Earlier this year, the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) voted to lower the level of Lake Conroe during the peak of hurricane season. The purpose: to provide an additional buffer against flooding for downstream residents until the river could be dredged. The SJRA has now reached its target of 199 mean feet above seal level (MSL).
Temporary Lowering Accommodates Dredging
The SJRA stated, “This was the target elevation established by the San Jacinto River Authority and the City of Houston to create a temporary flood mitigation benefit while dredging activities take place in the lower part of the San Jacinto River.”
The lowering happened gradually during August. To avoid downstream flooding, the SJRA released water at the rate of 200-300 cubic feet per second. That amounted to about an inch per day. The exact amount varied due to occasional rain and evaporation.
Lake Conroe Will Return to Normal Level After September
“Now that the target elevation has been reached,” said the SJRA, “Reservoir operators have shut off the release of water from the dam and will operate with the goal of maintaining the current elevation through the end of September. After September, any rainfall flowing into the reservoir will be held, and the reservoir will be allowed to return to the normal elevation of 201 ft-msl.”
Update on Dredging Schedule
As tropical activity heats up, this is good news. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is nearing completion of the assembly of the first of two dredges and miles of dredge pipe. The contractor for the Corps’ Emergency West Fork Dredging Project, Great Lakes, is expected to begin dredging on September 6. Dredging will extend from River Grove Park on the west to Chimichurri’s on the east. It’s not clear yet, which end the contractor will begin on. Great Lakes expects to complete the project, weather permitting, by April of next year.
Posted September 1, 2018 by Bob Rehak
368 Days since Hurricane Harvey
00adminadmin2018-09-01 06:54:532020-01-17 10:03:20Lake Conroe Seasonal Lowering Reaches Target Level at Peak of Hurricane Season
Numerous posts on this blog have documented how sand mines made flooding worse during Harvey. Yet the total amount of fines levied against mines in the second half of last year state-wide was less than the average repair cost for one home flooded during Harvey.
Let me state some caveats upfront in this post.
During Harvey, the extreme nature of the storm caused flooding.
However, NO sediment should have come from any mine. It could have been easily avoided. Most mines choose to operate in the floodway…downstream from a major dam…in a flood prone region. They have other choices.
They know sand is escaping from their pits; yet they deny it is possible – despite photographic evidence.
But they continue to mine in floodways. Partially as a result, millions of cubic yards of sand now clog the East and West Forks of the San Jacinto, creating higher floods on smaller rains. Meanwhile, the public, businesses, FEMA, and insurance companies are stuck with the cleanup bill and increased flood risk.
Having said that, let’s look at the scorecard.
Fines Levied Statewide by TCEQ on Sand Mines in Last 5 Years
TCEQ fines levied since passage of HB571 through end of 2017. Image scanned from TCEQ report to Texas legislature.
That’s about $800 per fine or a half-million dollars total during five years. If you look just at the last half of 2017 (after Harvey), the TCEQ levied about $140,000 in fines STATEWIDE – far less than it cost to repair ONE average home in Kingwood as a result of Harvey.
Damage to Lake Houston Area During Harvey Related to Excessive Sedimentation
$60 million in repairs to Kingwood High School
$60 million in repairs to Lone Star College/Kingwood
$1.4 billion for 7000+ homes flooded at estimated repair cost of $200,000 each
$1.5 billion in lost productivity ([100,000 people x 200 hours each] + [10,000 people times x 1000 hours each] = 30 million hours x Ave. $50 each)
$70 million for Phase 1 dredging of 2.1 miles out of 13 miles
$50 million for Phase 2 dredging allocated in County Flood Bond
“Billions” lost in home values and tax revenue according to City of Houston
44% of Lake Houston area businesses flooded and closed for months, many closed permanently
Total: Estimated $5+ billion
So Much for Fiscal Conservatism
Even if you think the mines contributed only 10% of the sand in the river and are responsible for only 10% of the damage, they still came out ahead by a pretty lopsided margin, especially considering that we’re comparing statewide to local statistics and extended periods to one event. AND they are not being asked to contribute one penny to clean-up costs beyond their normal taxes. If you or I backed up into a light pole, we would probably get a bill for damaging City property. But not these lucky guys.
