9/26/2025 – On Tuesday, September 30, Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger will host a town hall meeting at the Kingwood Community Center. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m., with informational booths from various City departments available to answer your questions. The main program will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m. Please mark your calendars for this important event!
Kingwood/Lake Houston
Tuesday, September 30
Program @ 6:30 p.m.
Kingwood Community Center
4102 Rustic Woods Drive
Houston, TX 77345
Speakers Will Include
The program will feature:
State Representative Charles Cunningham (including a Q&A conversation with Council Member Flickinger, moderated by Charles Blain)
Houston Council Member Twila Carter
Coastal Water Authority Board Member Dan Huberty
Houston Public Works
TIRZ 10 / Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority
Houston Police Department
Houston Solid Waste Management Department
Houston Health Department
This will be the perfect venue to speak with City and State leaders. Submit questions before hand here to make sure the speakers come prepared to address your concerns.
Your questions will be read aloud during the Town Hall. Your feedback is a vital part of the discussion and plays a key role in shaping the future of our community.
Council Member Flickinger encourages all residents to attend.
Visit Informational Tables from 5:30 to 6:30
Before the program, you’ll also have a chance to talk directly to the people who staff key City, State and regional services. They will include:
Department of Neighborhoods
San Jacinto River Authority
Houston Parks and Recreation Department
BARC
311
Trees for Kingwood
Texas General Land Office
Perfect Venue To Raise Flood Concerns
While the town hall meeting will cover far more than flooding issues, many people will be there who can address flooding concerns.
For instance:
Council Member Flickinger and Dan Huberty (now a member of the Coastal Water Authority board) can answer questions about the Lake Houston Dam, including repairs, replacement and the addition of gates.
State Rep. Charles Cunningham can answer questions about the new Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District, the TCEQ, sand mines, a river-basin-wide flood-control district, and more.
San Jacinto River Authority can answer your questions about lake lowering, sand traps, and joint-reservoir-operations (Lake Conroe/Lake Houston) and the near miss thousands of us had in the May Day flood of 2024.
Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority can discuss its reconstruction of Northpark Drive, and what will become the first all-weather evacuation route from Kingwood.
Questions Work Two Ways
So, submit your questions now. They will help you understand what’s going on. And they will communicate your concerns to leaders.
As Council Member Flickinger said, “Your questions, concerns, and ideas are invaluable in guiding the decisions that impact our neighborhood and quality of life.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/26/25
2950 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20240919-DSC_0649.jpg?fit=1100%2C268&ssl=12681100adminadmin2025-09-26 15:19:342025-09-26 15:19:35Save the Date: Kingwood Town Hall Meeting On Tuesday, Sept. 30
9/25/2025 – At this morning’s San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) board meeting, the president of the Lake Conroe Association (LCA) protested the SJRA’s latest efforts to find a suitable compromise that protects upstream and downstream interests.
LCA argued against SJRA’s request to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to increase the maximum release rate in advance of storms from 700 to 2,000 cubic feet per second – even though the increase could help prevent unnecessary releases and conserve water – two things the LCA claims to want.
LCA president Kevin Lacy (white shirt with back to camera) addresses SJRA board today.
Why the Need for Lake Lowering?
During public comment, Kevin Lacy, LCA president, attacked the SJRA’s lake lowering policy, which has been modified several times since Governor Greg Abbott directed the SJRA to “immediately implement” policies that protected downstream residents from flooding.
The release of 79,000 cubic feet per second from Lake Conroe accounted for roughly a third of all the water coming down the West Fork at the peak of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The resulting surge came without warning in the middle of the night.
The idea behind the lake lowering strategy: create extra storage capacity in Lake Conroe to minimize the need for such massive releases in the future. That would reduce flood risk for downstream residents until the City finishes new flood gates on Lake Houston that can keep up with Lake Conroe releases. But the gates are taking much longer than originally anticipated.
Iterations of Lake Lowering Strategy
The SJRA board has modified its lake lowering policy several times in response to pushback from the Lake Conroe Association.
