6/19/25 – The first City-of-Houston Matching Grant Project designed to help beautify and reforest Kingwood was dedicated on Wednesday, June 18th. And City Council Member Fred Flickinger is working to make sure others will soon follow.
Hopefully, the Bear Branch Trail Association (BBTA) Project in the median of Kingwood Drive just east of Woodland Hills will be the first many similar projects.
The intersection looked like this before the start of the project.
“Before” shot, looking NE at Kingwood Drive median from across Woodland Hills. Note dense thicket of vines and underbrush behind signs.Photo Chris Bloch.
After Bear Branch Trails volunteers spent 200 hours cleaning out vines, deadwood and underbrush, they helped plant trees, shrubs and grass. When complete, the same area looked like this.
“After” shot of same area. Photo Chris Bloch. Blue-green color is hydromulch which should quickly sprout into grass.
Photos of Dedication Ceremony
(L to R) Lee Danner, BBTA; Debra Knebel, BBTA; Dee Price, KSA/Trees for Kingwood; and Chris Bloch, BBTA receive recognition from Council Member Flickinger.
See the extended team below.
(L to R) Tom Sanders, BBTA, Chris Bloch, BBTA; Vernon Autrey, A-Z Wright’s Tree Service; Dee Price, KSA/Trees for Kingwood; District E Council Member Fred Flickinger: Dustin Hodges, CoH District E; Lee Danner, BBTA; Paul Wright, A-Z Wright’s Tree Service; and Debra Knebel, BBTA.
Traffic visibility had become a major problem at this corner resulting in many traffic accidents. The improved visibility will help greatly.
How Project Came About
Early last year, the City announced it was willing to offer to match expenditures up to $5,000 for projects that improved the appearance of City-of-Houston property. The BBTA Grant application identified this section of the Kingwood Drive median as a project.
The application process for Matching Grants started on July 1st last year, as it does each year.
BBTA submitted its application in October, 2024. City Council Member Fred Flickinger approved the project, which uses money from his discretionary funds allocated to each Council Member. The City notified the Trail Association of the award in January of 2025.
BBTA generated and submitted a plan for approval to the City Department of Parks and Recreation. After approval, the project went out for bids to local landscaping contractors. A-Z Wright’s Tree Service won the bid and performed the final landscaping of the project which included planting seven more native trees, 17 bushes, and grass.
Total cost of the completed project was $10,224.15 of which the City will fund $5,000.
More Applications Being Accepted Starting July 1
The application period for 2025-2026 Matching Grant Projects will open on July 1st. Any Community Association or Trail Association in Kingwood can apply. Due to extensions granted after Hurricane Beryl last year, several grants are still pending. So more projects may soon follow that use 2024 funds.
In the meantime, Flickinger will sponsor an informational meeting at the Kingwood Community Center on Tuesday, 6/24/25, at 6 PM.
He invited all community and trail associations interested in enhancing the appearance of Kingwood to apply.
About Trees for Kingwood
Trees for Kingwood, which operates as part of the Kingwood Services Association has planted more than 3,000 trees to date. It is soliciting support from local businesses and individuals to help support Matching Grant Applications made by neighborhood organizations.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/19/25
2851 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20250618-DSC_2561.jpg?fit=1100%2C733&ssl=17331100adminadmin2025-06-19 21:25:022025-06-19 21:37:00First Houston Matching Grant Beautification Project in Kingwood Dedicated
6/18/25 – While speaking to the Kingwood Executive Group this morning, Houston District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger reassured members that the project to add more flood gates to the Lake Houston Dam was on track. He said that the engineering and environmental survey work should be completed by the end of this year as previously promised.
Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger addressing members of Kingwood Executive Group today.
However, he also cautioned that a potential cost increase might skew the critical Benefit/Cost Ratio (BCR) used to evaluate grant applications.
In an update on a related drainage issue, Flickinger explained how important the passage of Rep. Charles Cunningham’s Lake Houston Dredging District bill was for the Lake Houston area. Specifically, he talked about how dredging done to date reduced predicted peaks in the May 2024 flood by more than 2 feet and kept water from entering homes throughout Kingwood and the Lake Houston Area.
