Funding Archives - Page 3 of 17

HCFCD Launches New Flood-Bond Dashboard

9/18/25 – Just-in-Time Data! Harris County Commissioners have been begging for up-to-date information about the 2018 Flood Bond since February. Today, they will see a new Flood Bond Dashboard. It should enable them to make better, more timely decisions about flood-bond projects.

At times in the last few months, Commissioners requests became both blunt and brutal. But last night, HCFCD launched a new interactive dashboard on the 2018 Bond page of their website. The dashboard shows detailed information about the overall status of the bond and each project within it.

Drilling Down Through Data

The dashboard includes two main sections.

The first includes summary graphs. It also provides a path to information about every bond ID and project.
Selecting one or more Bond IDs in the first section pulls up a map of the project(s) in the second, bottom section.

Info boxes next to the map pop up and show additional information, including which stage of the project lifecycle the project is currently at. It’s a powerful and helpful tool that HCFCD intends to continue improving.

Take a Guided Tour

Below are some screen captures that illustrate the dashboard’s functionality.

Four main buttons across the top graphic let you drill down into information about the bond and projects within it.

Financial Summary

Clicking Financial Summary shows the total of secured funds plus where they came from.

Hovering over any one of the segments in the circle graphs translates percentages to absolute dollar amounts.

Project Summary

Clicking the Project Summary Button displays information about the total number of bond IDs and their project components.

Again, placing your cursor over a segment of a graph pulls up additional information about that segment.

Watershed Summary

The Watershed Summary table lets you compare spending to date and “funds remaining” within each watershed.

Project Overviews

The last button, Project Overviews, lets you drill down into any Bond ID and its associated projects to learn more information about them. Scroll up or down to select a bond ID or multiple IDs. Then check the one(s) that interest you.

Dragging left over the right hand part of the columns reveals more hidden columns.

In addition to the columns shown above, you can find information about the status of planning, engineering, and construction, as well as an ETA for construction.

Interactive Map

When you select a bond ID and then click the Map Query Button, the system highlights the location within the county.

Clicking on the location (represented by a dot) within the map then pulls up an info box that contains a narrative about the project. The box also includes lifecycle data and a close-up map of the project and its boundaries. See below. I checked Kingwood Diversion Ditch and then clicked on “Map Query.”

If you don’t know the Bond ID, start with the map and work in reverse. Clicking on one of the many dots on the map will still pull up the info box. From there, you can see the bond ID and then find the information in the table.

Other Related Information

The dashboard is still a work in progress. It launched last night. So give HCFCD a little time to work out any kinks you may find.

HCFCD plans to update the information quarterly and also issue a new Bond Update that incorporates dashboard information.

Check out the three summary reports at the top of the page:

Secured Partnerships
Definition of Secured Partnerships
List of All Bond IDs

Finally: this dashboard will supplement, not replace the Microsoft PowerBI tables or Excel Spreadsheets found elsewhere in HCFCD’s Activity section.

Watch Discussion in Commissioners Court Today

Commissioners will use this information today in Court to discuss the future of the flood bond.

Reportedly, commissioners’ staffs have used this information to eliminate some projects that had no or little benefit. They will recommend redeploying funding from those to remaining projects.

They also reportedly discovered that the budget shortfall was smaller than previously discussed and that they should be able to fund every project that already has partnership dollars attached.

That sounds like good news. However, this is a political process. So, I hesitate to make any predictions. Watch the discussion of Item 117 on the Agenda.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/18/2025

2942 Days since Hurricane Harvey

With Grant Deadlines Approaching, Bid Deadlines Are Slipping

9/16/2025 – Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) could soon be caught in a time squeeze.

Deadlines are fast approaching on hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via the Texas General Land Office (GLO). Yet HCFCD is pushing projected start dates for those projects further into the future. So, there may not be enough time to complete the jobs.

“As a rule of thumb, it typically takes two years to build a detention basin. But HCFCD has left itself with only approximately a year to build many with urgent deadlines.”
Construction Expert

And further deadline extensions likely will not be granted. When HUD granted HCFCD an extension on 10 of the 29 projects, HUD’s letter said, in essence, not to bother asking for another extension. A GLO spokesperson said, “The GLO doesn’t have the statutory authority to override HUD.”

Status of Grants and Deadlines

Yesterday, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) released the status of the 29 grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They currently total $862.6 million.

The 29 grants fall into two categories: Disaster Relief (DR) and Mitigation (MIT).

HCFCD has an immovable deadline of February 28, 2027 for all Disaster Relief grants. That’s just 17 months away. And 9 out of the 10 that have not yet started won’t even go out for bids until next year. And one of those will be bid in the third quarter of next year, likely leaving only a few months to complete the $9 million project.

Let’s discuss the DR projects first. See the first group below.