You would think the City, County, State, businesses and residents must be flush with cash to absorb these kinds of losses without raising a peep. So much for fiscal conservatism! Since when did Texas replace “You Break It; You Buy It” with corporate welfare and subsidies?
But hey, we need cheap concrete to attract new residents who will make up for these losses. Right?
It’s Time to Change the Conversation
Call me unrealistic, but maybe it’s time to:
Prioritize taxpayers over newcomers.
Compare the tax revenue from mining to losses from other sources.
Balance public safety and private profit.
Put some teeth in TCEQ regulations.
Make all miners move out of the floodway and you could level the playing field for them while protecting them from liability. You could also avoid a lot of that damage, protect lives and property from unnecessary risk, avoid unnecessary losses, make the banking and insurance industries happy, reduce mitigation costs, increase savings and investment, hold down taxes, and attract newcomers. But wait. Win-win? That’s too radical a notion to succeed in politics these days.
As always, these are my opinions on matters of public policy. They are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on August 31, 2018
367 Days since Hurricane Harvey
00adminadmin2018-08-31 20:58:342018-09-01 05:57:55Sand-Mine Fines vs. Lake-Houston-Area Damage During Harvey
In some cases, mining companies may still be around to repair breaches. But what happens when the mine is played out and no one is there to repair the dike? Hundreds of acres of silt could suddenly be exposed to river currents and washed downstream. As more and more mines on the West Fork approach the end of their lives, this is becoming a huge concern.
Before Sand Mines
This series of satellite images from Google Earth starts in 1995, before there were any sand mines on either side of the river at this location. I created the red line in a separate layer above the satellite images. As we move forward in time, the location of the line will NOT change; but the location of the river WILL.
1/18/1995 before sand mining in this area of the West Fork
By 12/31/2001, the river had shifted slightly. We now have a sand mine on the east side of the river. Note the width of the dike and the road on top of it.
By 1/25/2004, the river had eaten away at the dike and threatened the road.
1/14/2006: The river has almost completely shifted from its original bed and wiped out a large part of the road
1/8/2008: The dike has become dangerously thin, and the road has completely disappeared.
3/14/2014: The mining company has shored up the road by adding fill to both sides of the dike, increasing sedimentation in the river.
On 5/31/2015, the Memorial Day Flood inundated the mine and wiped out the road again. Note the large body of water at the far left. This was a new pit started on the west side of the river that year. Notice how the dike on the left has been breached and silt from the mine is flowing directly into the river.
7/31/2015: The dike on the left remains open and erosion from the Memorial Day flood has eaten the road on the right dike. Twenty years after the start of this sequence, the river has now completely migrated from its original path.
Then along came the Tax Day Flood of 2016.
By 1/23/17, we see sediment building up at the south end of the both pits from the storm during the previous year. This shows that the current was strong enough to move sand within the pits, something the miners say is impossible.
By 8/30/17, the entire area was inundated. Peak flow during Harvey actually happened the day before this photo was taken. It was four times greater than what you see above.
On 10/28/17, two months after Harvey, the dike on the right has almost disappeared. It is now a mere 38 feet wide. The red line, which represents the original riverbed, no longer overlaps the current river bed. The pond next to the G in Google has almost completely filled in, more evidence of sediment migration within the pit.
At what point does the honorable pursuit of profit become reckless endangerment? At what point does hope that the dikes will hold become willful blindness? Since when does one man’s unfettered right to mine sand give him the right to damage others and imperil public safety? Why do legislators allow business practices that endanger neighboring communities? When will regulators see the partial truths spread by TACA for what they are – an deceptive attempt to escape liability for egregious business practices? And above all, what happens when miners walk away from the property but floods continue as they always have.
Property Rights Vs. Public Safety
Miners claim they have the right to do what they want on their property. But not at the expense of public safety. Should the owners of commercial buildings be allowed to operate without fire alarms, sprinkler systems and safety exits just because it’s their property?
Miners have choices. They don’t need to compromise safety. The meander belt of the San Jacinto stretches for miles. There’s plenty of sand out of the floodway to mine.
At the current rate, without human intervention, river migration should capture the mine on the right side of these photos in about three years. It won’t be the first time something like this has happened.
To prevent such disasters in the making and protect public water sources, other states and countries have established setback regulations from rivers. Texas should do the same.