At first, the policy called for lowering the lake by fixed amounts for fixed times during the spring rainy season and the peak of hurricane season.
Then, the SJRA began lowering the lake by lesser amounts and for shorter times.
Next, the SJRA began lowering the lake only in advance of major storms on an as-needed basis.
However, the maximum pre-release rate allowed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality was 700 cubic feet per second. That was not always fast enough to lower a lake as large as Conroe significantly before storms struck.
Higher Release Rates Actually Conserve Water
So, the SJRA had to release much further in advance of storms, i.e., a week instead of 2-3 days. The excessive lead times sometimes meant that storms could veer away before they struck. Such a “false release” happened last June, according to Lacy’s testimony today.
The obvious solution was to increase the maximum allowable release rate. That would create more storage capacity faster. So, SJRA petitioned TCEQ to increase the release rate to 2,000 CFS, almost triple the previous rate, but not so much that it would flood downstream residents. And its a rate that the existing gates on Lake Houston can keep up with.
But LCA complained about that, too, even though it would minimize wasted water and inconvenience for Lake Conroe boaters.
According to Matt Barrett, SJRA’s Flood Management Division Manager, TCEQ has not yet ruled on the increased release rate.
View Live Testimony
You can view the live testimony on the SJRA website. Lacy’s public comment and the SJRA General Manager’s response take about ten minutes. Start watching at 2:13 into the video as Lacy takes his seat.
Throughout his time at the microphone, Lacy repeatedly complains about how long the City of Houston is taking to install additional floodgates on Lake Houston. Never once does he acknowledge the number of times that the lake lowering policy saved downstream residents from flooding.
Make sure you also watch the response to Lacy’s comments from Aubrey Spear, SJRA’s general manager. Spear explains how SJRA is trying to find a suitable compromise between upstream recreational and downstream flood-mitigation interests.
Spear said in regard to the increase in the release rate to 2,000 CFS, “We are committed to optimizing flood mitigation during major storm events to reduce flood impact to properties both upstream and downstream of the dam. We are adding another tool to our toolbox that could be helpful, but may never be used.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/25/2025
2949 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/20250925-SJRA-Board-Mtg.jpg?fit=1100%2C611&ssl=16111100adminadmin2025-09-25 17:44:012025-10-01 11:57:14LCA Still Complaining to SJRA About Lake Lowering
According to ChatGPT, the 2025 Texas legislature this year devoted 2.7 times more money to increasing water supply than to mitigating flooding.
The water-supply funding aims to keep Texas growing, even as large sections of the state struggle with water shortages, drought, aquifer depletion and subsidence.
Dual-Purpose Funding
But some of the money allocated by the legislature to water supply can also be used for flood mitigation – if it serves a dual purpose, such as new reservoirs. This may be a way to reduce flooding and sustain growth at the same time.
Location of Winters Bayou Project approximately 10 miles upstream from Cleveland on the East Fork in San Jacinto County.
They chose the site for its ability to reduce flows in downstream damage centers, limited development within the footprint, and steep terrain that allows for increased storage volume.
But detention basins don’t qualify for water infrastructure funding under Texas Water Development Board SWIFT fund guidelines. SWIFT stands for State Water Infrastructure For Texas.
However, some changes in the name and design might make the Winters Bayou Project eligible.
Winters Bayou Project Might Qualify
Of all the projects listed in the San Jacinto Watershed Flood Plan, the Winters Bayou project was one of the largest.
A 54-ft tall concrete dam would create a 1.60-mile-long impoundment that captures runoff from Winters Bayou. It was conceived as a dry dam with five reinforced 10×10 concrete culverts and twin 300′ backup spillways that could hold 45,000 acre feet of floodwater (see page 180). To put that in perspective…
45,000 acre feet is about a third of the storage volume of Lake Houston.
The Winters Bayou project is already in the Lake Houston watershed. And the City’s Northeast Water Purification Plant on Lake Houston could purify the water.
