As tonight’s town hall meeting with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Council Member Dave Martin, Chief Resiliency Officer Steve Costello and Chief Recovery Officer Marvin Odum approaches, it’s important to understand that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is NOT currently scheduled to dredge the mouth bar at the confluence of the West Fork and Lake Houston.
The scope of the current West Fork Emergency Dredging Project includes 2.1 miles between River Grove Park and Chimichurri’s. The Corp will remove 1.8 million cubic yards of sand clogging the river in that area. However, they will leave two to three times that much sediment at the mouth of the West Fork – between King’s Point and Atascocita Point…unless something changes soon.
The “Mouth Bar,” a giant sand bar that blocks the West Fork of the San Jacinto, backing the river up into Kingwood and Humble. Water depth is generally 1-3 feet around this bar. Max channel depth in places is just 5-8 feet.
Tim Garfield and RD Kissling, two local retired geologists, first sounded the alarm about this blockage. Since then, many people have been working to bring the mouth bar within the scope of the current project. Garfield and Kissling have also continued to review Corps survey data and developed additional insights.
Tonight Garfield and Kissling shared these thoughts.
You could walk along the red line from Scenic Shores to Kings River Estates, and except for crossing the paleo channel at five to eight feet, you would not even get your shirt wet. It should be approximately 25 feet deep in this area.
Shallowest path follows red line.
The Corps survey data is in the background. The red line represents the shallowest points of the lake/river.
Without removing the mouth bar, water will have to flow uphill approximately 40 feet between the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge and Lake Houston.
Water will have to rise approximately 40 feet between West Lake Houston Parkway and the Mouth Bar to reach Lake Houston. Subtract five or six feet for the deepest parts of the channel on either side of the bar.
If the city dropped the lake level 12 feet overnight – but the mouth bar remained – you would see an earthen dam 6 feet higher than the lake, behind which West Fork floodwater would still back up and flood our neighborhoods.
Adding flood gates without removing the mouth bar will not protect us from flooding.
With those happy thoughts, let’s hope that the City has some good news to share tonight re: removal of the mouth bar. Council Member Martin and others have been working diligently with the County, State, and Federal Governments to include the mouth bar in the current dredging project or fund it as a second project that follows the first closely.
Doing so could save taxpayers $17 million in mobilization costs.
The meeting will be held Tuesday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m., at the Kingwood Community Center, 4102 Rustic Woods, Kingwood, TX 77345.
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 9, 2018
406 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Slide1-cropped.jpeg?fit=1286%2C760&ssl=17601286adminadmin2018-10-09 00:30:522018-10-09 15:47:25The Mouth Bar: A Dam Behind the Dam
It’s been more than a year since Hurricane Harvey. Much of Houston has improved remarkably since then. But one neighborhood near the San Jacinto West Fork seems frozen in time: Marina Drive in Forest Cove. It’s the land that Solid Waste forgot.
Forest Cove Townhomes destroyed by Harvey and swallowed by sand. Photograph from 9/14/17, two weeks after Harvey. Not much has changed since then.
Featured in FEMA Video Filmed Last Month
When FEMA came to Houston last month to shoot a video about Harvey, they asked ReduceFlooding.com for location recommendations. They wanted a place that told the story of the storm. It took me about a nanosecond to recommend the apartments/townhomes on Marina Drive.
Forest Cove Townhomes destroyed by Harvey. This and following photos taken a year later on September 28, 2018.
The Forest Cove Property Owners Association has fixed up the community swimming pool. But everything around it still triggers memories of the terror that night in August, 2017, when Harvey dealt the final death blow to these ill-fated townhomes.
Forest Cove Townhomes now targets for vandals, looters and squatters.
Ravaged by Numerous Floods, but Killed by Harvey
The townhomes had been ravaged by previous floods, but Harvey was different. Three residents I talked to told me the water reached 17-23 feet high – well up into the second story. To put that in perspective, joists in the garage level are set at 11 feet.
You can see holes chopped in roofs where thieves stole roof-mounted AC condensers. One building appears to have been swept off its foundation. Bedsheets spray-painted with “FEMA HELP” still flutter from second story balconies. Sand clogs the streets and storm drains. Five foot high dunes cover fences and shoreline. Trash litters the parking lots. Graffiti and mold cover what’s left of the homes. An old oil pumper supports vines. Oil storage tanks sit twisted and lonely, off kilter. Not one person still lives there. The homes are uninhabitable.