*For a printable, high-res PDF, click here.*

Of the 11 projects in the Disaster Relief group, ten have already been approved and amended into the County’s contract. But only one has started construction. All the others haven’t even been bid yet. And won’t be for months.

Seven of Ten Remaining DR Projects Show Slippage in Bid Schedules

HCFCD periodically publishes “bid outlooks.” They tell potential contractors when HCFCD intends to advertise projects for bidding.

Comparing the June and August project bidding schedules shows that…

Seven of the remaining 10 have slipped three to nine months … in two months.
See table below.

*Dates compiled from HCFCD Bid Outlooks for June and August (published in September).*

How do you get this far and not have projects ready to bid immediately after approval? An HCFCD spokesperson said, “It’s quite a layered process” with approvals from other authorities, too, i.e., for environmental studies.

Regardless, only 17 months remain before an already extended deadline.

According to a GLO spokesperson, when HUD granted the deadline extension, the letter granting the extension basically said, “Don’t ask for another.” The GLO spokesperson also confirmed that GLO did not have statutory authority to grant an extension against HUD’s ruling.

So is there time to complete the Disaster Relief projects?

Arbor Oaks Project Illustrates Difficulty of Deadline

Only 17 months remain to bid and build 10 DR projects. And it typically takes 3 to 6 months just to:

Advertise a project for bids
Secure and review the bids
Get commissioners court to approve the bids
Finalize the contract
Issue a “notice to proceed”
Mobilize crews

That leaves roughly a year to build the projects. But the ten listed above could have even less time because of slippage in the bidding schedules.

Only one CDBG-DR job has started construction already: the Arbor Oaks Stormwater Detention Basin in White Oak Bayou’s watershed.

Commissioners Court approved the job for bidding on 5/8/2025.
HCFCD awarded the contract on 6/26/2025.
As of yesterday afternoon, the contractor was still mulching trees – more than 4 months after the job was first advertised.

No dirt has been removed yet. The pictures below show how the project looked on 9/16/2025.

*Former Arbor Oaks subdivision near White Oak Bayou*

*Extent of clearing on 9/16/2025. Concrete removal was supposed to start yesterday, but* did not by 2PM.

*The only activity on the site was tree clearing/mulching.*

The diagram below shows what contractors still must build.

*Two dry-bottom and two wet-bottom basins* *will provide 221 acre-feet of stormwater storage.* *That’s a lot of dirt to move!*

If HCFCD misses that February 28, 2027 deadline, the county could be on the hook for up to $34.2 million in HUD funds. And because that project got the earliest start, it has the highest likelihood of beating the deadline. What about other projects that won’t even be bid until there’s less than a year to bid and build them?

Not far away, the Mercer Basin on Cypress Creek was supposed to take one year to build on an expedited basis. However, it’s now taken two years and could take another half year to complete.

Mitigation Projects Have Deadlines, Too

Because the DR projects have the most immediate deadlines, everyone has been focusing on those first. But the second group of 18 MIT projects also have deadlines.

All MIT funding allocated to the State of Texas after Hurricane must be turned into HUD by January 1, 2033. But the GLO needs 18 months to complete paperwork and package documentation for thousands of projects for HUD’s audit. So, the deadline for sub-recipients, such as HCFCD is July 1, 2031.

But there’s another wrinkle that puts even more pressure on sub-recipients to start projects soon. HUD wants the State to spend half the funds by January 1, 2027 – two months BEFORE the DR deadline.

How Real are the Deadlines?

There seem to be two different views of deadlines.

HCFCD’s current management, like a former Mayor of Houston, appears to believe that deadlines can be indefinitely extended.

The GLO views them as a contractual obligation, which if violated, could result in the taxpayers of Texas footing the bill for unnecessary delays.

According to the GLO, HUD changed its way of doing business after previous disasters such as Hurricane Ike, when some funds sat unused for years. So, after Harvey, HUD adopted, in essence, a “use it or lose it” policy with strict deadlines. Not everyone has gotten that message yet.

The potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars for flood mitigation could make voters very unhappy.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/18/2025

2941 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

Harris County Commissioners to Discuss Future of Flood Bond on Thursday

9/14/25 – On Thursday, 9/18/25, Harris County Commissioners Court is scheduled to discuss the future of the 2018 Flood Bond. Again.

Item 117 on the agenda says, “Request for discussion and possible action regarding a report from the Flood Control District related to the 2018 Bond Program.” Unfortunately, no report is attached to the agenda. Reportedly, it is not yet ready.

What’s the Problem?

Rumors of potential shortfalls in bond funding started in 2021. Compound inflation since the start of the flood bond has reduced the purchasing power of flood-bond dollars approximately 25-30%.

That raises many questions: Do we have enough money to finish all the bond projects? If not, whose projects will be cut? What happens if you start construction, but don’t have money to finish it? Should we kill projects in some areas to construct projects in others?