Latest on Gates Project
After Hurricane Harvey, many people focused on the addition of more flood gates to the Lake Houston Dam could reduce lake levels and flooding by letting water out faster before and during major storms.
Lake Conroe’s dam can release water 15 times faster than the gates on Lake Houston’s dam.
The gates on Lake Houston’s dam release water so slowly that the City must begin releasing water days before a storm to create significant extra storage capacity in the lake.
With a lead time measured in days, forecasts can change before storms arrive. But with a higher release capacity, dam operators could wait until they were certain a storm would hit before opening the gates.
Flickinger stated that the engineering for the additional gates should be at least 90 percent complete by the end of 2025.
“At that point in time,” said Flickinger, “they’ll be able to get accurate BCRs. And they’re already working on the environmental study. Black & Veatch is handling that.”
Community meetings within the next 4 to 5 months will give the public a chance for input.
Construction Still Predicted to Start in 2028, Completion in 2029
“I think they’ll be able to start construction in 2028 and complete the project in 2029,” said Flickinger. “Nothing’s really changed with the dates in the last six months.”
Early indications are that the project could need another $35 million. Flickinger said, “That could delay the project a little bit if they don’t get the BCR they need. But we got it one time; I think we’ll get it a second.”
Flickinger was referring to when Dave Martin, his predecessor convinced FEMA to include social benefits in the calculation of the BCR. Typically, benefits must exceed costs before FEMA or any other group will award a grant.
Since Flickinger took office, the plan for the gates has significantly changed. The original plan was to construct crest gates on the concrete portion of the spillway. However, because of the risk involved, the City could not find a contractor willing to bid on that job.
The new plan is to add tainter gates to the earthen portion of the dam. The project basically turned into a “start over.”
Kudos to Crenshaw and Cunningham
In his talk today, Flickinger also addressed dredging – past, present and future.
He thanked US Rep. Dan Crenshaw and State Rep. Charles Cunningham. “We’re dredging out on the lake today,” said Flickinger. “That’s part of the money that Congressman Crenshaw got for us. We’re moving 800,000 cubic yards of sediment. And that makes a huge difference,” said Flickinger, before lauding HB1532, Rep. Charles Cunningham’s bill that will create a permanent dredging district on Lake Houston.
The Computer Model that Missed and the Legislation that Didn’t
To underscore the importance of dredging, Flickinger explained how computer models missed predictions for the timing and crest of the May 2024 floods in the Lake Houston Area … at a time when water was already lapping at the foundations of thousands of homes.
“The expectation was that the water would crest two feet higher than it did. But they missed it because their model did not include all the dredging that had been done over the last several years. They missed by about two feet and a day. The river was supposed to crest two feet higher and one day later,” said Flickinger.
“But all the dredging allowed the water to flow into the lake and over the dam faster than what they thought it would. So the dredging is a huge deal.”
HB1532, the bill to create a Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District, finally passed in this year’s session of the state legislature – after three previous tries.
“Sediment comes into the river and the lake 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Flickinger. “And unless we do something about that, it’s going to be a huge problem.”
Even though Cunningham got the dredging district over the goal line this year, Flickinger was quick to acknowledge assists from Senators Paul Bettencourt, Brandon Creighton and Mayes Middleton who helped push it through the Senate.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/18/2025
2850 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20250618-DSC_2534.jpg?fit=1100%2C733&ssl=17331100adminadmin2025-06-18 18:05:412025-06-18 18:07:15Flickinger Provides Updates on Lake Houston Gates, Dredging District
6/27/25 – In a virtual public meeting tonight, the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) briefed the public on the last Cypress Creek Major Maintenance Project associated with the 2018 Flood Bond. The project name: Cypress Creek Channel Rehabilitation and Stormwater Detention Basin, Main Stem, Batch 5.
Batch 5 consists of two smaller packages:
Channel Rehab at Kuykendahl and the Cypress Hill Stormwater Detention Basin, expected completion by Q4 2027.
Channel Rehab near I-45 and the first phase of the Senger Stormwater Detention Basin, completed by Q2 2028.