Forest Cove Townhome destroyed by Harvey. Area is now a target for graffiti artists.
More Marina Drive Townhomes destroyed by Harvey. In addition to the trash in the parking lot, note the hole chopped in the roof to rescue people in the middle of the photo.
Reportedly, these properties are being bought out by FEMA and Harris County Flood Control to reduce future flood risk. Some offers have already been made according to Glen Allison, a member of the Homeowners Association. Allison also said that “Three units were swept away. Two more completely collapsed. There was tremendous structural damage throughout.”
Excerpt from HCFCD map showing historical buyout programs in Forest Cove.
FEMA and HCFCD completed voluntary buyout programs in 1994 (pink), 1998 (blue), 2005 (yellow) and 2008 (lavender). However, as of this spring, they were still trying to complete buyouts from 2014 and 2016 (see table below, also from 2018 Federal Briefing referenced above).
Forest Cove properties were part of the 2014 and 2016 buyout programs that were still not completed at the time of Harvey and HCFCD’s Federal Briefing last spring.
Maybe this time! Meanwhile, someone please call for a trash pickup.
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 7, 2018
404 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/SJR_305_019.jpg?fit=1800%2C1200&ssl=112001800adminadmin2018-10-07 19:59:282018-10-07 22:53:56Harvey Time Capsule: Marina Drive in Forest Cove
Houston City Council Member Dave Martin will host a town hall meeting, Tuesday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m., at the Kingwood Community Center, 4102 Rustic Woods, Kingwood, TX 77345. At this meeting, announcement is expected on whether FEMA and the Army Corps will include the mouth bar in the current West Fork dredging project.
The community is invited to attend and hear from city and community representatives about this and a variety of other ongoing projects related to the Kingwood and Lake Houston areas of District E.
Flood Mitigation Update from Costello and Odum
Residents will hear from Stephen Costello, City of Houston Chief Resiliency Officer and Marvin Odum, Chief Recovery Officer, on the progress made to rebuild the City post-Harvey. A spokesperson for Council Member Martin’s office stated that Costello intends to address issues crucial to the Lake Houston area, including additional dredging, upstream detention and floodgates. As part of his discussion, the spokesperson said that Costello will update the community on the status of removal of mouth bar.
The “Mouth Bar,” a giant sand bar that blocks the West Fork of the San Jacinto, backing the river up into Kingwood and Humble. The mouth bar is within the scope of the current Army Corps dredging project, but officials have been trying to get FEMA and the Corps to include it. Water depth is generally 1-3 feet around this bar. Max channel depth in places is just 5 feet.
Experts believe that this giant sand bar at the mouth of Lake Houston is creating a backwater effect that contributes to flooding in the highly populated Humble/Kingwood/West Fork corridor. The bar grew exponentially during Harvey, but is not within scope of the current U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Emergency West Fork Dredging Project.
If an expansion of scope or follow-on project cannot be arranged before contractors for the current project leave the river, taxpayers’ $17 million investment in mobilization would be lost. Any future projects would need to re-incur those costs all over again, adding to the total cost of dredging.
Martin has had a series of meetings recently with Governor Abbott, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, FEMA, Senator Cruz, Senator Cornyn and Congressman Poe. However, everyone is tight-lipped about the progress of negotiations. It’s still not clear whether the bar will be removed, and if so, who would remove it, or how it would be paid for.
Turner to Address Ballot Referendums on November 6
This fall’s town hall meeting will also include a presentation from Mayor Sylvester Turner who will speak on the Rebuild Houston and fire salary referendums that will appear on the November 6 ballot. All registered voters within the boundaries of the City are urged to attend.
Other Speakers
Stan Sarman, the Chair of the TIRZ 10 board will provide information on a variety of projects including the Northpark Drive Mobility Improvement Project, and the status of area intersection improvements. There will be an update on the Lake Houston Debris Removal Project provided by a member of the City of Houston Solid Waste Department Team. State Representative Dan Huberty is confirmed to provide insight on the upcoming legislative session.
Doors Open at 5:30 for Info Tables on Other Projects
For those who arrive early, there will be information tables available starting at 5:30 p.m. staffed by:
Harris County Precinct 4 to discuss their upcoming projects in Forest Cove
Texas Department of Transportation to educate residents on the expansion of TX Loop 494
Houston Parks Board to provide information on the upcoming San Jacinto Greenway Project
Houston Department of Neighborhoods
Houston Police Department’s Kingwood Division
For More Information
Please contact Council Member Martin’s office at (832) 393-3008 or via email at districte@houstontx.gov.
