In the March 30, 2021 Harris County Commissioner’s Court Meeting, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) gave a Flood Bond update. Here’s where projects in the 2018 Flood Bond program stand.
Accept 25 grants totaling approximately $960 million with Bond funds providing around $259 million in local matching funds
Execute 326 engineering agreements totaling $241 million
Award 39 construction agreements totaling $296 million
Procure 19 staff augmentation agreements providing 113 contract staff members
Acquire nearly 340 properties at a value over $208 million for construction projects, floodplain preservation, and wetland mitigation banks
Make $115 million available to the Office of the County Engineer to manage and construct drainage improvements in nearly 100 subdivisions across Harris County
Conduct 140 community engagement meetings with over 11,413 attendees
Complete nearly 630 home buyouts at a value over $130 million with over 680 additional in process for a buyout (since Hurricane Harvey)
Complete over $125 million repair program to address damages to District infrastructure caused by Hurricane Harvey
19 Projects Completed, 372 Underway
The flood bond update shows that of the 19 projects completed so far, investigations, analyses and studies comprised 15.
Altogether there are 372 individual HCFCD projects in progress related to the Bond Program. The table below shows the stages of those projects.
88% of all projects identified in the flood bond are currently underway and at some state of completion.
Only 21 Projects Not Yet Started
Only 21 Bond projects have not yet started. They are all in the fourth quartile of the bond prioritization framework and will begin between July 2021 and March 2022. Of those, two are in the San Jacinto watershed: CI-61 (East Fork, West Fork, and Lake Houston Dredging) and F-15 (General Drainage Improvements near Atascocita).
Dredging included a $10 million match with estimated partner funds of $40 million.
FEMA/Army Corps, TWDB and City of Houston funds have covered dredging in the river to date.
Status of Lake Houston Area Projects
Other projects in the Lake Houston Area at least partially underway.
Luce Bayou and Huffman
Project underway include right-of-way acquisition, design and construction of general drainage improvements in the Luce Bayou Watershed and near Huffman (total $20 million). Luce Bayou right-of-way acquisition and floodplain preservation ($10 million) has also started.
Gates on Lake Houston Dam
Design and construction of additional gates on Lake Houston ($20 million) is nearing completion of the design phase. The City of Houston has taken the lead on that project but has made no announcements on it recently.
Other Projects Lake Houston Area Partially Underway
The San Jacinto Watershed Study ($625,000)
Funding for future partnership projects based on the SJR watershed study ($18.75 million)
Investigation of potential detention sites around the Glendale Dredge site in Partnership with the City of Houston ($50,000)
Conveyance improvements along Panther Creek ($10 million)
General drainage improvements east of Lake Houston ($10 million)
General Drainage Improvements near Kingwood ($10 million)
One Third of Projects Now Past Design Phase
One third of all projects have already begin work outside.
Ellis Not Content with 40% of Construction Going into Two Bayous in His Precinct
40% of all projects under construction are in Greens and Halls Bayou Watersheds, the two Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis cares most about. He wants to slow down projects in other areas to focus more on projects in his area.
For a discussion of how the meeting went, check back tomorrow.
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Most of us would hate to get flooded. Repairs can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. They can also disrupt normal life for months or even years. Yet collectively, we often act in ways that worsen flooding. Why?
From Ignorance to Inadvertence and Intentional
Some individuals do it out of ignorance, like the person who re-routes his drainage onto a neighbor’s property without thinking.
Some do it out of self-interest, like the person who re-routes his drainage onto a neighbor’s property WHILE thinking that he is saving his own.
And some do it on a mass scale for profit. These include developers who falsify engineering reports, or exploit loopholes and grandfather clauses in local regulations to save money. For instance, by avoiding the construction of detention ponds, they can squeeze more saleable lots out of a piece of land. Likewise, some bring fill into floodplains. And even try to build homes in floodways.
Putting Self-Interest Ahead of Public Interest
They all have one thing in common. They put self-interest ahead of public interest. They let society deal with the consequences of inconsiderate and sometimes illegal actions.
When you look at such actions as conflicts between the individual and the collective, they appear rational – people just trying to maximize their profits and minimize their costs.
But when you look at it from the taxpayer perspective, through the other end of the telescope, these actions appear irrational, self-contradictory and paradoxical. Some examples:
New condos being erected by a Chinese developer near the floodway of the San Jacinto West Fork (foreground). Everything behind these condos for more than a mile and a half flooded during Harvey.The developer targets Chinese investors who likely have little means to explore the flood risk.