But could a water-supply reservoir still serve a flood-control purpose? Perhaps with a different design.
The project made it into the final version of the 2024 state flood plan – as a flood-mitigation-only project. But it ranked #82 in the state. And its projected $134 million cost means it won’t be done for decades, if ever.
Perhaps given the state’s new water-supply priorities, a dual purpose reservoir would rank higher and get built sooner. Plus, the sale of water might help generate revenue that defrays expenses.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/24/25 based on a suggestion from Kingwood flood fighter Chris Bloch
Save the Date: Kingwood Town Hall Meeting On Tuesday, Sept. 30
9/26/2025 – On Tuesday, September 30, Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger will host a town hall meeting at the Kingwood Community Center. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m., with informational booths from various City departments available to answer your questions. The main program will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m. Please mark your calendars for this important event!
Kingwood/Lake Houston
Tuesday, September 30
Program @ 6:30 p.m.
Kingwood Community Center
4102 Rustic Woods Drive
Houston, TX 77345
Speakers Will Include
The program will feature:
This will be the perfect venue to speak with City and State leaders. Submit questions before hand here to make sure the speakers come prepared to address your concerns.
Your questions will be read aloud during the Town Hall. Your feedback is a vital part of the discussion and plays a key role in shaping the future of our community.
Council Member Flickinger encourages all residents to attend.
Visit Informational Tables from 5:30 to 6:30
Before the program, you’ll also have a chance to talk directly to the people who staff key City, State and regional services. They will include:
Perfect Venue To Raise Flood Concerns
While the town hall meeting will cover far more than flooding issues, many people will be there who can address flooding concerns.
For instance:
Questions Work Two Ways
So, submit your questions now. They will help you understand what’s going on. And they will communicate your concerns to leaders.
As Council Member Flickinger said, “Your questions, concerns, and ideas are invaluable in guiding the decisions that impact our neighborhood and quality of life.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/26/25
2950 Days since Hurricane Harvey
LCA Still Complaining to SJRA About Lake Lowering
9/25/2025 – At this morning’s San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) board meeting, the president of the Lake Conroe Association (LCA) protested the SJRA’s latest efforts to find a suitable compromise that protects upstream and downstream interests.
LCA argued against SJRA’s request to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to increase the maximum release rate in advance of storms from 700 to 2,000 cubic feet per second – even though the increase could help prevent unnecessary releases and conserve water – two things the LCA claims to want.
Why the Need for Lake Lowering?
During public comment, Kevin Lacy, LCA president, attacked the SJRA’s lake lowering policy, which has been modified several times since Governor Greg Abbott directed the SJRA to “immediately implement” policies that protected downstream residents from flooding.
The release of 79,000 cubic feet per second from Lake Conroe accounted for roughly a third of all the water coming down the West Fork at the peak of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The resulting surge came without warning in the middle of the night.
It killed more than a dozen people; flooded more than 13,000 homes and 3,300 businesses; damaged the US59 and West Lake Houston Parkway Bridges; flooded Kingwood High School to the second floor; and ultimately cost the City of Houston an estimated $100 million in lost tax revenue. That last number is predicated on lost sales tax revenue AND a decrease of commercial and personal property taxes of 25%.
The idea behind the lake lowering strategy: create extra storage capacity in Lake Conroe to minimize the need for such massive releases in the future. That would reduce flood risk for downstream residents until the City finishes new flood gates on Lake Houston that can keep up with Lake Conroe releases. But the gates are taking much longer than originally anticipated.
Iterations of Lake Lowering Strategy
The SJRA board has modified its lake lowering policy several times in response to pushback from the Lake Conroe Association.
However, the maximum pre-release rate allowed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality was 700 cubic feet per second. That was not always fast enough to lower a lake as large as Conroe significantly before storms struck.
Higher Release Rates Actually Conserve Water
So, the SJRA had to release much further in advance of storms, i.e., a week instead of 2-3 days. The excessive lead times sometimes meant that storms could veer away before they struck. Such a “false release” happened last June, according to Lacy’s testimony today.
