News Archives - Page 16 of 284

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

2/5/26 – 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.

Romerica Withdraws Plat Application for Proposed Floodplain Development

2/4/26 – Yesterday, the Houston Planning and Development Department called to say that Romerica has withdrawn the variance request for its plat application from the Houston Planning Commission’s agenda for 2/5/26. So, if you were planning to go downtown to protest it tomorrow, there is no longer any need.

Kingwood Residents Concerned about Floodplain Development

Local residents in Kingwood Lakes, Barrington and Trailwood Villages became concerned when they discovered that Romerica was back with the third-iteration of plans to build in the floodway and floodplains of the San Jacinto West Fork. Romerica was seeking plat approval to build a 500,000 square-foot, two-hotel complex with 125 large-luxury villas in a swamp.

The company claimed it would elevate all structures and 6000 feet of roads 60 feet wide on the northern-most part of their property.

But their preliminary drainage analysis also showed them bringing in fill dirt. And Romerica’s ambitious plans indicated they would have to bring in far more dirt than their drainage analysis indicated.

During the debate about their plans with Houston Public Works, it became clear that Romerica had not complied with regulations requiring them to post signage at the entrance to their property that notified the public of their plans.

Unanswered Questions, Concerns

Yesterday, I received a phone call and email from John P. Cedillo in the City’s Planning and Development Department.

His email said, “The application for River Grove GP [General Plan] has been withdrawn by the applicant and will not be considered at the upcoming Planning Commission meeting on February 5. The applicant will need to re-submit and re-start the process including the notice requirements, such as notice letters and notice signs erected for the site.”

In my opinion, this is good news. Many questions remain about Romerica’s plans. For instance, they claimed the hotel would be a Fairmont. But after days of trying, I could not find anyone at Fairmont who would confirm that.

A source in the hotel business told me that the reputational damage to a hotel chain would be so great if one of its properties flooded that they typically have higher standards than even city and county regulators. That’s especially true of high-end international chains, such as Fairmont. Word of a flooded Fairmont Hotel would spread around the world overnight because they draw international clients.

Another source called the proposed development “on the wrong side of the tracks.” That was not a slur against Kingwood, just an acknowledgment of market potential for the planned location. He said that all chains look at traffic counts as their first location-screening tool. “If it’s not on or near an interstate freeway, they don’t want to hear about it,” he said.

Even though plat approvals have to do with street layouts, residents were concerned about the potential to make flooding worse in the area at the south end of Woodland Hills Drive – especially in an area where the thoroughfare itself, i.e., the evacuation route, would be under water in a 100-year flood.

In fact, it last went under water in May 2024.

Romerica in May 2024 Flood — *Romerica proposes to build where water reached treetops to the right of Barrington in May 2024*.

Ronnie Bulanek, a Barrington resident said of Romerica’s latest setback, “It is great news. It will/should be very difficult to develop the land in question without dramatic consequences for the neighboring communities. Until the Lake Houston dam and other flood mitigation issues are completed nothing should be developed in this parcel.”

For More Information

Romerica is the same company that previously proposed building 50-story high-rises next to the floodway of the West Fork. The Army Corps nixed that plan.

Romerica later proposed building homes on stilts. But the company ran into challenges with the Planning Commission then, too.

For more information on Romerica’s proposal, see their presentations which include schematics:

Chris Bloch, a flood activist who has studied Kingwood drainage issues for decades, had these concerns about the proposed development along South Woodland Hills.

Those concerns were only exacerbated when Bloch obtained Romerica’s preliminary drainage analysis the day of the last Planning Commission Meeting on 1/22/26. It raised more questions than answers. Luckily, the Planning Commission deferred action on Romerica’s variance request at that meeting, too. District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger had it pulled from the Commission’s agenda.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/4/26

3081 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.

Toth’s Lies and 2025 Voting Record Exposed

2/3/26 – On 2/1/26, I printed a story about Steve Toth’s shocking voting record in 2021 and 2023. He called me dishonest, claiming I misrepresented his votes on five of the first six bills he checked on my list. See his text and my response below.

Toth claims Rehak dishonest — *Screen capture from 2/2/26 of text exchange with Steve Toth re: his first 6 votes on 2021-2023 list.*

Twenty-four hours after my offer above, Toth has not asked for one legitimate correction. Nor has he sent me a rebuttal. So…onward to Toth’s 2025 voting record.