No easy answers exist. Harris County Flood Control District, Engineering, the County Administrator and County Budget Director have tried all year to answer commissioners’ questions and have been meeting weekly for months to work out a plan that everyone can agree on.

Multiple Delays since February

On February 6, 2025, fireworks erupted in Commissioners Court over the inability to get data that could inform decisions about Subdivision-Drainage and Flood-Bond projects. Commissioners called it a “major crisis” and “an abysmal failure.”

They asked Dr. Tina Petersen, executive director of Harris County Flood Control, to come back in March with answers. But March turned into May, May into June, then July and August. And now, here we are in September.

What Commissioners Asked For

In February, Commissioners asked HCFCD to work with the County Engineer, Administrator and Budget Director to return to court on March 27 with “proposed options and recommendations using any and all county resources for closing the shortfall.” The analysis was to have included:

The entire program including all projects completed
Projects under construction with any potential changes in contract
Active projects awaiting funding
Remaining available funds for all projects now that the project budgets have been increased.

However, the departments could not produce the data by March 27. So, Commissioners gave them until May 8. This time, commissioners asked for:

Status of each project in the bond
Expected time to completion
How cost has changed over time
Whether there was a change in scope
Sources of funding

The May presentation slipped to June. Petersen still didn’t have a clear plan, but she hinted at a potential $1.3 billion shortfall. That’s a quarter of all funds raised to date – either through the bond or partner contributions.

No mention of shortfall in bond updates — *In June, Petersen alluded to $1.3 billion shortfall* *in testimony to Commissioners.*

Flood Control and the head engineers of each precinct have met weekly since then in an effort to identify a plan that everyone can agree to. The fact that the plan wasn’t attached to the agenda suggests they may not have agreed on it yet.

Uncertainty, Delays Could Jeopardize Additional Funding

Meanwhile, the uncertainty and delays could jeopardize even more funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via the Texas General Land Office (GLO).

In 2021, GLO Commissioner George P. Bush announced a $1.1 billion allocation of HUD funds for flood mitigation and disaster relief in Harris County.

But that money is available on a reimbursement basis only…after the County completes approved projects.

Out of that that money, the deadline expires on $327 million in February 2027. That leaves little time to actually build the 11 associated disaster-relief projects before the deadline.

The Mercer Basin now under construction is similar to those. It was supposed to take a year to build on an expedited basis. We are now at two years and counting. Construction is far from complete.

And the last of the 11 projects isn’t even scheduled to go out for BID until the SECOND quarter of next year.

No Good Options

Since February, Commissioners floated one possible option to deal with a shortfall. They voted to focus remaining funding only on the top quartile of projects in the bond when ranking them using the County’s 2022 Equity Prioritization Framework.

However, they later amended that vote because it would have potentially defunded projects that already had partnership dollars allocated to them.

I expect a lot of wailing and wringing of hands on Thursday. Unless they postpone the discussion again.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/14/25

2938 Days since Hurricane Harvey

HCFCD Issues Maintenance Update after Tax Increase

9/4/25 – Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) issued an update on its maintenance activity to Commissioners Court in a transmittal on 8/26/25. Without explaining exactly where (geographically) the money went, the 7-page overview details HCFCD’s increase in activity enabled by its November 2024 “Proposition A” maintenance tax.

The tax provides another $100 million annually dedicated to maintenance. See some of the highlights below.

Focus of Efforts To Date

To date, HCFCD has focused on three main things:

Developing a Sustainable Infrastructure Practices Program
Scaling maintenance programs while addressing a Deferred Maintenance Backlog and expanding Citizen Services
Developing an Asset Management Program

It hopes to meet citizen’s maintenance expectations by Fiscal Year 2028.

Since the start of their “Major Repair and Replace” program, HCFCD has designed 65 projects, constructed 10, and completed two.

The number of “Moderate Repair and Replace” projects handled through “on-call contracts” increased from 3 to 11 so far this year. Spending on that program has nearly tripled from $2.7 million to $7.8 million.

New Equipment

HCFCD purchased $17 million of new equipment, including excavators, dozers, vehicles and chainsaws. The District has yet to take delivery of all the equipment but says, “This investment strengthens both preventive maintenance and repair efforts, allowing crews to work more efficiently and respond quickly to emerging needs.”

The District hopes to receive most of the equipment in Fiscal Year 2026.

Desilting Has Largest Percentage Increase, But…

In addition, HCFCD’s channel desilting efforts increased by 117%. Out of 2500 miles of channels in 23 watersheds, HCFCD went from desilting a total of 24.6 miles of channels to 53.5 miles. That’s a little more than 2% of the total mileage. But it is double the previous 1%.

The update does not address needed maintenance intervals. I hope that number increases. At that rate, it will take half a century before crews return to your channel.

Recruiting Challenge

Finding employees, especially equipment operators, to scale up operations has been challenging. Of the 54 new hires authorized by Commissioners Court, 22 positions have been filled and 11 offers are pending. “Recruiting has been challenging,” says the update. 24 job offers had to be withdrawn for various reasons.