Currently, HCFCD is finalizing design for both packages. They expect to complete design by July 2025 and advertise it for bids beginning in Q2 of 2026.
Batch 5 consists of channel repairs for 1.4 miles of the creek and its tributaries, plus two major detention basins that together will hold 631 acre feet.
All Flood Control District projects receiving U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Develop Block Grant mitigation funds must be completed by March 31st, 2028.
During the channel repairs, HCFCD says it will make the side slopes of channels less steep to minimize future erosion.
About Cypress Creek and Repairs
The first four batches of repairs restored approximately 24 miles of Cypress Creek and its tributaries. HCFCD has completed Batches 1-3 and Batch 4 is still in progress. Estimated completion for Batch 4: Q1 2026.
Cypress Creek is a highly developed watershed located in northwest Harris County. It extends into Waller County. The watershed comprises 267 square miles, making it one of the county’s larger watersheds. It has 250 miles of open channels including Cypress Creek itself.
During Hurricane Harvey, 29 inches of rain fell across the watershed, damaging more than 9,500 structures.
No Adverse Impact Allowed Downstream
This is the fifth of five major maintenance programs along Cypress Creek associated with the 2018 Flood Bond.
The detention basins are actually designed to mitigate the channel rehabilitation work. Specifically, the channel rehabilitation work will speed floodwater up. The basins will offset that by slowing floodwaters down and reducing the volume in the creek.
As one presenter tonight pointed out, “The flood control district is a “no-adverse-impact” agency. That means we do not allow our projects to reduce flooding risks for one area, while increasing risks somewhere else. That’s why stormwater detention basins are often built before or at the same time as channel conveyance improvements or channel rehabilitation to prevent any unintended impacts downstream.”
The detention basins will hold enough water to cover a football field to a depth of 478 feet.
Getting Closer to Lake Houston Area
Batch 5 includes two separate packages. One is near Kuykendahl.
And the other is near I-45.
HCFCD should hear from the Texas General Land Office (GLO) and HUD on funding soon. The District submitted a grant application for almost $54 million that is still under review (as of 6/7/25) by GLO.
Project Benefits
The District was a little hazy about the benefits. Of course, this is a maintenance program, not a capital improvement program.
A spokesperson said, “Pre-Atlas-14 100-year design storm models show a water-surface elevation reduction of up to one foot near the I-45 project limits” for the Kuykendahl package.
Altogether, HCFCD estimates the benefit area of this project will include nearly 40,000 people, who either live near and/or commute through the area.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/17/2025
2849 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/K500-31-00-E001.jpg?fit=1100%2C745&ssl=17451100adminadmin2025-06-17 22:37:062025-06-18 13:43:04HCFCD Briefs Community on Last Cypress Creek Major Maintenance Project
First Houston Matching Grant Beautification Project in Kingwood Dedicated
6/19/25 – The first City-of-Houston Matching Grant Project designed to help beautify and reforest Kingwood was dedicated on Wednesday, June 18th. And City Council Member Fred Flickinger is working to make sure others will soon follow.
Hopefully, the Bear Branch Trail Association (BBTA) Project in the median of Kingwood Drive just east of Woodland Hills will be the first many similar projects.
It actually began last year when BBTA applied for a matching grant from the City of Houston’s Department of Neighborhoods and District E.
Before/After Photos
The intersection looked like this before the start of the project.
After Bear Branch Trails volunteers spent 200 hours cleaning out vines, deadwood and underbrush, they helped plant trees, shrubs and grass. When complete, the same area looked like this.
Photos of Dedication Ceremony
See the extended team below.
(L to R) Tom Sanders, BBTA, Chris Bloch, BBTA; Vernon Autrey, A-Z Wright’s Tree Service; Dee Price, KSA/Trees for Kingwood; District E Council Member Fred Flickinger: Dustin Hodges, CoH District E; Lee Danner, BBTA; Paul Wright, A-Z Wright’s Tree Service; and Debra Knebel, BBTA.
How Project Came About
Early last year, the City announced it was willing to offer to match expenditures up to $5,000 for projects that improved the appearance of City-of-Houston property. The BBTA Grant application identified this section of the Kingwood Drive median as a project.