Overview of Toth’s 2025 Voting Record

In 2025, Toth continued voting against a majority of Republicans on common-sense issues. See the list below. I boiled it down from 53 pages of NO votes on important measures. Toth changes his votes frequently. But as in my previous post, I only included FINAL votes…or the way he clarified he intended to vote.

In my opinion, Toth doesn’t deserve to be called a Republican; he’s an anarchist disguised in Republican clothes who consistently votes against the safety and welfare of his constituents.

For starters, in 2025, Toth voted against flood mitigation, free speech, food banks, cybersecurity, conservation, grid reliability, open meetings, transparency, ethics, border security, fraud protections, and disclosure of campaign finance information.

Groups Toth Voted Against

Despite what he claims, Toth also voted against groups such as law enforcement, first responders, consumers, patients, motorists, veterans, educators, CPAs, dentists, dental hygienists, farmers, restauranteurs, insurers, aviators, heath-care providers, seniors, schoolchildren, whistleblowers, correctional officers, manufacturers, attorneys, college students, utility employees, people who work from home, flood victims, crime victims, and rural Texans.

Toth Even Voted Against Voters

Why? By voting NO on virtually everything, Toth improved his so-called “conservative rating.”

Toth’s trolls make you think he walks on floodwater – while you’re neck-deep in it. They ignore Toth’s own record, while blasting his opponent, Dan Crenshaw with lies and half truths.

If you want to know what Steve Toth stands FOR, look at what he voted AGAINST.
Bob Rehak

For instance, he’s voted multiple times against measures to control fraud, sexual abuse and family violence.

Toth NO Votes on 2025 Bills

For more information about each bill below (including the full text), visit the Texas Legislature Online website. In 2025:

Steve Toth Voted AGAINST	BILL #
Land, water and wildlife conservation	HB 4212
Disclosing social-media impacts on minors	HB 499
Improving public access to occupational therapy	HB 932
Simplifying licensing of CPAs	SB 522
Improving access to dentistry and dental hygiene	HB 1803
Speeding up permits for people working from home	HB 2464
Verifying a purchaser’s age for liquor sales	SB 650
Making social-media companies investigate explicit deep-fake images	HB 3133
AI protections for consumers	HB 149
Banning e-cigarettes disguised as school supplies and toys	SB 2024
Requiring hand-counted ballots to be machine readable for tally verification	HB 3113
Disclosure of campaign finance information	HB 4406
Timely filing of campaign finance reports	HB 1804
Accurate and complete voter registrations	HB 2785
Legible ballots	HB 3697
Letting voters use cell phones while standing in long lines outside	HB 3909
Publishing regulations for placement of political signs	HB 3918
Fining lobbyists who violate restrictions on political contributions	SB 2781
Helping electricity providers recover faster from weather disasters	SB 1963
Protecting oil/gas infrastructure from natural disasters, cyberthreats, and terrorism	HB 1169
Recognizing importance of natural gas during electricity shortages	HB 5224
Inspecting well sites for wildfire susceptibility	HB 3334
Fire safety standards and emergency operations plans	HB 3824
Nuclear energy workforce-development program	SB 1535
Grid-reliability measures that protect customers from outages	SB 6
Recognizing the strategic importance of the Panama Canal	SCR 37
Curbing mass importation of foreign shrimp	HCR 76
Moving NASA headquarters to Houston	HCR 141
Making first responders’ emergency-communication equipment interoperable across Texas	HB 13
All appropriations for 2026-2027	SB 1
Job creation and economic development in Texas	HB 1268
Developing an artificial-intelligence group within the State’s information resources group	HB 2818
Selling surplus DPS vehicles to economically disadvantaged school districts	HB 1851
Planning for severe weather	HB 2618
Bullet-resistant windows for police vehicles	HB 2217
Putting teeth into the state’s open-meetings law	HB 3711
A statewide inventory of equipment available to respond to wildfires	SB 767
Using captured floodwater to expand water supplies	SB 1967
Aerospace, aviation, and space exploration initiatives	HB 5246
Quantum computing	HB 4751
Exempting non-profit food-bank trucks from gasoline taxes	HB 4226
Creating a Texas Severance Tax Revenue and Oil and Natural Gas defense fund (Texas STRONG)	HJR 47
Sharing information about cybersecurity threats and best practices	HB 876
Modernizing manufacturing	SB 2925
Attorney education re: open meetings	HB 4991
Hedging state funds against inflation	SB 21
Making Texas R&D more competitive	SB 2206
Artificial Intelligence regulation	SB 1964
Cybersecurity and AI training for state employees	HB 3512
Establishing a Texas Cyber Command at UT	HB 150
Strengthening education-to-workforce pipelines	SB 1786
Free EMS courses for Texas paramedics	HB 1105
Property tax exemptions for charities supporting medical education	HB 4240
Rights of students to protest peacefully	SB 2972
Nutrition counseling for Medicaid recipients	HB 26
Reducing insurance losses by making property more wind resistant	HB 1576
Reducing Texas windstorm-insurance costs	HB 2518
Requiring written, detailed explanations of auto-repair costs	HB 722
Requiring health benefit plans to cover telemedicine costs	HB 1052
Covering general anesthesia costs for pediatric dental services	SB 527
Insuring first responders on deployment across Texas	HB 4464
Reducing recidivism of juvenile drug addicts	HB 1831
Alzheimer’s and dementia training for guardians	HB 3376
Penalizing fraudulent use of gift cards	SB 1809
Training correctional officers in de-escalation and crisis-intervention	HB 2756
Prohibiting government retaliation against whistleblowers	HB 1232
Prosecuting the fraudulent use of credit cards	HB 272
Studying ways to prevent theft of petroleum products in Texas	SB 494
Letting the PUC screen criminal records of employees and contractors	HB 4344
Combatting human trafficking	SB 610
Preventing interference with utility employees performing their duties	HB 1160
Requiring assisted-living facilities to be licensed	HB 2510
Increasing the minimum duration for emergency-protection orders	SB 2196
Protecting animal-control officers removing carcasses from roadways	SB 305
Creating liabilities for online impersonators who harm others	HB 783
Alleviating court backlogs with retired judges	HB 1664
Protecting family-violence victims from their alleged abusers	HB 4027
Updating laws that reduce electronic card-skimmer fraud	SB 2371
Penalizing those who publish personal information of others with the intent to threaten or harm them or their families	HB 3425
Clarifying conduct that constitutes exploitation and coercion of children, the elderly, and disabled	HB 1347
Increasing penalties for assaulting utility employees performing their duties	SB 482
Requiring convicted child sex traffickers to pay restitution to victims	SB 1804
Making road-rage shootings an aggravated-assault offense	SB 3031
Combatting misuse of AI to generate false harmful, intimate visuals	SB 441
Increasing penalties for driving while intoxicated in school zones	SB 826
Letting municipalities suspend or revoke certificates of occupancy for hotels involved in human trafficking	HB 5509
Creating a Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District	HB 1532
Establishing qualifications for county fire marshals	HB 3687
Increasing higher-education tuition exemptions for military service members	HB 290
Studying obstacles that Texas veterans face when accessing veterans’ cemeteries	HB 1875
Studying ways to improve mental health services for vets	HB 1965
Studying ways to deliver veterans’ benefits more efficiently	HB 2193
Studying ways to use government-surplus real estate to house veterans and low-income families	HB 158
Coordinating activities for the 200th anniversary of Texas’ independence	SB 1350
Training appraisal-district board members	HB 148
Requiring landlords to inform tenants of flood risks in writing	SB 2349
Addressing fraudulent property claims and providing a remedy for affected owners	SB 1734
Streamlining college admissions	SB 2314
Improving early learning for children with disabilities or developmental delays	HB 2310
Providing instructional materials for career education in health care to ISDs	HB 2189
First-aid training on “airway clearance” in public schools	HB 549
Civics instruction in high schools	HB 824
Grants for Texas-history education	SB 519
Preventing sexual abuse of students by school employees	HB 4623
Telemedicine for rural Texans	HB 18
Establishing a Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and supporting dementia research	SJR 3
Emergency contraceptives for sexual assault victims	HB 220
Requiring assisted-living facilities to adopt power-outage emergency plans that include climate-controlled areas	HB 3595
Tracking distribution of opioid antagonists to help prevent drug overdoses	HB 4783
Minimum training requirements for day-care centers	HB 4665
Helping opioid-users on Medicaid who are pregnant	HB 5155
Educating college freshmen about fentanyl and other drugs	HB 3062
Increasing accountability for nursing homes in the Medicaid program	SB 457
Creating regional mobility authorities	HJR 144
Requiring the Texas Transportation Commission to back projects that improve border security	HB 3849
Prohibiting trains from blocking roads for 30 minutes or more	HB 4207
Requiring seatbelts in older buses to protect schoolchildren	SB 546

I Believe NOTHING Toth Says Anymore

I no longer believe anything the do-nothing Mr. Toth and his hired trolls say. Toth paints himself as a conservative purist…while lying about his opponent who gets results for his constituents. Toth also lies about his own record. That’s yet another reason why I’m voting for Dan Crenshaw and I hope you do, too.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/3/26

3080 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.