Fast-Action Funding Grows by $330,000

Funding for HCFCD’s Fast Action Service Teams, which handle community concerns such as debris and fallen trees that block channels, has already increased from $1.04 million per year to $1.36 million per year.

New Computer System

To help run its Asset Management program, HCFCD is digitizing its computer systems and assets. The District hopes to complete and deploy a new Computerized Maintenance Management System by the end of 2026.

Consultant Search

HCFCD also is seeking a consultant to help scale its maintenance programs and address the backlog of deferred work. It hopes to conclude the review process, which started in May, by early Fall 2025.

Looking Ahead

HCFCD’s report concludes with these encouraging words. “The progress outlined in this report demonstrates the tangible benefits of sustained investment in maintenance and the significant return Proposition A has delivered for Harris County residents.”

“By combining new funding with strategic scaling of staff, equipment, and operational practices, the Flood Control District is rapidly addressing decades of deferred maintenance while laying the foundation for a proactive, resilient system.”

“As the Maintenance Matters program continues to grow, the Flood Control District remains committed to transparency, accountability, and community partnership. FY2026 will mark another year of historic investment, ensuring that Harris County’s flood risk reduction infrastructure is not only restored and maintained, but strengthened to serve future generations.”

For More Information or to File a Maintenance Request…

See the entire 7-page update here.

To file a service request, visit HCFCD.org.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/4/2025

2928 Days since Hurricane Harvey

City Controller Finds Houston Underprepared for Disasters

9/3/25 – A new study by City of Houston Controller Chris Hollins found that Houston is underprepared for disasters. FEMA ranks Harris County #1 nationally for hurricane risk. However, Houston has roughly half the disaster reserves of other cities studied and half the amount recommended by Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Best Practices.

The study dated 9/2/25 by the Controller’s Budget and Financial Affairs Committee was called Weathering the Storm: Houston’s Financial Preparedness for Natural Disasters.

It reviews the City’s disaster reserve funding policies and economic vulnerabilities that limit flexibility in disasters.

It also proposes strategies to make Houston more financially prepared for future disasters.

Houston Has History of Disasters

Houston has faced 25 FEMA-declared disasters since 1983 with frequency rising sharply during the last decade.

FEMA gives Houston/Harris County and Miami/Dade County the highest possible hurricane risk scores – a perfect 100. The scores reflect expected losses, social vulnerability and community resilience.

In recent years, this area exxperienced the second and tenth costliest storms in U.S. history (Harvey and Ike).

Economic Vulnerabilities

The report next looks at the causes of Houston’s economic vulnerability. They include:

Structural budget deficits
Property tax cap
Sales tax volatility
Public safety costs
State legislative policies

After a temporary boost from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) during Covid, Houston’s disaster fund will experience some of the sharpest declines in history.

A number of state and local laws, such as property tax caps, limit Houston’s revenue. Police, fire and debt consume 75% of the City’s budget, leaving little flexibility.

Disaster Reserve Funding

In 2024, the City’s disaster reserve fund peaked at a record high – $385 million above the minimum mandated by policy. However, that surplus has been drawn down to close budget gaps.

At present, Houston’s reserves lag behind peer cities and recommended best practices. The target as a percent of the total general fund in:

Houston is 8-9%
Dallas 19-20%
San Antonio 15-16%
Miami 20%
GFOA Best Practices 16.7%+

Recommended Policy Changes

The report recommends:

Raising the minimum fund balance to strengthen reserves
Raising the allocation percentage to strengthen the City’s safety net
Allocating excesses above the minimum to create a consistent funding mechanism
Clawing back dollars not dedicated to grow reserves without raising taxes
Separating economic and disaster uses for special funds to preserve disaster funds during economic downturns.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/3/25

2927 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Correlation Between Flood Damage, Mitigation Spending Keeps Dropping

8/11/25 – The correlation between flood damage and flood-mitigation spending by Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) keeps dropping, indicating an increasing influence of other factors, such as race, on spending.

At the end of 2021, the coefficient of correlation between flood-mitigation spending and flood damage was .84. Statisticians consider that a strong correlation.
By the end of Q1 2024, it had dropped to .67, a positive but moderate correlation.
By the end of Q2 2025, it had dropped further to .64.

What is Coefficient of Correlation?

Coefficient of correlation measures the strength of association between two variables, for instance hours spent studying and exam scores.

Statisticians consider a correlation of 1.0 extremely strong. It is the highest possible and means that for every unit of change in one variable, there is a corresponding unit of change in another. As the coefficient decreases, the strength of the relationship also decreases.

Values close to +1 or -1 (e.g., 0.7 to 0.9 or -0.7 to -0.9) indicate a strong relationship.
Values between 0.3 and 0.7 (or -0.3 and -0.7) suggest a moderate relationship.
Values below 0.3 (or -0.3) indicate a weak relationship.