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 6, 2018
403 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Harvey-SanJac_437exposureadj.jpg?fit=2000%2C1054&ssl=110542000adminadmin2018-10-06 22:37:062018-10-06 22:40:49Announcements Expected at October 9 Town Hall on Additional Dredging, Detention and Floodgates
The Mouth Bar: A Dam Behind the Dam
As tonight’s town hall meeting with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Council Member Dave Martin, Chief Resiliency Officer Steve Costello and Chief Recovery Officer Marvin Odum approaches, it’s important to understand that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is NOT currently scheduled to dredge the mouth bar at the confluence of the West Fork and Lake Houston.
The scope of the current West Fork Emergency Dredging Project includes 2.1 miles between River Grove Park and Chimichurri’s. The Corp will remove 1.8 million cubic yards of sand clogging the river in that area. However, they will leave two to three times that much sediment at the mouth of the West Fork – between King’s Point and Atascocita Point…unless something changes soon.
The “Mouth Bar,” a giant sand bar that blocks the West Fork of the San Jacinto, backing the river up into Kingwood and Humble. Water depth is generally 1-3 feet around this bar. Max channel depth in places is just 5-8 feet.
The “mouth bar” which we have talked about extensively in previous posts forms a dam of sorts behind the Lake Houston dam. It backs water up into the heavily populated Humble/Kingwood/Atascocita corridor.
Tim Garfield and RD Kissling, two local retired geologists, first sounded the alarm about this blockage. Since then, many people have been working to bring the mouth bar within the scope of the current project. Garfield and Kissling have also continued to review Corps survey data and developed additional insights.
Tonight Garfield and Kissling shared these thoughts.
Shallowest path follows red line.
The Corps survey data is in the background. The red line represents the shallowest points of the lake/river.
Water will have to rise approximately 40 feet between West Lake Houston Parkway and the Mouth Bar to reach Lake Houston. Subtract five or six feet for the deepest parts of the channel on either side of the bar.
With those happy thoughts, let’s hope that the City has some good news to share tonight re: removal of the mouth bar. Council Member Martin and others have been working diligently with the County, State, and Federal Governments to include the mouth bar in the current dredging project or fund it as a second project that follows the first closely.
Doing so could save taxpayers $17 million in mobilization costs.
The meeting will be held Tuesday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m., at the Kingwood Community Center, 4102 Rustic Woods, Kingwood, TX 77345.
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 9, 2018
406 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Harvey Time Capsule: Marina Drive in Forest Cove
It’s been more than a year since Hurricane Harvey. Much of Houston has improved remarkably since then. But one neighborhood near the San Jacinto West Fork seems frozen in time: Marina Drive in Forest Cove. It’s the land that Solid Waste forgot.
Forest Cove Townhomes destroyed by Harvey and swallowed by sand. Photograph from 9/14/17, two weeks after Harvey. Not much has changed since then.
Featured in FEMA Video Filmed Last Month
When FEMA came to Houston last month to shoot a video about Harvey, they asked ReduceFlooding.com for location recommendations. They wanted a place that told the story of the storm. It took me about a nanosecond to recommend the apartments/townhomes on Marina Drive.
Forest Cove Townhomes destroyed by Harvey. This and following photos taken a year later on September 28, 2018.
The Forest Cove Property Owners Association has fixed up the community swimming pool. But everything around it still triggers memories of the terror that night in August, 2017, when Harvey dealt the final death blow to these ill-fated townhomes.
Forest Cove Townhomes now targets for vandals, looters and squatters.
Ravaged by Numerous Floods, but Killed by Harvey
The townhomes had been ravaged by previous floods, but Harvey was different. Three residents I talked to told me the water reached 17-23 feet high – well up into the second story. To put that in perspective, joists in the garage level are set at 11 feet.
You can see holes chopped in roofs where thieves stole roof-mounted AC condensers. One building appears to have been swept off its foundation. Bedsheets spray-painted with “FEMA HELP” still flutter from second story balconies. Sand clogs the streets and storm drains. Five foot high dunes cover fences and shoreline. Trash litters the parking lots. Graffiti and mold cover what’s left of the homes. An old oil pumper supports vines. Oil storage tanks sit twisted and lonely, off kilter. Not one person still lives there. The homes are uninhabitable.
Forest Cove Townhome destroyed by Harvey. Area is now a target for graffiti artists.
