News Archives - Reduce Flooding

Vote for Crenshaw in Congressional District 2 Republican Primary

2/14/26 – The Republican primary in the newly redrawn Congressional District 2 (CD2) pits U.S. Congressman Dan Crenshaw against State Rep. Steve Toth.

Crenshaw is running for his fifth term in Washington. Toth is running for his first, although Toth has served five terms in the Texas House representing a portion of southern Montgomery County.

I endorse Crenshaw for several reasons, not the least of which is his experience and seniority in Washington. That has enabled him to bring home hundreds of millions of dollars in flood-mitigation funds for CD-2.

From a flood-mitigation perspective, Crenshaw equals “proven results.”
Bob Rehak

Dan Crenshaw (center) reviewing flood damage along Harris/MoCo line.

Crenshaw (black shirt) saw first hand why Elm Grove flooded. Then he got mitigation dollars to help the victims.

Crenshaw Delivers Results, Not Spin

Crenshaw isn’t just saying flood-mitigation is important to get your vote. He has repeatedly delivered dollars to reduce flood risk. He has authored and passed legislation that has funded upstream detention, dredging and additional gates for the Lake Houston Dam – exactly what he promised in 2018.

Upstream detention reduces stormwater coming into the Lake Houston Area during floods
Dredging increases the conveyance of rivers and streams so they don’t overflow into your living room
More floodgates will allow faster lowering of lake levels before storms to create more storage capacity in the lake. They will also lower lake levels faster during storms to help keep floodwaters at manageable levels.

Flood mitigation requires doing the hard work of crafting support for such measures among colleagues in the legislature..

Saying you’re FOR something is simple. Delivering results is much harder.

And Crenshaw has delivered consistently. Seniority and relationships count for something in Congress. Crenshaw’s opponent has neither.

Crenshaw’s Opponent Consistently Voted Against Flood Mitigation

Even worse, Crenshaw’s opponent consistently voted AGAINST measures that would have helped protect the Lake Houston Area.

Mr. Toth voted AGAINST:

The Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District
Warning systems for high-flood-risk areas
Prohibiting construction of assisted-living centers for seniors in floodplains
A river-basin-wide flood-control district
Reducing sedimentation from upstream sand mines.

Toth Doesn’t Study Issues

Mr. Toth has tried to justify his vote on the dredging district by spreading misinformation. He claims that flood control is the sole reason the Legislature established the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) and that SJRA should be responsible for dredging.

Actually, the SJRA’s enabling legislation listed 19 reasons for its creation. Most have to do with water supply. In fact, flood control is mentioned only within the context of building dams for water supply. The enabling legislation never mentions dredging.

Toth’s Voting Record and Tactics

If you really want to see what Toth stands FOR, see what he voted AGAINST. Toth voted against free speech, food banks, cybersecurity, conservation, grid reliability, open meetings, transparency, ethics, border security, fraud protections, and disclosure of campaign finance information. He even voted AGAINST bills to protect victims of family abuse and sex trafficking. His voting records in 2021 and 2023 were shocking. And in 2025, he reached new lows.

He even called me dishonest for simply reporting his official voting record from the Texas Legislature Online website. Watch out. Disagree with him and he’ll sic his rabid pack of paid trolls on you, too!

Reasonable Republicans Must Vote in Primary

Toth leads a group of Montgomery County extremists who are so far right they border on anarchists. But they all vote in primaries. And that’s precisely why it’s important for reasonable Republicans who care about public safety to vote in this primary.

Given the composition of the new CD2, the real election starts this week. I’m voting for Crenshaw and I hope you do, too, with your friends, neighbors and relatives. Before it’s too late.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/15/26

3092 Days since 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.

Quick Action by Resident Halts Spring Creek Environmental Abuse

2/13/26 – Three days ago, Jennifer Stewart, one of my readers, was riding her bike up the Spring Creek Greenway when she witnessed a river of sludge pouring out of a construction site. It was going straight into the creek at a high rate of speed. She immediately contacted me and within the hour I had taken dozens of drone photos documenting the environmental abuse.

Within a couple more hours, I notified Harris County Flood Control. The next morning, I posted about the illegal discharge and how to report it to the proper authorities. Many readers complained to the TCEQ, Harris County Flood Control, Harris County Engineering, and Harris County Pollution Control.

Today, I returned to the site to see if the contractors were still pumping sludge into the creek. I’m happy to say that they were NOT. County environmental investigators had quickly issued citations to Spring ISD, its contractors and environmental consultant.. The County gave them until 2/14/26 to bring their site into compliance with federal, state and county environmental regulations – or else they will receive more citations.

Today, instead of pumping more sludge into Spring Creek, the contractors were installing pollution-prevention measures that should have been in place all along. For instance:

Riprap (rock used to protect channel embankments) that reduces erosion
Silt fences that filter sediment out of water escaping from construction sites
Rock gabions (baskets filled with rocks), also designed to filter runoff.

Who knows how long the contractors would have continued circumventing best management practices had it not been for Stewart who: a) recognized the violations, b) documented them, and c) reported them quickly? Thank you, Jennifer!

Magnitude of Sediment-Pollution Problem

Sediment pollution is widely regarded by hydrologists and water-quality regulators as the single largest pollutant by volume in U.S. surface waters. It is not always toxic, but it is often the most structurally damaging because it alters channel geometry, reduces floodwater storage, and transports contaminants.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has repeatedly identified sediment as the most common cause of water-quality impairment in the rivers and streams it has studied.
USGS studies indicate that construction activities are a major source of sediment in small streams.
Roughly 25–45% of assessed U.S. streams show impairment linked directly to suspended sediment or siltation.

Sediment Discharges Amplify Other Threats

Sediment discharges contribute to the loss of hydraulic conveyance of rivers and streams. When that happens, channel cross-sections shrink and floodwaters rise.