Less than Half of HCFCD Spending Today Explained by Flood Damage

Squaring the coefficient of correlation yields the coefficient of determination. That tells you the proportion of the variance in the dependent variable that’s explained by the independent variable.

Squaring .64 yields 41%. So, flood damage today accounts for less than half of Harris County’s flood-mitigation spending.

Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis’ has relentlessly pushed various prioritization formulas that rely increasingly on race while de-emphasizing damage and flood risk. In fact, his formula now totally ignores flood risk.

The major changes in his formula coincide with the drop in the correlation between flood damage and flood-mitigation spending. The 2022 Prioritization Framework marked the beginning of the huge drop in the correlation.

But in fairness, also understand that special circumstances may apply to investments, such as HCFCD’s Frontier Program. It buys land in developing watersheds for huge, regional detention basins, then sells capacity back to developers. Still…

Notice how the lines in the graph below diverge for some watersheds. Some have proportionally more dollars than damage and vice versa for others. Clearly, politics have skewed spending.

*A higher correlation would show the two lines more closely matching each other.* *Also note that the damage figures include five major floods since 2001. They are extracted from HCFCD Federal Reports.*

The watersheds where the two variables most greatly diverge reduce the coefficient of correlation.

Where does your watershed stand in the dollar derby? Do you think you’re getting your fair share?

Here are the actual dollars and damaged structures in a table format. The last column shows the dollars per damaged structure.

*Coefficient based on Spending and Damage Columns.*

Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/11/2025

2904 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Mercer Basin Illustrates Risks of HCFCD Slowdown for Quarter Billion in HUD Funding

8/8/25 – The Mercer Stormwater Detention Basin at FM1960 and the Hardy Tollroad along Cypress Creek illustrates the difficulty HCFCD will face as it attempts to build 11 comparable basins in the next year and a half.

The Mercer Basin, originally projected to take one year – on an expedited schedule – has taken more than two years already and is still many more months from completion.

If HCFCD maintains that pace for the other basins, it could miss a critical U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development deadline.

HUD Funds Come with Expiration Date

In June this year, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) received approval of Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) grants to build 11 stormwater detention basins worth $326 million.

One (Arbor Oaks) is already in construction. But ten more projects valued at $289 million remain to be bid. Is there enough time to complete them before HUD’s immovable February 28, 2027, deadline?

The next ten basins don’t have 2.5 years. So unless HCFCD picks up its pace, low-to-moderate income areas across Harris County could lose a quarter billion dollars in funding. They can’t afford that.

Neither can areas like Lake Houston. Because Commissioners Court will start cancelling projects here to divert funds to the areas that lost grants.

Huge Difference Between Original and Actual Timeline

At 512 acre feet, the Mercer Basin is slightly larger than average. Construction experts tell me that a basin that size should take a year to build. And, in fact, that was the estimate Rodney Ellis gave a community meeting.

*From Rodney Ellis presentation to Community on June 29, 2022.*

But the project slid from the git-go. The county didn’t advertise it to potential bidders until 8/4/23. Then it took HCFCD four months to select a winning bid and issue a “notice to proceed” to the contractor.

Photos Taken 8/8/25 Show Construction Still Far From Complete

And the job, which was supposed to be finished a year ago this week, is still in construction. Worse, construction may not finish this year, according to a contractor I talked to who saw the pictures below.

*Looking W at South Mercer detention basin at FM1960 and Hardy. FM1960 on left*.

*Looking S toward FM1960 at same basin. Hardy Tollroad in upper right.*

*Looking N at balancing culvert between two Mercer basins*

*North basin is closer to completion but still not done.*

*It appears contractors are still installing backslope interceptor swales and drain pipes.*

*Looking S at both basins with Cypress Creek snaking through frame from right to left.*

Mercer Took 2X Longer than Predicted – So Far

From the invitation to bid to today has been 735 days – five days more than 2 years!

Even if all CDBG-DR projects in play went out for bids tomorrow, only 569 days remain until the ultimate, immovable deadline of Feb. 28, 2027. Even worse…

According to HCFCD’s latest bid schedule, 8 of 10 projects on HUD’s list won’t even go out for bid for another 2 to 10 months.
Lastest HCFCD Bid Outlook, Release 6/6/25

Here are HCFCD’s projected bid dates.

So, to summarize:

Mercer should have taken a year to finish from the invitation to bid, but has taken two years and could take another half year.
The other DR projects will have 18 months, but could take another 2 to 10 months before they even start bidding.

You can see the concerns. No margin for error. No weather delays allowed. And HCFCD still might not have enough time to complete projects.