More Marina Drive Townhomes destroyed by Harvey. In addition to the trash in the parking lot, note the hole chopped in the roof to rescue people in the middle of the photo.
Reportedly, these properties are being bought out by FEMA and Harris County Flood Control to reduce future flood risk. Some offers have already been made according to Glen Allison, a member of the Homeowners Association. Allison also said that “Three units were swept away. Two more completely collapsed. There was tremendous structural damage throughout.”
Someday the area may be turned into parkland. The county has been trying to buy this land and convert it into a linear park since 1994 – almost 25 years ago. Not much has happened since then. The last section in a document from Harris County Flood Control titled 2018 Federal Briefing: Unprecedented Opportunity discusses progress of various buyout programs going back 29 years.
Excerpt from HCFCD map showing historical buyout programs in Forest Cove.
FEMA and HCFCD completed voluntary buyout programs in 1994 (pink), 1998 (blue), 2005 (yellow) and 2008 (lavender). However, as of this spring, they were still trying to complete buyouts from 2014 and 2016 (see table below, also from 2018 Federal Briefing referenced above).
Forest Cove properties were part of the 2014 and 2016 buyout programs that were still not completed at the time of Harvey and HCFCD’s Federal Briefing last spring.
Maybe this time! Meanwhile, someone please call for a trash pickup.
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 7, 2018
404 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Announcements Expected at October 9 Town Hall on Additional Dredging, Detention and Floodgates
Houston City Council Member Dave Martin will host a town hall meeting, Tuesday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m., at the Kingwood Community Center, 4102 Rustic Woods, Kingwood, TX 77345. At this meeting, announcement is expected on whether FEMA and the Army Corps will include the mouth bar in the current West Fork dredging project.
The community is invited to attend and hear from city and community representatives about this and a variety of other ongoing projects related to the Kingwood and Lake Houston areas of District E.
Flood Mitigation Update from Costello and Odum
Residents will hear from Stephen Costello, City of Houston Chief Resiliency Officer and Marvin Odum, Chief Recovery Officer, on the progress made to rebuild the City post-Harvey. A spokesperson for Council Member Martin’s office stated that Costello intends to address issues crucial to the Lake Houston area, including additional dredging, upstream detention and floodgates. As part of his discussion, the spokesperson said that Costello will update the community on the status of removal of mouth bar.
The “Mouth Bar,” a giant sand bar that blocks the West Fork of the San Jacinto, backing the river up into Kingwood and Humble. The mouth bar is within the scope of the current Army Corps dredging project, but officials have been trying to get FEMA and the Corps to include it. Water depth is generally 1-3 feet around this bar. Max channel depth in places is just 5 feet.
Experts believe that this giant sand bar at the mouth of Lake Houston is creating a backwater effect that contributes to flooding in the highly populated Humble/Kingwood/West Fork corridor. The bar grew exponentially during Harvey, but is not within scope of the current U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Emergency West Fork Dredging Project.
If an expansion of scope or follow-on project cannot be arranged before contractors for the current project leave the river, taxpayers’ $17 million investment in mobilization would be lost. Any future projects would need to re-incur those costs all over again, adding to the total cost of dredging.
Martin has had a series of meetings recently with Governor Abbott, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, FEMA, Senator Cruz, Senator Cornyn and Congressman Poe. However, everyone is tight-lipped about the progress of negotiations. It’s still not clear whether the bar will be removed, and if so, who would remove it, or how it would be paid for.
Turner to Address Ballot Referendums on November 6
This fall’s town hall meeting will also include a presentation from Mayor Sylvester Turner who will speak on the Rebuild Houston and fire salary referendums that will appear on the November 6 ballot. All registered voters within the boundaries of the City are urged to attend.
Other Speakers
Stan Sarman, the Chair of the TIRZ 10 board will provide information on a variety of projects including the Northpark Drive Mobility Improvement Project, and the status of area intersection improvements. There will be an update on the Lake Houston Debris Removal Project provided by a member of the City of Houston Solid Waste Department Team. State Representative Dan Huberty is confirmed to provide insight on the upcoming legislative session.
Doors Open at 5:30 for Info Tables on Other Projects
For those who arrive early, there will be information tables available starting at 5:30 p.m. staffed by:
For More Information
Please contact Council Member Martin’s office at (832) 393-3008 or via email at districte@houstontx.gov.
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 6, 2018
403 Days since Hurricane Harvey