughout the region. For a complete breakdown of all watersheds, see the table on page 25 of the report.
What can we deduce from this?
Vigilance Needed
People in the Lake Houston Area need to fight future underfunding. We have been too quiet and therefore neglected for far too long. We must remain vigilant in coming years to ensure that the projects we have been promised (additional dredging, detention and floodgates, plus better ditch maintenance) are in fact delivered.
Harris County and the federal government together are spending $1.342 billion dollars on capital projects for Sims Bayou, Clear Creek, Greens Bayou, Brays Bayou, Hunting Bayou and White Oak Bayou. The San Jacinto currently gets only one twentieth of that due to the current Corps dredging project.
Before you call Judge Emmett and your county commissioners, I would like to point out that they have already committed to a more equitable distribution of project dollars from the $2.5 billion flood bond passed in August and that the Lake Houston area should get its fair share in the future. Phone calls at this moment are not necessary. Vigilance is. We can’t change the past, but together we can change the future.
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 24, 2018
421 Days since Hurricane Harvey
New Reports and Data on ReduceFlooding.com
As this site has grown, the Reports section started to get unwieldy. To make information easier to find, I separated it under tabs. Some of the tabs even have subsections. Here’s a list of current tabs and some significant new additions to the report data base.
City Proposition A (NEW)
Contains Supreme and Trial Court rulings on the 2010 amendment to the City Charter that created a Dedicated Pay-As-You-Go Fee for Drainage and Street Improvements. Also contains the 2010 and 2018 wording for comparison purposes (hint: they differ by one word). Finally, it contains a link to my post that tries to put everything in context.
Dredging (NEW)
Contains all of the information relating to the current (Phase 1) US Army Corps of Engineers Emergency West Fork Dredging Project. Includes all contract documents including plans, specs, value engineering study, all eight amendments to the contract, the original bids, and the revised bids after vetting. Also contains a presentation by Kissling and Garfield, two Lake Houston area geologists who argue for expanding the scope to include the mouth bar. Finally, includes a template for maintenance dredging using Galveston Bay as the example.
Harris County Flood Control District (Expanded)
Gathers all the information published by HCFCD that has been discussed on this site, including all the information and project lists related to the 2018 $2.5 billion flood bond. Also includes a new item, the 2018 Federal Briefing that is Flood Control’s annual progress report to Congress. This doc shows all the Federal money being spent in different parts of Harris County. It was published before the Corps started its current dredging project. It shows that the Lake Houston Area was the only part of the County NOT receiving Federal help at the time.
Hurricane Harvey and Flooding (Expanded)
Includes new information from Rice, University of Houston, USGS, the SJRA, NOAA, Texas General Land Office, Texas State Comptroller, and Texas Water Development Board. Also includes a link to a Slate Magazine article about floodplain development in Houston.
New Report on the State Recovery Plan from the Texas General Land Office: 360 Pages!
River Health (NEW)
Contains one item: a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report about water quality in the San Jacinto River Watershed.
San Jacinto River Authority (Separated)
There’s not much new in this category, but it’s been separated to make the information easier to find.
Sedimentation (Expanded)
Contains most of the original reports posted on this site plus a few new ones. Most of the dredging information was moved out of this section because it was getting voluminous enough to require its own tab.
Subsidence (NEW)
A brand new section on what could become a long-term flooding threat to Montgomery and northern Harris Counties. Includes information from the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, and USGS.
Tax Appraisals (NEW)
Information about how sand mines are appraised in Montgomery County. Also, how the flood could affect the appraisal on your house and what you can do about it.
Other Flood Mitigation (Expanded)
This contains information about mitigation efforts that don’t fall into one of the categories above, for instance, the engineering report on adding gates to the Lake Houston Dam.
Please Help This Site Grow
Click on a tab to expand or contract it. Hope this helps make information easier to find. Remember, too, there’s always the search bar! I hope these changes make all the information easier to digest. In about a year, this site has amassed thousands of pages of reports and its still growing every day.
From the beginning, my goal for this site has been to create a one-stop resource for all information related to flooding in the Lake Houston area.
If you know of something that should be added, please email me through the contact page on this site. And please send more of your flood pics for the new Submissions page. Thanks!
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 23, 2018
420 Days since Hurricane Harvey