According to ChatGPT, a 10–20% loss of conveyance area can raise flood elevations dramatically. Some estimate the increase could exceed Atlas-14 rainfall increases of about 30% in this area. Also…

Rainfall is episodic. But sediment is cumulative.

Sediment ranks at the top of long-term flood threats for the Lake Houston Area because it:

Increases dredging dependence
Is difficult to regulate retroactively.

It also buries spawning beds for fish and kills aquatic vegetation that filters water.

Importance of Reporting Violations

Regulatory agencies depend on the help of an educated public to report problems promptly when they see them.

Emily Woodell, a spokesperson for Harris County Flood Control District, had this to say about the Spring Creek construction site. “We sent our teams out there and they are working with the Harris County Engineering Department (HCED) on the effort. HCED is actually the entity with regulatory authority, and they issued a citation to the developer.”

“We always want to hear about these kinds of issues. The best way to submit them is via our Citizen Service Center on our website. The requests go straight to our Fast Action Service Teams to investigate and take the appropriate action. It takes all of us being the eyes and ears on the ground, and we truly appreciate every report.”

Pictures Taken February 10, 2026

Compare the pictures taken on February 10 to the ones farther below (taken today). Today’s show installation of pollution-prevention measures and a dramatic improvement in water quality. But first the “problem” shots.

Construction site sediment pollution — *Construction site of Spring ISD’s new high school emptying sludge straight into Spring Creek*

Photos Taken 2/13/26

Note the dramatic changes in pictures taken today.

*After investigation and citation, discharge stopped*.

*Sediment remains from previous discharge, but water is running much clearer.*

Pump remains by bulldozer in foreground, but is not pumping. Note the riprap at the top of frame to the right of the dump truck where pumped water will discharge into the small channel leading to the creek. The riprap will reduce headward erosion.

*Beyond the riprap, note the silt fences and what appear to be gabions in the channel leading to the creek to further filter discharged water.*

*They still have a lot of muck to pump.* *We’ll all be watching to see what happens next.*

ABC13’s Brianna Willis also covered this story. Spring ISD told her (not on camera) that they take environmental compliance seriously.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/13/2026

3090 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.

FEMA Releases New Draft Flood Maps for Harris County and Houston

2/12/26 – FEMA has released new draft flood maps for Harris County and Houston. Houston spills over the county line in some places, including near Kingwood. And the new maps show floodplains where the City limits exceed the County’s.

The new maps reflect Atlas 14 data acquired after Harvey. The old maps use data acquired after Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 and were released in 2007. So, the new ones reflect the current best available data.

But understand several things about the new maps. While they are important, they aren’t final yet. And they’re visually confusing compared to previous maps. But help is on the way. See more below.

Important Background

These maps reflect changing conditions in Harris County, including a more than 30% increase in rainfall rates, updated topography and advanced modeling.

After major storms between 2015 and 2017, including Hurricane Harvey, it became clear that existing floodplain maps were not fully reflecting flood risk.

Thousands of families flooded outside of mapped high-risk areas. Updated maps help residents, businesses, emergency managers, and local governments better understand risk and make more informed decisions.

Not Yet Final

Emily Woodell, a spokesperson for Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) emphasized, “It is important to emphasize that, at this stage, these are DRAFT maps from FEMA intended for technical review by floodplain administrators. They are not final, not regulatory, and not part of FEMA’s formal public appeal and comment process.”

“Nothing changes right now related to flood insurance requirements or development regulations.”

Emily Woodell, HCFCD Spokesperson

It will take another year or two to finalize the new maps. They must go through several stages of comment and revision, each with different names.

After floodplain managers comment on the “DRAFT” maps, FEMA will make revisions and release “PRELIMINARY” flood maps for the general public. The public (including developers) will then have a chance to comment or protest. But at that stage, FEMA will require an engineering study before making changes.

After making revisions from the public comment period, FEMA will release “EFFECTIVE” flood maps, aka, the new gold standard for flood risk. That’s what flood insurance will be based on.

*New flood map of Kingwood Area using satellite view.* From FEMA.

FEMA’s DRAFT Map Visually Confusing

FEMA’s new flood maps are visually confusing at this time – especially if you’re used to the old flood maps. Unfortunately, FEMA uses one viewer for the entire country – cities and rural areas alike. The viewer may work well for some areas, but not for Harris County with its thickets of tree-lined, winding streets.

To see FEMA’s new maps, click here.

Some hints:

In the left column at the bottom, select “Draft Database for Community Review.”
From the base map gallery, select “Street View.”
Click the magnifying glass and enter your address or area of interest. You can also scroll to your location.
You may have to zoom in to display the floodplains. Use the +/- keys in the lower right.
The map doesn’t work on cell phones. You must use a desktop or laptop.

You can compare the new and old maps by toggling between the “Draft Database Maps for Community Review” and the “Effective Flood Hazard” Maps. The Effective Maps are the current ones. Draft Maps will eventually replace them.

Compared to the old multi-colored maps, these are monochromatic. Different zones are represented by shades and dots, not colors.

No dots means you’re outside of any defined flood zone.
A light colored area with dots (inside the first line) means “500-year flood plain/.2% annual chance.”
The darker colored area with dots (inside a second line) means you’re in the “100-year floodplain/1% annual chance.”

The news maps are amazingly detailed. And that’s part of what makes them confusing. Instead of a line cutting through a neighborhood or farm, these maps outline flood zones just a foot or two wide. For instance, although my house and yard are above the 500-year floodplain, my drainage ditch is in it. But only part of the ditch!

More User-Friendly HCFCD Versions of Maps

Woodell said, “We recognize these maps can be difficult to navigate. To make FEMA’s information more accessible, the Flood Control District is launching a more user-friendly online map viewer that displays the same draft data in a clearer, easier-to-understand format.”