Steve Toth’s Shocking Voting Record on Flooding and Other Issues

2/1/26 – State Representative Steve Toth is running against U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw in the Republican primary for the second congressional district of Texas.

To date, Toth has run a largely negative campaign, smearing Crenshaw with half-truths and lies. When I posted a positive story about Crenshaw’s work in Congress to reduce flood risk, dozens of hired Toth trolls flooded Facebook with false negative comments about Crenshaw – all unsubstantiated.

Usually, when candidates have nothing positive to say about themselves, they tear down opponents. That made me curious. So, I investigated Toth’s voting record in Austin. Toth voted NO on every bill below. And…

On every vote, Toth went against a majority of Republicans voting YES.

Because bill descriptions can get quite long, I summarized them. However, using the bill numbers and their years in the table below, you can easily look up everything about them in the Texas Legislature Online website. (So far, I’ve only gotten through the 2021 and 2023 sessions.)

Steve Toth Voted NO on…

Steve Toth voted NO on all of these bills. What would you have voted?

*Steve Toth:*	*Bill #*	% Other Republicans Voting FOR
Voted against a hotline to report workplace violence	HB 915 in 2023	83%
Voted against allowing people to affiliate with the political party of their choice.	HB 1635 in 2023	94%
Voted against handicapped parking at polling places	HB 386 in 2023	92%
Voted against simplifying disclosure of election information	HB 4053 in 2023	53%
Voted against the Texas Ethics Commission educating people about its work, which includes campaign finance disclosure	SB 62 in 2021	57%
Voted against sexual harassment prevention	SB 2233 in 2021	81%
Voted against expanding water infrastructure	HJR 169 in 2023	91%
Voted against oil well cleanup	HB 3973 in 2021	53%
Voted against hurricane protection for the Gulf Coast	SB 1160 in 2021	76%
Voted against military law enforcement	HB 3452 in 2021	80%
Voted against economic growth	HB 1392 in 2023	90%
Voted against highway improvements	HB 1392 in 2023	90%
Voted against cybersecurity protection	HB 4018 in 2021	70%
Voted against disaster response loans	HB 2812 in 2021	77%
Voted against training for drug overdose treatment	SB 998 in 2023	89%
Voted against “Made-in-Texas” labeling standards	HB 2194 in 2023	83%
Voted against basic standards of care for dogs and cats bred in captivity	SB 876 in 2023	72%
Voted against child-labor penalties	HB 2459 in 2023	75%
Voted against penalties for importing invasive snake species	HB 2326 in 2021	63%
Voted against tax relief for farm families	HB 3241 in 2023	98%
Voted against online consumer protection	HB 3745 in 2021	80%
Voted against preventing sexual-harassment in the workplace	SB 45 in 2021	67%
Voted against uniform election dates	HB 2133 in 2023	88%
Voted against higher qualifications for sheriffs	SB 1124 in 2023	77%
Voted against making it easier for people with disabilities to vote	SB 477 in 2023	69%
Voted against financing water projects	SJR 75 in 2023	94%
Voted against improving electric reliability	HB 1607 in 2021	68%
Voted against consumer protections for electricity customers	HB 16 in 2021	68%
Voted against making it easier to buy solar products	SB 398 in 2021	75%
Voted against making it easier for energy companies to repay repair expenses from Winter Storm Uri	HB 4492 in 2021	78%
Voted against property tax relief	HJR 102 in 2023	56%
Voted against reporting cybersecurity breaches	SB 271 in 2023	98%
Voted against pay parity for Texas police officers	HB 2297 in 2023	98%
Voted against the economic stabilization fund	HJR 82 in 2021	83%
Voted against disclosure of occupational licenses	HB 2404 in 2021	95%
Voted against improving state information technology	HB 4018 in 2021	70%
Voted against mental health funding	HB 15 in 2023	63%
Voted against the Texas University Fund	HJR 3 in 2023	88%
Voted against providing opioid intervention on college campuses	HB 3338 in 2023	80%
Voted against bonds for a Brain Institute of Texas	HJR 5 in 2021	56%
Voted against a Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute	SB 1780 in 2021	71%
Voted against combatting human trafficking	HB 3772 in 2023	59%
Voted against closing massage parlors involved in human trafficking	HB 3579 in 2023	80%