A corollary to that: we make publicly subsidized flood insurance available in the United States. That creates a false sense of security that encourages development in dangerous places. “Even if I flood, I’m covered.” Would a private insurance company make the same offer? Hell no! They would price the policy so that people had to investigate and reconsider the risk.
Most people place unfounded faith in numbers and experts. The engineer who tells them their new home is X feet above the hundred-year flood plain may be a hired gun who does not disclose limitations on the data. For instance, in one case I saw a new mall upstream changed the base flood elevation of a residence by 12 FEET! Who was that engineer working for? Was the City or County engineer really checking his work?
Most people are not knowledgeable enough to interpret risk from flood maps. They think they’re in or out of the risky areas based on government flood maps. But they may not know that their local government has not updated the data on which those maps are built for decades. During that time, intensive upstream development may have occurred.
Brown & Root warned of the need for maintenance dredging at certain places on the West Fork San Jacinto almost two decades before the need became APPARENT. But it was easy to defer maintenance on problems lurking underwater. And the City did. That contributed to the flooding of almost 20,000 homes and businesses in the Lake Houston area during Harvey.
We acknowledge that flooding does not respect political boundaries. But flood regulations remain, in many cases, out of sync across those boundaries. The balkanization of local politics makes flood mitigation difficult. Careless development upstream can quickly offset the expenditure of hundreds of millions spent on flood mitigation projects downstream. That results in no net gain and can even make flooding worse.
Most Americans dream of owning their own little plot of land. So, we continue to grow outward, not upward. This creates the need for more concrete and other impervious cover. More floodplains get filled. More wetlands get destroyed. More roads get paved. More aggregate gets extracted from floodways and floodplains. And the cycle continues relentlessly.
Some counties deliberately design lax floodplain regulations or ignore them to lure developers. The East Montgomery County Improvement District used to trumpet, “Come here. We have no rules.” Then the developers build questionable developments in questionable places and target first-time home buyers who are too naïve to understand the risks.
Montgomery County also hired an engineering firm to check the engineering firm’s own plans for a developer. As many as 600 homes across the county line in Kingwood flooded when the company didn’t highlight its own “errors.” For instance, they said there were no floodplains or wetlands when there were. If these guys were financial auditors, they would be disbarred by now. Talk about conflicts! But in the topsy-turvy world of engineering, that can make them more attractive to potential developer clients.
Major floods happen infrequently enough that officials, engineers and developers can blame them on “acts of God.” In reality, floods result not only from what falls from the sky, but also from thousands of individual decisions leading up to the flood. Developers who built in the wrong place. People who bought in the wrong place. Based on information some experts knew was outdated. Without taking proper precautions. See above.
Flood mitigation and disaster relief processes take too long. They need re-engineering to shorten the time between problem and solution. We are still accepting applications for Harvey aid. And most of the flood mitigation projects completed to date that arose from Harvey have been studies that are a preludeto construction. The lengthy time between problem and solution keeps people at risk for flooding.
Bizarre Paradoxes
After studying and writing about flooding for more than three years, here are my nominations for the 17 most bizarre things we tolerate as a society re: flooding.
Self-Inflicted Flooding
I could go on. But you get the idea. Much flooding is self-inflicted by the human race.
I received a flood insurance mailing today from USAA. They pointed out how much even a small amount of water can set you back financially. “Just 1 inch of flood damage can cost you more than $25,000,” the company claims. “Why risk it?”
USAA also points out that:
Floods are the #1 natural disaster in the U.S.
Flood insurance isn’t part of your typical homeowner’s coverage.
More than 20% of flood losses each year occur in low- or medium-risk areas.
We need to have a serious discussion about these paradoxes. Clearly, we’re doing many things wrong.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/29/2021
1308 Days after 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.
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In the 2021 Legislation session, State Rep. Dan Huberty introduced HB2525, a bill to create a Dredging and Maintenance District for Lake Houston. Senator Brandon Creighton introduced an identical companion bill in the senate, SB1892. It deserves the support of everyone in the Houston region who depends on the lake for water as well as those whose homes and businesses flooded during Harvey.
South of the Kingwood Country Club’s Island Course, Hurricane Harvey deposited several feet of sand that reduced the carrying capacity of the West Fork by 90%, according to the Army Corps.
Union Pacific Railroad Bridge over West Fork after Harvey had turned into a “beaver dam” because of deadfall washed downstream and caught in the supports.After Harvey, sand deposits at the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge reached the tree tops.West Fork Mouth Bar immediately after Harvey virtually blocked the river between Kings Point and Atascocita Point (top right).