HCFCD Director Dr. Tina Petersen announced in Commissioners Court today, that Flood Control is posting the maps for public review this afternoon, instead of next week as previously announced..

The more user-friendly DRAFT maps can also be found here on the MAAPnext site. They even include a slider that lets you compare the currently EFFECTIVE maps developed after Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 with the new DRAFT maps based on data collected after Harvey.

“We will also host informational webinars and continue working closely with floodplain administrators, local partners, and community stakeholders to help residents understand what this means and what comes next,” she said.

DRAFT FEMA Maps Reflect Mitigation Progress

According to Woodell, the draft FEMA maps reflect much of the mitigation progress already made since Harvey.

They reflect the benefits of flood-mitigation projects completed or under construction through 2020. And early results show areas where flood risk has decreased because of those investments. That includes projects made possible through the 2018 Bond Program. It also includes the detention basins that Perry Homes eventually added to Woodridge Village before selling their property to Harris County Flood Control. Elm Grove and Mills Branch floodplains shrank considerably.

“That means in some neighborhoods, families who once faced repeated flooding are now seeing measurable reductions in risk,” said Woodell. “There is more work to do, but we know these projects are making a difference.”

HCFCD expects to bid four new projects, for instance, after Commissioners Court today. One of them is in Kingwood. See item 250: Woodridge Village/Taylor Gully.

Impact of New Maps on Development

The new maps will eventually raise the bar for developers such as Romerica and Ron Holley. Some areas formerly classified as floodplain are now classified as floodway. All of Holley’s property on the East Fork is now floodway. Similarly, the floodway expanded in the property Signorelli is trying to develop as The Crossing at the Commons of Lake Houston.

You may see a rush to develop floodplain properties as FEMA moves toward finalizing the new EFFECTIVE flood maps, which should take two to three years. So stay alert.

The new DRAFT maps can also be used by home buyers to check the flood risk of properties they are considering.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/12/2026

3089 Days since Harvey

Construction Site Pumping Sludge Straight into Spring Creek

2/11/26 – Based on a tip from a reader, I learned that a large construction site along Spring Creek near the Hardy Toll Road and State Highway 99 was pumping muddy stormwater directly into Spring Creek.

Images Sent By Reader

The reader sent me pictures taken along the Spring Creek Greenway that suggested this was no accidental overflow. The images show neatly cut and stacked underbrush along a ditch cut between the construction site and the creek.

*Photo taken by reader on 2/10/26. Reader wishes to remain anonymous.*

Another photo taken from a greenway bridge shows the speed of the discharge.

*Note that the discharge appears to have been much higher at one point judging by the grass laying down.*

Aerial Images Taken on 2/10/2026

So, I grabbed my drone and headed over to nearby Harris County Precinct 3 Dennis Johnston Park. From the air, you could clearly see where the sediment-laden sludge was coming from.

*Construction site emptying detention basin straight into Spring Creek*

*Someone had cut channels to drain silty stormwater from a drainage ditch and detention basin.*

*The path to Spring Creek took the sludge under the greenway in the forest.*

*Opposite angle shows muck flowing straight into Spring Creek.*

*Silt migrating downstream* *toward Harmony, Benders Landing Estates, Humble, Kingwood and Lake Houston.*

*They were actually pumping the sediment from the stormwater detention basin.*

…*And those silt fences don’t do much good when you tear them down.*

The Human Toll: Ruining a Community Asset

The reader who sent me the ground level images told me how she felt she had had a pleasant experience stolen from her. She was out for a fun bike ride during spring break. The Spring Creek Greenway is one of the longest urban trails in North America. It is supposed to be a refuge. But instead of clear water and a healthy ecosystem, she found this appalling sight.

She said the plume was migrating downstream toward Jesse Jones Park where she saw “tons of kids fishing today.”

An avid environmentalist, she says, “Siltation kills the fishing experience. The cloudy water makes it impossible for sight-feeding fish to hunt for insects. And the heavy sediment smothers the ‘honey holes’ where fish congregate.”

Silt Contributes to Flooding

When a developer pumps mud into the creek, that sediment eventually settles and raises the creek bed. That means the channel holds less water.

Spring Creek is a major tributary to the San Jacinto West Fork. Every ton of mud pumped into the Spring Creek eventually migrates downstream to the San Jacinto, exacerbating flood risks in Humble, Kingwood and the Lake Houston Area.

Pumping silt like this also creates a burden on taxpayers. Developers profit by taking “shortcuts” on-site. But the public pays the price. When the river fills with silt and flood risk increases, taxpayers bear the burden of multi-million dollar dredging projects to restore the river’s capacity.

Since Harvey, taxpayers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars dredging area rivers.

Ecological Suffocation

My source, who wishes to remain anonymous, talked about “gill clogging.” High concentrations of suspended solids can literally suffocate fish.

Silt settling into the gravel and woody debris on the creek floor also smothers the macro-invertebrates (bugs) that form the base of the food chain.

Just as bad, such activities kill the filtering mechanism that keeps creeks healthy. Oranizations, such as the Bayou Land Conservancy, work to protect the wetlands that filter our water. Dumping raw silt bypasses this natural filtration and destroys the very plants that help stabilize the banks.

Silt isn’t just dirt. Construction runoff often carries other pollutants attached to the soil particles, including fertilizers, heavy metals, or chemical residues from the site, which are now being “injected” into the local water supply.

That’s why pumping sediment-laden water directly into a creek is a flagrant violation of sediment-control protocols. Not preserving floodplains has many costs that most people don’t realize.