The obvious solution was to increase the maximum allowable release rate. That would create more storage capacity faster. So, SJRA petitioned TCEQ to increase the release rate to 2,000 CFS, almost triple the previous rate, but not so much that it would flood downstream residents. And its a rate that the existing gates on Lake Houston can keep up with.
But LCA complained about that, too, even though it would minimize wasted water and inconvenience for Lake Conroe boaters.
According to Matt Barrett, SJRA’s Flood Management Division Manager, TCEQ has not yet ruled on the increased release rate.
View Live Testimony
You can view the live testimony on the SJRA website. Lacy’s public comment and the SJRA General Manager’s response take about ten minutes. Start watching at 2:13 into the video as Lacy takes his seat.
Throughout his time at the microphone, Lacy repeatedly complains about how long the City of Houston is taking to install additional floodgates on Lake Houston. Never once does he acknowledge the number of times that the lake lowering policy saved downstream residents from flooding.
Make sure you also watch the response to Lacy’s comments from Aubrey Spear, SJRA’s general manager. Spear explains how SJRA is trying to find a suitable compromise between upstream recreational and downstream flood-mitigation interests.
Spear said in regard to the increase in the release rate to 2,000 CFS, “We are committed to optimizing flood mitigation during major storm events to reduce flood impact to properties both upstream and downstream of the dam. We are adding another tool to our toolbox that could be helpful, but may never be used.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/25/2025
2949 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Winters Bayou Project Might Reduce Flooding, Increase Water Supply
According to ChatGPT, the 2025 Texas legislature this year devoted 2.7 times more money to increasing water supply than to mitigating flooding.
The water-supply funding aims to keep Texas growing, even as large sections of the state struggle with water shortages, drought, aquifer depletion and subsidence.
Dual-Purpose Funding
But some of the money allocated by the legislature to water supply can also be used for flood mitigation – if it serves a dual purpose, such as new reservoirs. This may be a way to reduce flooding and sustain growth at the same time.
Back in 2022, I wrote a story about a draft of the first State Flood Plan. The San Jacinto/Region 6 Flood Planning Group recommended a project far upstream on the East Fork called the Winters Bayou Detention Basin. In 2024, the North Houston Association identified it as one of the Association’s top priorities.
They chose the site for its ability to reduce flows in downstream damage centers, limited development within the footprint, and steep terrain that allows for increased storage volume.
But detention basins don’t qualify for water infrastructure funding under Texas Water Development Board SWIFT fund guidelines. SWIFT stands for State Water Infrastructure For Texas.
However, some changes in the name and design might make the Winters Bayou Project eligible.
Winters Bayou Project Might Qualify
Of all the projects listed in the San Jacinto Watershed Flood Plan, the Winters Bayou project was one of the largest.
A 54-ft tall concrete dam would create a 1.60-mile-long impoundment that captures runoff from Winters Bayou. It was conceived as a dry dam with five reinforced 10×10 concrete culverts and twin 300′ backup spillways that could hold 45,000 acre feet of floodwater (see page 180). To put that in perspective…
The Houston region continues to grow at breakneck speed. And the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District is looking for new water sources to serve the area east of Lake Houston.
The Winters Bayou project is already in the Lake Houston watershed. And the City’s Northeast Water Purification Plant on Lake Houston could purify the water.
But could a water-supply reservoir still serve a flood-control purpose? Perhaps with a different design.
The project made it into the final version of the 2024 state flood plan – as a flood-mitigation-only project. But it ranked #82 in the state. And its projected $134 million cost means it won’t be done for decades, if ever.
Perhaps given the state’s new water-supply priorities, a dual purpose reservoir would rank higher and get built sooner. Plus, the sale of water might help generate revenue that defrays expenses.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/24/25 based on a suggestion from Kingwood flood fighter Chris Bloch
2948 Days since Hurricane Harvey