The application process for Matching Grants started on July 1st last year, as it does each year.
BBTA submitted its application in October, 2024. City Council Member Fred Flickinger approved the project, which uses money from his discretionary funds allocated to each Council Member. The City notified the Trail Association of the award in January of 2025.
BBTA generated and submitted a plan for approval to the City Department of Parks and Recreation. After approval, the project went out for bids to local landscaping contractors. A-Z Wright’s Tree Service won the bid and performed the final landscaping of the project which included planting seven more native trees, 17 bushes, and grass.
Total cost of the completed project was $10,224.15 of which the City will fund $5,000.
More Applications Being Accepted Starting July 1
The application period for 2025-2026 Matching Grant Projects will open on July 1st. Any Community Association or Trail Association in Kingwood can apply. Due to extensions granted after Hurricane Beryl last year, several grants are still pending. So more projects may soon follow that use 2024 funds.
In the meantime, Flickinger will sponsor an informational meeting at the Kingwood Community Center on Tuesday, 6/24/25, at 6 PM.
He invited all community and trail associations interested in enhancing the appearance of Kingwood to apply.
About Trees for Kingwood
Trees for Kingwood, which operates as part of the Kingwood Services Association has planted more than 3,000 trees to date. It is soliciting support from local businesses and individuals to help support Matching Grant Applications made by neighborhood organizations.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/19/25
2851 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Flickinger Provides Updates on Lake Houston Gates, Dredging District
6/18/25 – While speaking to the Kingwood Executive Group this morning, Houston District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger reassured members that the project to add more flood gates to the Lake Houston Dam was on track. He said that the engineering and environmental survey work should be completed by the end of this year as previously promised.
However, he also cautioned that a potential cost increase might skew the critical Benefit/Cost Ratio (BCR) used to evaluate grant applications.
In an update on a related drainage issue, Flickinger explained how important the passage of Rep. Charles Cunningham’s Lake Houston Dredging District bill was for the Lake Houston area. Specifically, he talked about how dredging done to date reduced predicted peaks in the May 2024 flood by more than 2 feet and kept water from entering homes throughout Kingwood and the Lake Houston Area.
Latest on Gates Project
After Hurricane Harvey, many people focused on the addition of more flood gates to the Lake Houston Dam could reduce lake levels and flooding by letting water out faster before and during major storms.
The gates on Lake Houston’s dam release water so slowly that the City must begin releasing water days before a storm to create significant extra storage capacity in the lake.
With a lead time measured in days, forecasts can change before storms arrive. But with a higher release capacity, dam operators could wait until they were certain a storm would hit before opening the gates.
Flickinger stated that the engineering for the additional gates should be at least 90 percent complete by the end of 2025.
“At that point in time,” said Flickinger, “they’ll be able to get accurate BCRs. And they’re already working on the environmental study. Black & Veatch is handling that.”
Community meetings within the next 4 to 5 months will give the public a chance for input.
Construction Still Predicted to Start in 2028, Completion in 2029
“I think they’ll be able to start construction in 2028 and complete the project in 2029,” said Flickinger. “Nothing’s really changed with the dates in the last six months.”
Early indications are that the project could need another $35 million. Flickinger said, “That could delay the project a little bit if they don’t get the BCR they need. But we got it one time; I think we’ll get it a second.”
Flickinger was referring to when Dave Martin, his predecessor convinced FEMA to include social benefits in the calculation of the BCR. Typically, benefits must exceed costs before FEMA or any other group will award a grant.
Since Flickinger took office, the plan for the gates has significantly changed. The original plan was to construct crest gates on the concrete portion of the spillway. However, because of the risk involved, the City could not find a contractor willing to bid on that job.
The new plan is to add tainter gates to the earthen portion of the dam. The project basically turned into a “start over.”
Kudos to Crenshaw and Cunningham
In his talk today, Flickinger also addressed dredging – past, present and future.
He thanked US Rep. Dan Crenshaw and State Rep. Charles Cunningham. “We’re dredging out on the lake today,” said Flickinger. “That’s part of the money that Congressman Crenshaw got for us. We’re moving 800,000 cubic yards of sediment. And that makes a huge difference,” said Flickinger, before lauding HB1532, Rep. Charles Cunningham’s bill that will create a permanent dredging district on Lake Houston.