Voted against training hotel/motel employees to recognize human trafficking	HB 390 in 2021	78%
Voted against improving preparedness for wind/hail storms	HB 4354 in 2023	85%
Voted against requiring insurers to disclose prescription drug coverage	SB 622 in 2023	73%
Voted against access to fertility preservation services for cancer patients	HB 1649 in 2023	63%
Voted against requiring health plans to cover ovarian cancer screening in annual exams	HB 428 in 2021	79%
Voted against allowing clinicians to dispense cancer drugs	HB 1586 in 2021	73%
Voted against updating voyeurism laws to account for hidden cameras	HB 2306 in 2023	98%
Voted against making criminal sentencing data available to public	HB 3937 in 2023	77%
Voted against classifying highway obstruction by street gangs as a criminal offense	HB 1442 in 2023	81%
Voted against a task force to prevent organized retail theft	HB 1826 in 2023	93%
Voted against minimum salaries for county sheriffs	HB 626 in 2023	94%
Voted against requiring perpetrators of certain felonies to provide DNA	HB 3956 in 2023	88%
Voted against requiring correctional officers to wear body cams	HB 1524 in 2023	63%
Voted against increasing fines on those engaged in anti-trust activities	HB 5232 in 2023	99%
Voted against cracking down on the use of AI to generate false sexualized images of people	HB1896 in 2023	98%
Voted against speeding up DNA analysis	HB 3957 in 2023	93%
Voted against dismissing controlled-substance cases even when tests proved no controlled substance was involved	HB 3686 in 2023	92%
Voted against creating a centralized portal for DPS lab records	SB 991 in 2023	92%
Voted against expanding the definition of stalking to include previous family violence	SB 1717 in 2023	67%
Voted against handgun proficiency instruction for security officials	HB 3424 in 2023	88%
Voted against limiting physician liability for medically necessary procedures when patients give informed consent	HB 3058 in 2023	87%
Voted against reimbursing counties for GPS monitoring in family violence cases	HB 1906 in 2021	65%
Voted against preventing financial abuse of nursing home residents	SB 270 in 2021	95%
Voted against increasing punishments for criminal offenses against public servants	HB 624 in 2021	84%
Voted against creating a new offense for boating with a child while drunk	HB 2505 in 2021	84%
Voted against ensuring accuracy of DPS databases of street-gang members	HB 1838 in 2021	72%
Voted against increasing the penalties for assault against a process server	HB 1306 in 2021	91%
Voted against installing climate control systems in prisons	HB 1971 in 2021	77%
Voted against making retaliation against a public servant a second-degree felony	HB 285 in 2021	94%
Voted against creating an offense for providing false or misleading information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System	SB 162 in 2021	83%
Voted against restricting the use of choke holds by police	SB 69 in 2021	91%
Voted against prohibiting entity names that falsely imply governmental affiliation	HB 1493 in 2021	83%
Voted against making ballot language consistent with election orders	HB 4704 in 2023	76%
Voted against giving surviving spouses and children of those who died while serving in the US Armed Forced free access to state parks	HB 1740 in 2023	97%
Voted against increasing homestead exemptions for surviving spouses of members of US Armed Forces	HB 4181 in 2023	92%
Voted against mental health services for vets and their families	HB 1457 in 2023	78%
Voted against 100% property tax exemptions for totally disabled vets	HB 1613 in 2023	93%
Voted against employment training for vets	HB 739 in 2021	68%
Voted against limited property-tax exemptions for homeowners with intellectual or developmental disabilities	HB 3640 in 2023	93%
Voted against allowing local tax exemptions for day care facilities	SJR 64 in 2023	59%
Voted against protecting landlords that evict illegal massage operators	HB 3536 in 2023	74%
Voted against economic development programs that allowed ISD tax abatement agreements	HB 5 in 2023	85%
Voted against tax abatement for physicians who offered free services to the indigent	HJR 25 in 2021	89%
Voted against pre-kindergarten	HB 1615 in 2023	74%
Voted against sharing existing school-training courses with employees of child-care facilities	HB 1905 in 2023	60%
Voted against CPR instruction for grades 7-12	HB 4375 in 2023	93%