How to Report Such Violations

Readers who share my concerns should report such violations to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Harris County Flood Control District. You may also want to notify Harris County Precinct 3 and Montgomery County MUDs, as Spring Creek serves as the border between the two counties. Both have a vested interest in keeping that channel clear. Readers report that this is the site of the new Spring ISD High School.

I couldn’t find an entrance to the site with an address, sign, or stormwater pollution prevention plan. But for reporting purposes, the GPS coordinates are: 30°05’16.3″N 95°24’07.6″W.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/11/26

3088 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.

Colony Ridge Settles Lawsuit with U.S., State of Texas

2/10/2026 – On 2/9/2026, Colony Ridge and its owners settled a lawsuit with the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and State of Texas. The 30-page settlement includes:

Comprehensive reforms of the developer’s sales, marketing, and financing practices
A three-year moratorium on expansion
Public safety improvements
Establishment and enforcement of deed restrictions
Compliance with consumer protection laws
$20 million to beef up law enforcement
A $48 million plan to address deficiences in existing infrastructure.

The latter includes $18 million to address flooding and drainage issues. It also includes $30 million to address other infrastructure needs such as potable water, sewage, roads, and waste management.

The sprawling Colony Ridge in Liberty County grew 50% larger than Manhattan in just 15 years. It was accused of being a foreclosure mill with predatory, deceptive lending practices.

At least nine TCEQ investigations reprimanded Colony Ridge construction practices. The TCEQ even accused Colony Ridge of endangering human life.

Merry Christmas from Colony Ridge — *Colony Ridge Parade of Homes*

In 2023, the entire Texas Republican Congressional Delegation urged Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate Colony Ridge.

I wrote more than 75 posts about the development beginning in 2020. For more background see: History of Heartbreak: A Colony Ridge Chronicle. Below, I’ll summarize the major elements of the settlement.

While this settlement should vastly improve future development, it contains nothing to compensate past victims

Moratorium on Development

In exchange for resolving all the claims against it in 2023 lawsuits by the Department of Justice and State of Texas, Colony Ridge, its owners, employees and all affiliated entities have agreed to a moratorium on development. That means:

For two years, they will not seek new plats for direct-to-consumer sales.
After that, they may seek approval of new plats if they require new deed-restricted homes to be built prior to sale.
Colony Ridge will not seek platting of new subdivisions for three years unless the lots have deed restrictions. Further, newly platted subdivisions will require:
- Compliance with all county permitting and construction requirements
- New dwellings to be approved by an architectural control committee.

ILSA and Texas Property Code Compliance

The settlement requires Colony Ridge to comply with the Interstate Land Sales Act and the Texas Property Code. That means requiring purchasers to present:

An unexpired Texas driver’s license
A Texas-issued ID card, or
An unexpired passport and valid visa.

It also requires Colony Ridge to work with law enforcement to confirm buyers are not cartel members or on a terrorism watch list.

Finally, Colony Ridge must confirm that purchasers do not have a prohibited relationship with any ‘designated country’ including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. That’s to comply with the Texas Property Code.

Prohibition Against Discrimination

Colony Ridge has agreed to comply with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act for all sales or rentals.

Hire A Compliance Specialist

At its own expense, Colony Ridge must hire a compliance specialist to ensure the owners, their corporate entities and their employees comply with all terms of the settlement.

Increasing Housing Affordability and Availability

Colony Ridge has agreed to reform its underwriting standards by:

Making sure buyers can repay their loans
Notifying buyers of ways to avoid default and rescind their sales agreements
Developing a default-avoidance plan including credit assessments, relief and remission options.
Addressing harm to borrowers credit, including removing negative credit reports
Developing a foreclosure policy that meaningfully reduces the number and frequency of foreclosures

Addressing Misrepresentations to Consumers

Colony Ridge has also agreed to truthfully and accurately describe the properties it has for sale and applicable loan terms. It will not advertise that all properties are “move in ready” or currently have “all city services.” The company will add appropriate limiting language or disclaimers to its advertisements.

Colony Ridge has also agreed to disclose loan terms, utility connections, flooding, wetlands, and readiness for use.

The flooding provision requires all plats to receive pre-development drainage and flood-control approval by the appropriate Federal, State, and local authorities.

Colony Ridge must disclose whether property is in the 100-year flood plain. The company must also disclose whether the buyer is responsible for leveling, grading, or otherwise filling the lot to provide proper drainage to culverts.

Re: cost, Colony Ridge must disclose the true total cost of the property to buyers including interest, closing costs, taxes, POA fees, etc. The company must also mail monthly statements.

Infrastructure Improvements

Within three months, Colony Ridge must develop and begin implementing a $48 million infrastructure improvement plan. Its goals: to reduce and prevent flooding, improve roads, provide for proper management of sewage and other waste, and invest in other projects designed to improve the habitability and public safety.

The company must develop a road drainage system capable of handling 10-year rains based on new Atlas 14 data. It must also build a 100-year-storm flood-control system.

The plan must prioritize fixing existing problems before developing new infrastructure.
Settlement Agreement, Page 12

Increased Law Enforcement Presence

The defendants must spend at least $20 million to increase a law enforcement presence in Colony Ridge. That includes building a DPS and County Constable sub-station, funding full-time law enforcement officers, supplying them with vehicles, and ensuring compliance with immigration laws.

Property Owners Association

The Property Owners Association (POA) must report to owners how their dues are expended. Previously, the dues were used to finance new development, not provide services to the people paying the dues.

Training and Complaint Procedures

Colony Ridge must now train its staff on how to comply with federal and state regulations. The company must explain how Colony Ridge previously fell short and also develop a “Nondiscrimination Policy and Complaint Procedure.”

Law Enforcement Support

Colony Ridge must develop a discount program that encourages law-enforcement officers to take up residence there.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Noncompliance with any of these provisions will land the owners back in court.