The Computer Model that Missed and the Legislation that Didn’t
To underscore the importance of dredging, Flickinger explained how computer models missed predictions for the timing and crest of the May 2024 floods in the Lake Houston Area … at a time when water was already lapping at the foundations of thousands of homes.
“The expectation was that the water would crest two feet higher than it did. But they missed it because their model did not include all the dredging that had been done over the last several years. They missed by about two feet and a day. The river was supposed to crest two feet higher and one day later,” said Flickinger.
“But all the dredging allowed the water to flow into the lake and over the dam faster than what they thought it would. So the dredging is a huge deal.”
HB1532, the bill to create a Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District, finally passed in this year’s session of the state legislature – after three previous tries.
“Sediment comes into the river and the lake 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Flickinger. “And unless we do something about that, it’s going to be a huge problem.”
Even though Cunningham got the dredging district over the goal line this year, Flickinger was quick to acknowledge assists from Senators Paul Bettencourt, Brandon Creighton and Mayes Middleton who helped push it through the Senate.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/18/2025
2850 Days since Hurricane Harvey
HCFCD Briefs Community on Last Cypress Creek Major Maintenance Project
6/27/25 – In a virtual public meeting tonight, the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) briefed the public on the last Cypress Creek Major Maintenance Project associated with the 2018 Flood Bond. The project name: Cypress Creek Channel Rehabilitation and Stormwater Detention Basin, Main Stem, Batch 5.
Batch 5 consists of two smaller packages:
Currently, HCFCD is finalizing design for both packages. They expect to complete design by July 2025 and advertise it for bids beginning in Q2 of 2026.
Batch 5 consists of channel repairs for 1.4 miles of the creek and its tributaries, plus two major detention basins that together will hold 631 acre feet.
All Flood Control District projects receiving U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Develop Block Grant mitigation funds must be completed by March 31st, 2028.
During the channel repairs, HCFCD says it will make the side slopes of channels less steep to minimize future erosion.
About Cypress Creek and Repairs
The first four batches of repairs restored approximately 24 miles of Cypress Creek and its tributaries. HCFCD has completed Batches 1-3 and Batch 4 is still in progress. Estimated completion for Batch 4: Q1 2026.
Cypress Creek is a highly developed watershed located in northwest Harris County. It extends into Waller County. The watershed comprises 267 square miles, making it one of the county’s larger watersheds. It has 250 miles of open channels including Cypress Creek itself.
During Hurricane Harvey, 29 inches of rain fell across the watershed, damaging more than 9,500 structures.
No Adverse Impact Allowed Downstream
This is the fifth of five major maintenance programs along Cypress Creek associated with the 2018 Flood Bond.
The detention basins are actually designed to mitigate the channel rehabilitation work. Specifically, the channel rehabilitation work will speed floodwater up. The basins will offset that by slowing floodwaters down and reducing the volume in the creek.
As one presenter tonight pointed out, “The flood control district is a “no-adverse-impact” agency. That means we do not allow our projects to reduce flooding risks for one area, while increasing risks somewhere else. That’s why stormwater detention basins are often built before or at the same time as channel conveyance improvements or channel rehabilitation to prevent any unintended impacts downstream.”
The detention basins will hold enough water to cover a football field to a depth of 478 feet.
Getting Closer to Lake Houston Area
Batch 5 includes two separate packages. One is near Kuykendahl.
And the other is near I-45.
HCFCD should hear from the Texas General Land Office (GLO) and HUD on funding soon. The District submitted a grant application for almost $54 million that is still under review (as of 6/7/25) by GLO.
Project Benefits
The District was a little hazy about the benefits. Of course, this is a maintenance program, not a capital improvement program.
A spokesperson said, “Pre-Atlas-14 100-year design storm models show a water-surface elevation reduction of up to one foot near the I-45 project limits” for the Kuykendahl package.
Altogether, HCFCD estimates the benefit area of this project will include nearly 40,000 people, who either live near and/or commute through the area.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/17/2025
2849 Days since Hurricane Harvey