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
Now you see it. Now you don’t. Watch out for submerged pipeline.
This public service announcement paid for by the School of Hard Knocks. Please send this link to every boater you know. It could save a friend’s life.
Near Miss with Dredge
Today, I received yet another request to remind boaters about safety issues on the West Fork. A near miss prompted the request.
Dredging has attracted a higher than usual number of boaters.
In this incident, a boater zoomed up from behind a dredge at a high rate of speed just as the dredge was swinging a cutter head into his path. Luckily the man is OK, but he nearly decapitated himself on a cable.
While the San Jacinto may seem like a big river, it’s not – especially when numerous small boats are trying to maneuver around two 200-foot dredges, six booster pumps, 10 miles of 24″ pipeline, welding equipment, supply boats, cranes, backhoes, and support barges.
The Main Safety Dangers
When you see a dredge, remember that it’s there for a reason. The river is shallow. Watch out for:
Sand bars that the dredge is working on
Cables as the dredge swings its cutter head from side to side.
Submerged pipe
Backhoes that are rotating on pontoons
Common-Sense Precautions
Stay away. Boat somewhere else. If you must be on the West Fork:
Go slow around dredges, especially when coming from the rear.
Leave plenty of room between yourself and the dredge.
Stay as far from them as you can.
Remember: they have equipment that swings from side to side. It’s guided by cables that you may not see until it’s too late.
Make eye contact with the dredge’s operators. They’re focused on their work and not looking for you.
Don’t create a wake that will rock their boats, barges, pontoons or pipelines.
Don’t expect them to get out of your way; they can’t maneuver like you.
There’s never been anything quite like this on the river within the memory of most living people. Recreational boaters on Lake Houston just aren’t familiar with the safety protocols around such equipment. The easiest and safest thing is just to boat, canoe or kayak somewhere else.
Posted on October 21, 2018 by Bob Rehak
418 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Dredge2Dredging-10.5.18_069_23-e1540166925725.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2018-10-21 19:14:222018-10-21 21:18:37Boating Safety around Dredges
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
Boating Safety around Dredges
Now you see it. Now you don’t. Watch out for submerged pipeline.
This public service announcement paid for by the School of Hard Knocks. Please send this link to every boater you know. It could save a friend’s life.
Near Miss with Dredge
Today, I received yet another request to remind boaters about safety issues on the West Fork. A near miss prompted the request.
Dredging has attracted a higher than usual number of boaters.
While the San Jacinto may seem like a big river, it’s not – especially when numerous small boats are trying to maneuver around two 200-foot dredges, six booster pumps, 10 miles of 24″ pipeline, welding equipment, supply boats, cranes, backhoes, and support barges.
The Main Safety Dangers
When you see a dredge, remember that it’s there for a reason. The river is shallow. Watch out for:
Common-Sense Precautions
Stay away. Boat somewhere else. If you must be on the West Fork:
There’s never been anything quite like this on the river within the memory of most living people. Recreational boaters on Lake Houston just aren’t familiar with the safety protocols around such equipment. The easiest and safest thing is just to boat, canoe or kayak somewhere else.
Posted on October 21, 2018 by Bob Rehak
418 Days since Hurricane Harvey