Not All Residents Happy

An activist named Maria Acevedo who bought property in Colony Ridge and was victimized by the company’s business practices was unhappy with the settlement. Her concern: It will protect people in the future, but doesn’t provide any compensation to people victimized in the past.

Said Acevedo, “The money used to pay penalties came from the very families who were scammed — it was our money, not Colony Ridge’s. We were victims.”

Another lady, Jennifer Stewart, a Huffman resident who has many friends living in and around Colony Ridge said, “I’m glad a settlement was reached, but the people who were truly harmed have not been made whole. That’s unconscionable.”

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/10/25

3087 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.

Easy Way to Make Your Community More Resilient to Flooding

2/9/2026 – The Harris County Infrastructure Resilience Team wants public input on ideas to make the area more resilient to flooding. As someone who believes that all of us are smarter than one of us, I’m passing the request on to ReduceFlooding.com readers.

Do you see a situation that could lead to flooding? On your street? In your neighborhood? In your city or county?
What would reduce the potential for flooding in your opinion?
What would help us recover from flooding faster?

Please email your thoughts to the contact page on this website and I will forward them to the people who can do something about them.

As thought starters, here are several ideas I see that could make living here safer.

Create a River-Basin-Wide Flood Control District

Much flooding originates in cities and counties that let development happen in floodplains. Sometimes they let development happen with insufficient mitigation. This problem is exacerbated by the dozens of municipalities, counties, MUDs, PUDs, and drainage districts each of which have their own regulations and few of which of effective enforcement.

*Entire San Jacinto River Basin by SJRA. Note: the area draining past Kingwood is larger than all of Harris County.*

A flood control district that covers the entire river basin could solve flooding due to this fragmentation and a patchwork quilt of regulations across the region. There is no central coordinating body.

In the last legislation, Rep. Dennis Paul introduced HB204. It would have let other counties join Harris County to create an expanded flood control district. However, the bill never made it out of committee.

Senator Bettancourt and Representative Paul introduced similar bills in the previous legislative session. Perhaps next year, they will succeed with your support.

Control Erosion Better

Erosion can reduce the carrying capacity of our rivers and streams. It displaces water that may end up in your living room during a flood event because the stream can no longer hold it. Fighting erosion is two-front war. We need to reduce it at its source. And we need to remove sediment that makes its way downstream, blocking our rivers and channels.

Colony Ridge ditch erosion — *Uncontrolled erosion in Colony Ridge, Liberty County, in East Fork Watershed.*

This means addressing the main sources of sediment, such as sand mining and insufficiently mitigated upstream development. It also means removing any sediment that makes its way downstream by scrupulous adherence to maintenance intervals.

We’ve seen numerous examples of blocked drainage ditches and even rivers such as the mouth bars on the East and West Forks, the Kingwood Diversion Ditch, Rogers Gully.

Reduce Subsidence Across a Wider Area

Subsidence, caused by excessive groundwater withdrawals, can alter the gradient of rivers and create bowls in the landscape. The Harris Galveston Subsidence District has put regulations in place to reduce it. And they’ve worked where they have been in effect the longest.

But newly regulated areas are still subsiding at alarming rates. And that subsidence can erase the safety margin of your home above the floodplain (usually one or two feet above the 100-year floodplain, depending on the age of your home and where you live).

Houston area subsidence map from satellite data. — *From Subsidence District 2024 Annual Report*

The way to solve this problem is to get rapidly subsiding areas on surface water. But that’s more expensive. So, we also need educational campaigns that explain the benefits of surface water. People may not argue about paying a few dollars more each month if they know it could save them hundreds of thousands in a high water event.

Locate Assisted-Living Centers Outside of Floodplains

Twelve people, aged 75-95, died at Kingwood Village Estates as a result of Harvey. That’s one third of all the people who died in Harris County. Evacuating them by life boats put their lives and the lives of first responders at risk. They weren’t warned in time to make a safe, orderly evacuation by cars or buses.

Residents trying to escape as Harvey's floodwaters rose — *Residents trying to escape Kingwood Village Estates as Harvey’s floodwaters rose*

Warning Sirens

Install warning sirens in areas that flood frequently to give people time to evacuate. Floods frequently knock out communications or happen in the middle of the night. The chain of communication can be disrupted. But wailing sirens can wake up even the soundest sleepers in the middle of the night.

With sirens, many lives could have been saved in Kingwood and along the Guadalupe last July.

Flood Education in High Schools

We have drivers’ ed. Why not flood ed? Greater awareness of the causes and dangers of flooding could eventually shift housing demand to safer locations.

Perhaps the State Board of Education could create course materials that they distribute to school districts. They might educate young people how to research flood risk before buying a home. Or where to find information about projected flood crests in an emergency.

Better to learn before you buy a home than after!

Create County/City Parks in Flood-Prone Areas

It’s hard to tell people that they can’t build on their land. So why not buy dangerous flood-prone land and convert it into parks or recreational space?

The Houston Parks Board has been doing this for decades. Texas Parks and Wildlife did it with Lake Houston Wilderness Park (which they gave to the City.)

If people don’t live where it floods, they can’t flood. No buyouts. And no demand for expensive flood-mitigation projects. Prevention is always much cheaper than correction in the long run.

What Are Your Ideas?

Please send me your thoughts on how to make your community more resilient to flooding. Just write a paragraph or two. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Then email your thoughts through the contact page of this website.

I’ll make sure the Harris County Infrastructure Resilience Team sees them.

The deadline for submissions is February 12, 2026. Thanks in advance for your help!

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/9/26

3086 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Northpark Drive Expansion Project News: Stormwater Detention, UPRR Crossing and More

2/8/26 – The Northpark Drive Expansion Project has several new developments this month to report.

Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority will consider a motion this Thursday to begin engineering work on a linear stormwater detention basin.
Contractors will soon begin to clear out the ditch behind the businesses on the north side of Northpark.
Paving near the intersection of Northpark and US59 has been completed. Traffic should have returned to normal by Monday February 9, 2026, morning rush hour.
All parties met with UnionPacific Railroad (UPRR) to work out details of a plan to create surface roads across their tracks in preparation for bridge construction.
Drainage connections across Northpark are also being scheduled in preparation for bridge construction.

For more details on each, see below.

Stormwater Detention Basin

Last year, Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority/TIRZ10 announced plans to build additional detention basin capability along the Kingwood Diversion Ditch. It would relieve some of the pressure on both the Kingwood Diversion Ditch itself as well as Bens Branch.

The Diversion Ditch splits off Bens Branch just south of the new St. Martha Catholic Church on Woodridge Parkway. The portion of the Northpark Drive Project east of the Diversion Ditch (not yet started) will require the extra stormwater detention capacity. But accelerating the project will provide additional flood protection for Kingwood residents now.

This map from the 2/12/26 Board Packet shows where the project will go.

*Area of investigation for* *detention along Diversion Ditch*

It appears that engineers will explore linear detention down to the first bend in the Diversion Ditch. It also appears they will consider expanding the ditch to the east.

The big wooded area marked “Detention Basin” north of Northpark will not be clearcut, according to TIRZ Project Manager Ralph De Leon. He says much of the area is already below the level of the Diversion Ditch. Engineers are looking at the concept of vertical detention. He said the giant trees can suck water up into their trunks and release it gradually. Plus, the friction they provide against stormwater will slow it down. It’s a green solution.

*Looking south at Diversion Ditch and area for planned detention. St. Martha behind camera position. Northpark crosses l to r through middle of frame.*

To learn more about the proposal, see these pages extracted from the board packet. The meeting will take place at 8AM on Thursday morning at the Kingwood Community Center for those who have public comments.

Ditch-One Clean Out

De Leon also says that contractors will soon begin clearing out the first 900 feet of Ditch One. That’s the ditch that runs behind Public Storage and Dunkin’ Donuts. Ditch One supplements the drainage capacity running down the middle of Northpark from the entry ponds at 59.

Northpark Drive drainage improvements — *Route of Ditch One from Entry Ponds to Diversion Ditch (center) and Bens Branch (r).*

ditch one — *Looking W toward Public Storage. Ditch severely needs cleaning out to restore capacity.*

“The ditch cross section will be regraded. And hydro mulching will be put down as needed to prevent erosion,” De Leon says. “When complete, this will look like a typical grass-lined ditch.”

Intersection of Northpark and US59

Freezing weather caused the delay of new concrete for small area at Northpark and US59. However, contractors completed it last weekend. Traffic was reportedly restored by Sunday night at 10PM. The new paving will let two lanes of traffic turn right simultaneously from northbound 59. That should eliminate some long delays for inbound commuters.

*Looking W at Northpark from over 59. Photo taken before new paving. Repaving the area in the right foreground will let two lanes of traffic turn right from northbound 59 (bottom right).*

UPRR Meeting on Signals, Feeder-Road Crossings

The UnionPacific signal crews finally met with De Leon, contractors, the City, Montgomery County, TXDoT, project engineers and consultants last week on Tuesday.

“The goal was to introduce the separate crews to each other so we can better coordinate our collective efforts.”
Ralph De Leon, Project Manager

Contractors should start dirt work on all four quadrants of both feeder roads – east and west of the rail tracks – this week. For safety reasons, multiple crews will have to be sequenced instead of having them all work simultaneously in the small area.

The UPRR Signal Crew will reach Northpark this week. They will first relocate the existing power supply and traffic control signal box.

Harper Brothers Construction will then build both feeder roads “over the tracks” with the exception of 4 feet next to the tracks.

Then a separate UPRR crew will use that space to make final connections to the rails.

Altogether, it should take UPRR about 2 weeks to remove existing signals, then install temporary and permanent signals.

Once all that is done, Third Coast, a TIRZ contractor, will install temporary traffic signals at 494. That should take about two weeks.

“To do all this safely takes time,” says De Leon. He expects traffic to move permanently to the new feeder roads by late May or early June 2026.

At that point, they can begin building the bridge in earnest

Cross-Northpark Drainage Connections

De Leon also says work will begin soon on two cross-Northpark drainage connections near Loop 494. One will connect the area by the dry cleaner on the SW corner with the Shell station on the NW corner. Another connection will be on the east side of 494 in the general area of the planned bridge.

Rather than close Northpark traffic again, a decision was made to defer the installation until the center/existing roadway crossing at the rail tracks was permanently abandoned, i.e., until after the new surface roads are built.

For More Information

For more specifics, consult this three-week look-ahead schedule posted on 2/5/26 or visit the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority website.

When complete, Kingwood will have it’s first all-weather evacuation route.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/8/2026

3085 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Why Harris County Had 31 100-Year Floods in 100 Years

2/7/26 – According to Harris County Meteorologist Jeff Lindner, the county has had at least 31 100-year floods in the previous 100 years. That’s between 1925 and 2025. “How can that be?” you ask. “Doesn’t a 100-year flood only happen once in a 100-years?”

Short answer, NO. To increase your safety and protect your home, read on.

Main Reasons for Apparent Contradiction

Numerous reasons exist for the apparent contradiction in the headline. They fall into three broad categories.

Widespread misunderstanding of the definition of a “100-year flood”: the term means different things to hydrologists and to the public.
Physical changes to floodplains and channels since the last flood-map update: Upstream development, sedimentation, lack of maintenance, etc. can all increase your flood risk.
Evolving statistical estimates of floodplains: Reliable weather records only go back about 130 years in this region. Predicting future risk using such a small statistical base has inherent risks of its own.