George P. Bush announced this money was coming to Harris County more than four years ago when he was still commissioner of the Texas General Land Office. It took HCFCD (and the Harris County Community Services Department) four years to figure out how they wanted to spend the money he allocated. Now they’re leaving 18 months or less to actually build the projects.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/8/2025

2901 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

Leadership Crisis in Harris County Government

8/7/25 – Lina Hidalgo threw another temper tantrum in Commissioners Court today, left and never returned. She also received a censure from her colleagues, the commissioners.

Worse, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) seems adrift. Current HCFCD leadership seems to have no sense of urgency. Eight years after Harvey, less than a quarter of flood-bond IDs have been completed. And once again, despite tight deadlines that could mean the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, HCFCD brought no construction or capital improvement contracts to Court today for approval or even bidding.

Flood Control Slowdown

Eight years ago this month, Hurricane Harvey struck Harris County. It caused an estimated $125 billion dollars of damage. It dramatized our vulnerability and the need for improvements in flood control.

To address those needs, voters approved a $2.5 billion bond. Partners pledged another $2.7 billion.

Out of that money, HCFCD still has $3 billion waiting to build scores of projects. Yet…

Not one construction bid was brought to Commissioners Court for approval today.

Ability to Deliver Projects At Critical Time In Doubt

In the seven years since passage of the flood bond in 2018, HCFCD has completed only 43 of 181 Bond IDs. And yet, see what HCFCD asked for in Commissioner’s Court today. It’s typical of recent meetings.

Today’s agenda provides a glimpse of HCFCD’s ability to deliver projects and its priorities. Forty-two Flood-Control-related items were listed.

I summarized today’s flood-related agenda items below under their agenda category headings.

As you read through the items, notice how not one has to do with construction or a capital improvement project. Even as fixed deadlines for hundreds of millions of dollars in HUD grants are fast approaching.

Flood-Related Items on Agenda

Flood-Control-related items DID include:

Management and Budget

#8 – Debt service payments on September bonds

#9 – Debt service payments on October bonds

#13 – Approval of a methodology for charging indirect costs

#17 – Budget transfers

County Engineer

#24 – A 2-acre easement

#25 – A 15-acre easement

#53 – An agreement with a MUD to build a pedestrian bridge across a channel

#155 – Correction to a deed

#156 – Correction to another deed

Flood Control District

#157 – Mowing agreement with a MUD

#158 – Trail maintenance agreement with a MUD

#159 – Mowing reimbursement for a MUD

#160 – Landscaping maintenance agreement for one residential lot

#161 – Abandon an easement

#162 – Abandon another easement

#163 – Engineering agreement to re-certify a levee

#164 – Change order adding 120 days to a maintenance agreement

Economic Equity and Opportunity

#172 – Letter of non-objection for a foreign trade zone

Auditor

#270 – Approval of payroll

Purchasing

#289 – Bid approval for erosion and slope repair

#300 – Vision insurance for next calendar year

#301 – Dental insurance for next calendar year

#305 – Life insurance for next calendar year

#306 – Disability insurance for next calendar year

#314 – Pest management services

#315 – Tree removal services

#319 – Group medical insurance for next year

#339 – Change in contract amount for channel repair job

#356 – Inventory adjustment

Precinct 1

#366 – Maintenance agreement with City of Houston for detention basin

Transmittals

#451 – Transmittal of tax rate

#452 – Advertisement of channel-repair project

#456 – Tree-trimming and tree-removal contract

#460 – Mowing contract

Executive Session

#476 – Flood Control’s nominee for Appraisal District

Emergency/Supplemental Items

#490 – Contract with corrugated metal pipe provider

#491 – Repair contract for South Harris County

#492 – Channel rehab

#502 – Contract to supply modular buildings

#510 – Vehicle leases

#520 – Flood-bond update discussion (requested by Ramsey)

#521 – Flood-control maintenance discussion (also requested by Ramsey)

A Crisis of Leadership

Harris County government under the current administration has slowed to a crawl. Taxes go up. Yet delivery of service is down. Instead of doing more with less, Lina Hidalgo is doing less with more.

We have a crisis of leadership that started with a brain drain when political appointees under Lina Hidalgo replaced experienced, professional department heads.

Then despite performance issues, many of those new heads were given massive pay increases. For instance, HCFCD’s new department head received a raise of almost $90,000 per year despite declining performance.

Judge Meltdown Leads to Censure

So, who is pushing projects ahead? It’s certainly not the county judge. She blew another gasket today. It was an embarrassing meltdown of epic proportions…shocking even by Harris-County standards.

At approximately 6:45 PM, Precinct 3 Commissioner Ramsey initiated a discussion of Rules of Conduct at Decorum during Commissioners Court Meetings.

Immediately after the members present adopted the rules, Ramsey made a second motion to censure Lina Hidalgo for her tantrum today and a previous use of profanity when children were present. That motion also passed. In legislative terms, a censure is a formal reprimand or strong rebuke of a member’s conduct or character.