Posted on August 29, 2018 by Bob Rehak
365 Days since Hurricane Harvey flooded the Lake Houston Area
As always this is my opinion on a matter of public policy and is protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statutes of the Great State of Texas.
00adminadmin2018-08-29 20:28:422018-08-30 09:19:03River Migration: Another Reason for Greater Sand-Mine Setbacks
Lake Conroe Seasonal Lowering Reaches Target Level at Peak of Hurricane Season
Earlier this year, the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) voted to lower the level of Lake Conroe during the peak of hurricane season. The purpose: to provide an additional buffer against flooding for downstream residents until the river could be dredged. The SJRA has now reached its target of 199 mean feet above seal level (MSL).
Temporary Lowering Accommodates Dredging
The SJRA stated, “This was the target elevation established by the San Jacinto River Authority and the City of Houston to create a temporary flood mitigation benefit while dredging activities take place in the lower part of the San Jacinto River.”
The lowering happened gradually during August. To avoid downstream flooding, the SJRA released water at the rate of 200-300 cubic feet per second. That amounted to about an inch per day. The exact amount varied due to occasional rain and evaporation.
Source: NOAA Hurricane Research Division, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
Lake Conroe Will Return to Normal Level After September
“Now that the target elevation has been reached,” said the SJRA, “Reservoir operators have shut off the release of water from the dam and will operate with the goal of maintaining the current elevation through the end of September. After September, any rainfall flowing into the reservoir will be held, and the reservoir will be allowed to return to the normal elevation of 201 ft-msl.”
Update on Dredging Schedule
As tropical activity heats up, this is good news. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is nearing completion of the assembly of the first of two dredges and miles of dredge pipe. The contractor for the Corps’ Emergency West Fork Dredging Project, Great Lakes, is expected to begin dredging on September 6. Dredging will extend from River Grove Park on the west to Chimichurri’s on the east. It’s not clear yet, which end the contractor will begin on. Great Lakes expects to complete the project, weather permitting, by April of next year.
Posted September 1, 2018 by Bob Rehak
368 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Sand-Mine Fines vs. Lake-Houston-Area Damage During Harvey
Numerous posts on this blog have documented how sand mines made flooding worse during Harvey. Yet the total amount of fines levied against mines in the second half of last year state-wide was less than the average repair cost for one home flooded during Harvey.
Let me state some caveats upfront in this post.
However, NO sediment should have come from any mine. It could have been easily avoided. Most mines choose to operate in the floodway…downstream from a major dam…in a flood prone region. They have other choices.
But they continue to mine in floodways. Partially as a result, millions of cubic yards of sand now clog the East and West Forks of the San Jacinto, creating higher floods on smaller rains. Meanwhile, the public, businesses, FEMA, and insurance companies are stuck with the cleanup bill and increased flood risk.
Having said that, let’s look at the scorecard.
Fines Levied Statewide by TCEQ on Sand Mines in Last 5 Years
TCEQ fines levied since passage of HB571 through end of 2017. Image scanned from TCEQ report to Texas legislature.
That’s about $800 per fine or a half-million dollars total during five years. If you look just at the last half of 2017 (after Harvey), the TCEQ levied about $140,000 in fines STATEWIDE – far less than it cost to repair ONE average home in Kingwood as a result of Harvey.
Damage to Lake Houston Area During Harvey Related to Excessive Sedimentation
So Much for Fiscal Conservatism
Even if you think the mines contributed only 10% of the sand in the river and are responsible for only 10% of the damage, they still came out ahead by a pretty lopsided margin, especially considering that we’re comparing statewide to local statistics and extended periods to one event. AND they are not being asked to contribute one penny to clean-up costs beyond their normal taxes. If you or I backed up into a light pole, we would probably get a bill for damaging City property. But not these lucky guys.
But hey, we need cheap concrete to attract new residents who will make up for these losses. Right?
It’s Time to Change the Conversation
Call me unrealistic, but maybe it’s time to:
Make all miners move out of the floodway and you could level the playing field for them while protecting them from liability. You could also avoid a lot of that damage, protect lives and property from unnecessary risk, avoid unnecessary losses, make the banking and insurance industries happy, reduce mitigation costs, increase savings and investment, hold down taxes, and attract newcomers. But wait. Win-win? That’s too radical a notion to succeed in politics these days.