Widespread Misunderstanding of Definition

Let’s address misunderstanding of the definition first. The term “100-year flood” emerged in the early part of the 1900s to describe a flood that has a 1% chance of happening each year at any given geographic point.

So, technically, 100-year floods could occur in back-to-back-to-back years. And they have. See Lindner’s list of Harris County’s 31 “100-year floods” below.

5/31/29: Buffalo Bayou
12/9/35: Buffalo Bayou
10/9/49: Cypress Creek
9/11/61: Sims Bayou
6/20/73: Sims Bayou
6/11/75: Sims Bayou
7/25/79: Clear Creek, Armand Bayou, Sims Bayou, Vince Bayou
9/20/79: Clear Creek, Sims Bayou
5/3/81: Vince Bayou
8/18/83: Sims Bayou, Vince Bayou, Halls Bayou
9/19/83: Sims Bayou
6/26/89: Greens Bayou
8/1/89: Sims Bayou
10/18/94: Clear Creek, Sims Bayou, San Jacinto River, Spring Creek, Little Cypress Creek, Cedar Bayou
10/18/98: South Mayde Creek, Bear Creek, Spring Creek, Little Cypress Creek
11/14/98: Little Cypress Creek, Spring Creek
6/5/01: Clear Creek, Vince Bayou
6/9/01: Clear Creek, Armand Bayou, Brays Bayou, White Oak Bayou, Hunting Bayou, Vince Bayou, Little Cypress Creek, Willow Creek, Carpenters Bayou, Greens Bayou, Halls Bayou, Buffalo Bayou
10/29/02: White Oak Bayou
8/16/07: Vince Bayou
9/13/08: Vince Bayou, Bear Creek, South Mayde Creek
4/28/09: Bear Creek, South Mayde Creek, Buffalo Bayou
7/12/12: Little Cypress Creek
5/13/15: Armand Bayou
5/26/15: Keegans Bayou, White Oak Bayou, Buffalo Bayou
10/31/15: Cedar Bayou
4/18/16: Keegans Bayou, Spring Creek, Little Cypress Creek, South Mayde Creek, Bear Creek, Horsepen Creek
5/27/16: Spring Creek, Little Cypress Creek
8/27/17: Nearly every watershed
9/19/19: San Jacinto River, Cedar Bayou
5/2/24: San Jacinto River

Many of these watersheds have seen 5 to 10 extreme floods in the last 100-years.

“100-Year Flood” is an estimate of probability and not a guarantee of frequency.

Keep that in mind if you’re shopping for a new home or considering cancelling your flood insurance.

Physical Changes to Floodplains/Channels

The other thing to keep in mind is that floodplains constantly change. You could be high above them one year and far below the next because of changes to the terrain upstream.

I once owned a home in Dallas that went from 2 feet above a 100-year floodplain to 10 feet below it in less than three years. How? One insufficiently mitigated, new development upstream. Think it can’t happen here? Look at Colony Ridge in the East Fork Watershed. It didn’t exist 15 years ago and is now 50% larger than Manhattan.

When buying a home, consider such factors as:

Subsidence from excessive groundwater withdrawals in Montgomery County (MoCo) could reduce a home’s elevation relative to the Lake Houston Dam. That would reduce the safety margin between your slab and floodwaters.
Sedimentation could reduce the conveyance of a channel or massively block it. During Harvey, sand washing downstream reduced conveyance of the West Fork by 90%, according to the Army Corps.
Much of that sand came from sand mines in MoCo. Mines have deforested 20 square miles in a 20-mile length of the river between I-45 and I-69. That exposes a swath of sediment averaging a mile wide to floodwaters.
MoCo actually gives tax breaks to those mines that encourage deforestation, rapid sedimentation and downstream flooding.
Until recently, the state didn’t require minimum setbacks from the river for mines. Because of erosion, the river now runs through mines in at least six places on the West Fork.
MoCo is one of the ten fastest growing counties in America. Roads, driveways and rooftops increase the volume and speed of runoff, causing floodwater to peak higher and faster downstream.
Complicating that, MoCo has not enforced its own floodplain regulations. I have published dozens of stories about that, including the blatant transgressions that flooded 600 homes in 2019 along Taylor Gully across the county line from Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village development.
When most of the region adopted new drainage and floodplain regulations shortly after Harvey in 2017, MoCo took until late 2025. And their new regs didn’t meet the minimum standards adopted elsewhere.
One MoCo legislator fought for the right to develop new subdivisions in floodplains, even as another voted against establishing a Dredging and Maintenance District for the Lake Houston Area.

Evolving Statistical Estimates/Building Codes

Climate change aside, such factors as those above make estimating flood risk a shifting target. Worse, the small statistical base for those estimates gives them a large margin of error.

Complete rainfall records for Harris and Montgomery Counties only go back to the early 1890s. So, we’re trying to estimate 100-year rainfalls by looking at one complete 100-year cycle out of 4.56 billion years. That’s as difficult as predicting a statewide election outcome by interviewing one person!

As a result, scientists update rainfall estimates after most major storms such as Harvey and Allison. But that can take years. FEMA is just now releasing new flood maps based on high-water marks and elevation data acquired after Harvey. And MoCo’s population has grown by about a third since then – enough to skew results significantly.

As upstream counties pursue growth, downstream counties must require higher elevations in building codes. But that won’t help already-built homes in older neighborhoods. To help those residents, we must pursue expensive flood mitigation to offset the increased flood peaks resulting from upstream growth.

There’s just no option; it will never end. We can never give up trying to offset competing interests. Or we’re sunk.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/7/2026

3084 Days since 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.

Lake Houston Gates Project Reaches 30% Design Benchmark

2/6/26 – The project to add more gates to the Lake Houston Dam has reached the 30% design benchmark, according to Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger. The 30% milestone is widely regarded among engineers as the point where the design becomes real enough that you can start working out the final details, including costs, geotechnical work, and permitting.