Ramsey Addresses HCFCD Issues

Just before executive session Ramsey also addressed issues at HCFCD and the progress of projects. He specifically mentioned that no construction or capital improvement projects were on the agenda today, and requested an update from HCFCD on when projects were going out for bid.

Ramsey also reminded people that HCFCD promised to come back to court in September with details about what could and couldn’t be done within the available time and budget, and what would have to be phased.

Ramsey concluded with an admonishment. “We have some real severe deadlines that we’ve got to meet,” he said.

The sad thing is that by the time the next election rolls around, hundreds of millions of dollars in HUD funding could be off the table. It’s not gone yet. But the County needs to solve its leadership crisis if it ever hopes to reduce flood risk with that money.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/7/2025

2900 days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

Diversion Ditch Study Did Not Consider Obvious Opportunities that Might Have Reduced Costs, Flood Risk

7/30/25 – The Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) of Kingwood Diversion Ditch Conveyance Improvements makes no reference to three obvious detention opportunities that could potentially reduce project costs and help protect people in Kingwood from flooding. Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) commissioned the PER in 2021 after the Kingwood Area Drainage Analysis identified fixing Diversion Ditch issues as one of the top priorities in Kingwood.

Chris Bloch, a local engineer and flood activist says he showed the detention opportunities to HCFCD. However, Neel-Schaffer did not consider them in its report for unknown reasons.

Detention South of River Will Not Help Flooding Along Diversion Ditch

The Neel-Schaffer PER recommended building 405 acre-feet of detention south of the San Jacinto West Fork.

The location south of the river may help people downstream, but it will do nothing to reduce the volume of water flowing down the Diversion Ditch during a major storm.

Detention south of the river will help people farther down the West Fork. But Bloch points out that locating detention along the Diversion Ditch would help both Kingwood residents and others downstream.

Overview: Three Stormwater Detention Opportunities Inside Kingwood

Bloch consulted with Stan Sarman before Sarman’s untimely death several years ago. Sarman was one of the consulting engineers who designed Kingwood’s original drainage for Friendswood. Bloch says that he and Sarman identified several recommendations to improve Kingwood drainage. From north to south, they include:

Adding detention between Northpark Drive and St. Martha Catholic Church
Removing a berm between Kings Manor and Kings Mill detention ditches, then increasing the width and depth of the combined ditches
Creating extra capacity near the proposed new San Jacinto River outfall of the Diversion Ditch.

According to Bloch, these alternatives could provide far more capacity than the 405-acre feet that Neel-Schaffer says it needs – especially if combined with some channel-widening opportunities. I will discuss channel widening in a future post. But first, let’s look closer at these three.

Opportunity #1

Neel-Schaffer evidently didn’t look at anything north of the Harris/Montgomery County line. Since Neel-Schaffer released its PER, the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority announced plans to build 100 acre-feet of detention in the area where the Diversion Ditch splits off from Bens Branch just north of Northpark. That’s a quarter of the needed 405 acre-feet right there.

Opportunity #2

Removing the berm between the Kings Mill and Kings Manor ditches and increasing the width and depth of the combined ditches would provide another 100 acre-feet of detention capacity. Both ditches are owned by Montgomery County Municipal Utility Districts.

Kings Mill is under fire to reduce runoff due to the new high-density Northpark Enclave development. Construction plans show runoff entering the Northpark evacuation route during extreme high-water events.

Plus, additional Enclave runoff will further reduce Diversion-Ditch capacity. Parts of the Diversion Ditch have a 50% chance of flooding every year.

Opportunity #2 could help mitigate both Enclave and Diversion-Ditch capacity issues.

Dual drainage ditches separated by needless berm could provide another $100 acre feet of storage. — Looking East toward Russell Palmer Road. Eliminating the berm between Kings Mill and Kings Manor Drainage could provide an estimated 100 acre-feet of additional stormwater detention benefitting Kingwood residents.

Opportunity #3

Neel-Schaffer recommends extending the Diversion Ditch from below Deer Ridge Park to the West Fork – without forcing it to make an S-turn through River Grove Park.

*New outfall for Diversion Ditch (red line) creates another opportunity for more detention (in red box).*

That coincides with one of the recommendations originally made by Sarman and Bloch. But Sarman and Bloch also called for construction of a large pond at the outfall location. This pond would slow water velocities exiting the Diversion Ditch and provide a sediment-settling area before the water enters the River.

Depending on the configuration, such a pond could provide another 80 to 100 acre-feet of inline detention.

High Cost of Detention South of River

Those three alternatives alone could provide approximately three quarters of the needed detention and reduce flood risk for more than 500 residents who flooded near the Diversion Ditch during Harvey.

Bloch and Sarman identified other opportunities within the ditch to expand capacity. They could easily bring the total to far more than the 405 acre-feet needed.