As always, these are my opinions on matters of public policy. They are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on August 31, 2018
367 Days since Hurricane Harvey
River Migration: Another Reason for Greater Sand-Mine Setbacks
River migration can imperil sand-mine dikes and that can imperil people downstream.
In the case presented below, the San Jacinto river migrated 258 feet toward a dike in only 23 years and now threatens it. The river has eaten away at a dike by migrating an average of 12.4 feet per year. The dike is now only 38 feet wide. This a textbook case for why we need greater separation between mines and the San Jacinto river. Another dike failure could exacerbate downstream sedimentation and flooding, as it has before.
River Migration Raises Questions about Setbacks and Abandonment
This example of river migration raises serious questions about the lack of setback requirements for Texas sand mines. As rivers migrate toward mines, they can breach dikes and increase the risk of future breaches. Sediment then sent downstream can block rivers and streams, and contribute to worse flooding.
Before Sand Mines
This series of satellite images from Google Earth starts in 1995, before there were any sand mines on either side of the river at this location. I created the red line in a separate layer above the satellite images. As we move forward in time, the location of the line will NOT change; but the location of the river WILL.
1/18/1995 before sand mining in this area of the West Fork
By 12/31/2001, the river had shifted slightly. We now have a sand mine on the east side of the river. Note the width of the dike and the road on top of it.
By 1/25/2004, the river had eaten away at the dike and threatened the road.
1/14/2006: The river has almost completely shifted from its original bed and wiped out a large part of the road
1/8/2008: The dike has become dangerously thin, and the road has completely disappeared.
3/14/2014: The mining company has shored up the road by adding fill to both sides of the dike, increasing sedimentation in the river.
On 5/31/2015, the Memorial Day Flood inundated the mine and wiped out the road again. Note the large body of water at the far left. This was a new pit started on the west side of the river that year. Notice how the dike on the left has been breached and silt from the mine is flowing directly into the river.
7/31/2015: The dike on the left remains open and erosion from the Memorial Day flood has eaten the road on the right dike. Twenty years after the start of this sequence, the river has now completely migrated from its original path.
Then along came the Tax Day Flood of 2016.
By 1/23/17, we see sediment building up at the south end of the both pits from the storm during the previous year. This shows that the current was strong enough to move sand within the pits, something the miners say is impossible.
By 8/30/17, the entire area was inundated. Peak flow during Harvey actually happened the day before this photo was taken. It was four times greater than what you see above.
On 10/28/17, two months after Harvey, the dike on the right has almost disappeared. It is now a mere 38 feet wide. The red line, which represents the original riverbed, no longer overlaps the current river bed. The pond next to the G in Google has almost completely filled in, more evidence of sediment migration within the pit.
Reckless Endangerment?
This series of river migration images shows the relentless forces of erosion. Mining in the floodway so close to the river increases sedimentation, and as a consequence, the risk of flooding.
At what point does the honorable pursuit of profit become reckless endangerment? At what point does hope that the dikes will hold become willful blindness? Since when does one man’s unfettered right to mine sand give him the right to damage others and imperil public safety? Why do legislators allow business practices that endanger neighboring communities? When will regulators see the partial truths spread by TACA for what they are – an deceptive attempt to escape liability for egregious business practices? And above all, what happens when miners walk away from the property but floods continue as they always have.
Property Rights Vs. Public Safety
Miners claim they have the right to do what they want on their property. But not at the expense of public safety. Should the owners of commercial buildings be allowed to operate without fire alarms, sprinkler systems and safety exits just because it’s their property?
Miners have choices. They don’t need to compromise safety. The meander belt of the San Jacinto stretches for miles. There’s plenty of sand out of the floodway to mine.
At the current rate, without human intervention, river migration should capture the mine on the right side of these photos in about three years. It won’t be the first time something like this has happened.
To prevent such disasters in the making and protect public water sources, other states and countries have established setback regulations from rivers. Texas should do the same.
Posted on August 29, 2018 by Bob Rehak
365 Days since Hurricane Harvey flooded the Lake Houston Area
As always this is my opinion on a matter of public policy and is protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statutes of the Great State of Texas.