The plan calls for adding 11 new tainter gates to the eastern, earthen portion of the dam. They could release 78,000 cubic feet per second – as much as Lake Conroe released at the peak of Hurricane Harvey.

site of proposed gates for Lake Houston on east side of dam — *Eastern portion of Lake Houston Dam/Spillway where gates would go.*

Flickinger added that the design team is already engaging with regulatory agencies, including the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE-Galveston), and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), to discuss project details and streamline permitting review schedules.

Significance of 30% Benchmark

The 30% completion benchmark is a widely recognized milestone in engineering and infrastructure project development. It marks the transition from conceptual planning into a sufficiently defined design that supports credible cost, schedule, and constructability judgments.

Decision-makers quote it because it is the earliest point at which a project begins to behave like a real, executable asset rather than a rough idea.

While definitions vary slightly by agency, 30% usually falls at the end of preliminary engineering (PE) or schematic design.

Typical deliverables include:

Horizontal and vertical alignments
Right-of-way footprint
Identification of utility conflicts
Substantial completion of hydrology and hydraulics models
Definition of drainage pathways
Identification of jurisdictional constraints (e.g., wetlands)
Likely permitting strategy
Elimination of potential fatal flaws
Engineer’s opinion of probable costs (much tighter than possible before 30%)

In this case, according to one engineer who previously worked on the project, they would also include pre- and post inundation maps and identification of the extent of areas benefitted.

First Defensible Go/No-Go Decision Gate

Why does the 30% point get quoted so often? According to ChatGPT, it’s the first defensible “go/no go” gate. Before 30%, optimism drives a project. At 30%, physics drive it.

At the 30% point, uncomfortable truths surface and cost escalation becomes visible.

Uncertainty gives way to measurable reality
Optimism encounters hydrology, soil, and gravity
Financial exposure becomes calculable
Scope reality emerges

In professional terms, it is the first point of engineering credibility. Before 30%, you deal with selection risk (Do we have the right idea?). After 30%, project managers deal with execution risk. For instance:

Will regulators approve it?
Will available funding meet Benefit/Cost requirements?
How will it affect downstream residents?
Will it meet needs outlined in the SJRA’s Joint Reservoir Operations Study, which is still incomplete.
How will construction of new gates dovetail with dam repairs?

Flickinger Already Met with Mayor About Next Steps

The City still hasn’t released details of its 30% plans for the gates.

However, City Council Member Fred Flickinger said, “Now we know how much more money we need to find to get this project done.” He has already talked to the Mayor’s staff about going to Austin to get it.

There’s still a long way to go. But we have reached a significant milestone and, according to Flickinger, all energies are headed in the right direction.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/6/26

3083 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Caught on Camera: TXDoT Contractor Dumping Fill in Floodplain

For months, Huffman residents have complained about TXDoT contractors dumping fill in the floodplain of Cedar Bayou. This morning, I caught the dumping on camera. The fill comes from two stormwater detention basin sites. One is almost complete. The other one is larger and still being excavated. Both sites are adjacent to the FM2100 reconstruction project.

Dumping Without Permit

Dumping fill in a 100-year floodplain violates county regulations.
Regulations Effective July 9, 2019

Dumping fill in unincorporated areas of Harris County, such as this one, also requires a permit, which the contractors do not have. Harris County Precinct 3 has tried to stop the illegal activity, according to Eric Mullen, Precinct 3’s head engineer.

Jason Haines, a project manager for Precinct 3, says this fill does not have a permit. He also has tried to stop the dumping. But the contractors have not complied. He says that compliance will require either: removal of the fill or removing an equivalent amount somewhere else in the floodplain.

The visual below shows where the fill is coming from and going to. In both cases, it’s coming from outside the floodplain and going into one.

*Luce Bayou cuts across left, Cedar Bayou cuts across lower right. Aqua area = 100 year floodplain.*

Reducing the volume of a floodplain forces stormwater to go elsewhere, i.e., into someone else’s home or business. That’s why the regulations exist.

This morning, I photographed a parade of dump trucks being filled up at the triangular site above and depositing their loads in the floodplain. The activity has been going on for months, according to local residents Max Kidd and his wife.

Below is a small sampling of hundreds of photos I took today and on two previous occasions. They have GPS coordinates embedded in them so you can verify their locations in software, such as PhotoGeoTag.

*Triangular site adjacent to FM2100, which TxDOT is excavating*. *Approximately 26 acres.*

*This dump truck with the blue cab was being filled up at the triangular site.*

I then followed that blue truck to the dump site, a farm just south of the Luce Inter-basin Transfer Canal.

*Same truck with blue cab pulls into position to dump its fill through a door opening beneath the trailer.*

*As it drops its load, a bulldozer immediately starts smoothing it out so the next truck can deposit its load.*

*I watched this for hours, shuttling from Point A to Point B and back again.*

*The elevation of the fill is quite high compared to the height of the bulldozer.*

*The presence of lights indicates the activity may continue after dark.*

*Load after load…all in the floodplain.*

And it’s not just this one mound.

*Additional fill deposited on another part of the same property but not yet spread. Luce Inter-basin Transfer Canal at top.*

*Residents say dirt from this detention basin was also deposited at the same site although I have no pictures of the actual dumping.*

It’s the Principle that Counts

*The dump site (l) is less than a mile from the Huffman High School and Middle School (r), making them more vulnerable to reduced floodplain capacity.*

Note: all floodplains above are based on 2007 pre-Harvey data. The floodplains should get even wider and deeper when FEMA releases the new flood maps.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/5/2026

3082 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.