Neel-Schaffer makes a frank confession about its detention recommendation south of the West Fork on page 38 of its Preliminary Engineering Review. It says that…

“Although an offsite stormwater detention basin is feasible, the prospective benefits are negligible.”
Neel-Schaffer Kingwood Diversion Ditch Preliminary Engineering Review, Page 38

Yet the projected cost of the basin they proposed is between a quarter and a third of total project costs – almost $15 million out of $55 million. In fairness, Neel-Schaffer says on the same page, “Due to limited effectiveness and significant cost, the recommended detention basin should be further examined during final design.”

Final Design Getting Underway

On May 8, 2025, Harris County Commissioners Court approved a motion to advertise final design and construction of the diversion ditch project for bids. However, an engineering design firm has not yet been selected.

When they are, I hope they evaluate some of these recommendations.

A transmittal from HCFCD Executive Director Dr. Tina Petersen shows that the EPA and Texas Water Development Board have apparently pledged $7 million to the project. That won’t cover much construction. So, Petersen says HCFCD will continue to look for more grants. Her timeline shows construction starting in mid-2028…if she can find the money.

These recommendations may help make the project more affordable.

Posted by Bob Rehak 7/30/25

2892 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The Dirty Dozen: 12 Ways Harris County Makes It Hard to Track Your Tax Dollars

7/23/25 – Ever wonder how someone could lose track of billions of tax dollars? It takes a lot of effort. But Harris County’s current Democratic leadership has proven adept at the task. Here are some of tricks of their trade.

1. Moving money around

That makes it more difficult to trace. Put Toll Road money into Flood Control. Put Flood Control money into Engineering. Then move it back again. And again. Establish a Flood Resilience Trust to supplement flood-bond funds. Then dissolve it. Never provide a full accounting. Whew. Even the county administrator couldn’t explain it clearly. Maybe that was the point.

2. Changing department heads and group managers

Replace professional hires with political hires. In Flood Control, Engineering, IT, Community Services. And 16 other departments. Then gut the management structure three or four levels beneath them. Lose institutional knowledge, project momentum and oversight capabilities.

3. Making the new department heads accountable to a new department

The County Administrator’s Office, for instance. It has had three heads in four years (David Berry, Diana Ramirez and Jesse Dickerman) and is searching for a fourth to replace Dickerman whose title is Interim Administrator. All within four years.

4. Replacing experienced professionals with political hires

Force remaining experienced professionals to do the work of the political hires…without a pay increase. One veteran professional, who needs to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told me, they’re “doing their best to drive off remaining staff, and not even bothering to find replacements. I am pretty sure it is well past the tipping point and the county is one disaster away from dysfunctional.”

5. Appealing routine Public Information Requests to the Texas Attorney General

Then if the AG upholds the request, charge thousands of dollars to email (months later) a PDF that was already sitting on someone’s computer.

6. Not updating websites

That makes it easier for Rodney Ellis to claim “Kingwood is getting all the money.” Parts of the HCFCD district website haven’t been updated for five years. See below.

*Screen capture from Downloads page on 7/23/25 shows last update was November 2020.*

7. Removing lists of Active Projects from your web site

That might enable people to quickly verify whether “Kingwood is getting all the money.” Make people dig for the information and pay for it instead.

8. Publishing spending updates annually that used to be monthly

The frequency of Flood Bond Updates has fallen off radically. That makes it difficult to track projects in near real time.

9. Hiring Consultants for $2 million to do the work of staff you lost

On the 7/10/25 commissioners court agenda, Item 250 was a contract extension with Berkeley Research Group, LLC for $1,995,000. The primary deliverable in this word salad seems to be a dashboard to help make projects’ status more visible. Of course, this could delay disclosure for additional months…as outsiders try to figure out what insiders can’t.

10. Not totaling columns of spreadsheets that stretch for dozens of pages

And don’t put headers on any pages past the first, either. Make people scroll back and forth until their eyeballs bleed or they give up. And make them perform complicated import/export procedures to total up columns that stretch to almost 40 pages.

11. Continually changing the way you allocate money to projects

At first it was on the basis of flood damage. But people could understand that. So, it changed. Over and over and over again. Until now, damage, flood risk and flood intensity have nothing to do with the formula for allocating flood bond money.

12. Not even telling people where bond money will go in the first place

Unlike the 2018 Flood Bond, Garcia’s 2022 $1.2 billion Bait-and-Switch Bond didn’t even tell people where money would be spent. Three years later, we still don’t know. So, no one can check on them.

Shortly before the vote on Garcia’s bond, commissioners agreed to give each precinct an equal share. That lasted until the day after the election. We’re still waiting to see where money is going. The County Engineer admits to spending $131 million in the last three years, but has published NO detail on what that money bought.

Is the current uproar over the flood bond an effort to deflect attention from more tax dollars that have gone MIA? We just don’t know.

Any one of these practices might be overlooked were it not for the presence of the others. But taken together, they feel like a concerted effort to “escape and evade” detection and accountability.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/23/25

2835 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.