Voted against “career-investigation days” for high school juniors and seniors	SB68 in 2023	98%
Voted against school-crossing-zone protections for high schools	HB 1263 in 2023	95%
Voted against allowing accredited armed-forces instructors to teach in K-12 public schools while they complete civilian educator-prep programs	SB 544 in 2023	96%
Voted against prohibiting parents who injured officials at sporting events from attending future events	HB 2484 in 2023	89%
Voted against “digital citizenship” instruction	HB 129 in 2021	58%
Voted against child-abuse, family-violence, dating-violence and sex-trafficking education	SB 9 in 2021	65%
Voted against workplace-violence-prevention policies	SB 240 in 2023	69%
Voted against requiring health plans to apply third-party payments that would reduce prescription costs	HB 999 in 2023	92%
Voted against extending Medicaid coverage for pregnant women	HB 12 in 2023	90%
Voted against allowing Physician Assistants from certain other pre-approved states to practice in Texas without a new license	HB 2544 in 2023	87%
Voted against reporting maternal mortality data to Dept. of State Health Services	HB 663 in 2023	87%
Voted against requiring assisted-living facilities to provide Alzheimer’s training to staff	HB 1673 in 2023	82%
Voted against prohibiting nursing home facilities from misappropriating federal grants made to residents on Medicaid	HB 1290 in 2023	95%
Voted against improving public access to occupational therapy	HB 1683 in 2023	93%
Voted against including the names of people found guilty of child abuse or neglect in a central registry	HB 2572 in 2023	66%
Voted against prohibiting the state from retaliating against employees who report a criminal offense	SB182/Amendment 1 in 2023	52%
Voted against expanding disposal programs for expired prescription drugs statewide	SB 2173 in 2023	60%
Voted against a program to improve health outcomes for pregnant women and their children	HB 1575 in 2023	87%
Voted against a training program for those investigating child abuse/neglect	SB 1447 in 2023	64%
Voted against providing luggage for transporting belongings of foster children	HB 3765 in 2023	74%
Voted against aid for human-trafficking victims	HB 2633 in 2021	71%
Voted against waiving driver’s license fees/costs for foster or homeless children	SB 2054 in 2021	87%
Voted against a bill prohibiting construction of new assisted living facilities in Harris County 100-year floodplains	HB1681 in 2021	61%
Voted against a bill increasing penalties for felons in unlawful possession of a firearm	HB4843 in 2023	82%
Voted against a motor-fuel tax exemption for food-bank trucks	HB 3599 in 2023	97%
Voted against creating a Texas Space Commission	HB 3447 in 2023	86%
Voted against record-keeping requirements for used catalytic converter sales	HB 4110 in 2021	63%

Actions Speak Louder than Hired Trolls and Campaign Platitudes

By voting NO, Toth boosts his “conservative” rating among some right-leaning think tanks. He touts that rating heavily, but…

Understanding what Toth voted NO on gives you deeper insight into the man and his values.

Toth Voted No On Flood-Mitigation

Toth represents the sand-mining areas in Montgomery County. They send much of the sediment downstream that reduces conveyance of our rivers and streams. Yet he has done nothing I have seen to help control them.

Even worse, he voted NO on Charles Cunningham’s bill (HB 1532) to create a dredging district for the Lake Houston Area in the last session.

He also voted NO on HB 1681 in 2021, a bill that prohibited building assisted-living facilities in Harris County’s 100-year floodplains. (See red entry above.)

One third of all the people in Harris County who died as a result of Harvey lived in one such facility near Kingwood Town Center – in a 500-year flood plain.

After the Camp Mystic tragedy last year when more than 135 people died in flash flooding, Toth even voted for the right to continue building kids camps in floodplains.

Get Out the Vote

Make sure you vote in the upcoming primaries. And make sure you get all your friends and neighbors out to vote, too. This will literally be a life-and-death election for the Lake Houston Area.

I’m voting for Crenshaw. I hope you do, too.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/1/2027

3078 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.