Wherever moving bodies of water meet standing bodies, the current decelerates and sediment tends to drop out of suspension. You can see the same phenomenon where smaller streams and channels enter the lake.
History of Disputes with FEMA, Corps Over Deferred Maintenance
After Harvey, leaders in the Humble/Kingwood Area fought with the Corps to remove the biggest of the blockages – the West Fork Mouth Bar. The Corps fought back.
The Corps and FEMA believed the massive mouth bar had been growing for years and that it resulted from deferred maintenance.
There was some truth to that. That reach of the West Fork had never been dredged at least in the previous 40 years. The ensuing debate lasted more than a year.
That’s why, shortly after the Corps started its Emergency Dredging program in 2018, it emphasized the need for maintenance dredging to a) avoid such disputes and b) keep problems at a subacute level.
Two Years Later, FEMA/Corps Agreed to Partial Mouth Bar Dredging
In the three and a half years since Harvey, according to boaters and residents, we have not yet been able to restore the area between Kings Point and Atascocita Point to its pre-storm depth. We haven’t even removed all of the mouth bar.
Three mechanical dredges are still trying to reduce the West Fork Mouth bar more than 15 months after they started.Photo taken 3/19/21.
We need to figure how much sediment comes downriver every year and remove at least that much with a maintenance dredging program to:
Stop or reduce the loss of reservoir capacity
Reduce the risk of flooding
Show good faith to FEMA, eliminate contentious arguments with regular river bottom surveys, and demonstrate how much build-up resulted from a particular disaster.
We also need to be able to quickly accelerate the program after major storms such as Harvey and Imelda.
Dredging needs to be a continuous activity because one major flood can deposit more sediment than humans can remove in years.
How You Can Help
I urge you to support HB2525. Write as many local leaders on the City, County and State levels as possible. Pay particular attention to the House Natural Resources Committee where the bill is pending hearings right now. State Senator Brandon Creighton has filed an identical companion bill, SB1892, which has been referred to the Local Government Committee.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/28/2021
1307 Days after Hurricane Harvey
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Shortly after the winter storm in February that caused statewide power outages, officials estimated the death toll near 60. In the last month, that figure has risen to 111 – nearly double the previous estimate and 43 higher than Hurricane Harvey which killed 68.
The February 2021 Winter Storm claimed 43 more lives in Texas than Hurricane Harvey.
Not Just Hypothermia
The New York Times reported Representative Joaquin Castro, an Austin Democrat, as saying, “It’s worse than anyone could have imagined.
“Douglas Loveday, a spokesman with the state health department, said that it had taken investigators weeks to link the additional deaths to the cold weather and the accompanying storm,” said the Times.
State officials said that while most winter storm victims died from hypothermia, other died from:
Vehicle accidents
Medical equipment failures
Chronic illnesses that were suddenly worsened
Lack of home oxygen
Falls
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Fire.
Search for Solutions
As the death toll has climbed from the winter storm, the search for causes of the grid failure continues. The Times article continued, “The storm disrupted the power infrastructure, which, officials said, was unprepared for such intense winter conditions.”
The big questions:
“Why were we unprepared?”
“Who’s at fault?”
“How can we prevent a recurrence?”
Officials have called for an overhaul of the state’s power system. But aside from some symbolic firings of ERCOT board members, no one to date has made hard decisions about becoming part of a larger grid or winterizing equipment that failed. Some may be difficult to winterize given current technology.
Texas Power Sources
According to ERCOT, Texas gets its power from five sources: solar (2%), nuclear (11%), coal (18%), wind (23%), and natural gas (46%).
Percent of Texas Power supplied by Solar, Nuclear, Coal, Wind and Natural Gas. Source: ERCOT.
Ice, for instance, can form on wind turbine blades, severely impairing efficiency. This article in ScienceDirect describes the problem. “Ice accretion on the blades of a wind turbine can lead to turbine shutdown, power loss and damage to turbine components. To prevent ice formation on wind turbine blades, an ice sensor integrated with an ice mitigation system is required. The ice sensor can be used with a de-icer on the blade surface. However, the current ice sensing and de-icing technologies are inefficient and integrated systems need appreciable improvement.”
It ain’t easy being green.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/26/2021
1305 Days after Hurricane Harvey
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South of Kingwood’s HCA Medical Center, contractors have made slow but steady progress on the site for New Caney High School #3 between Sorters-McClellan Road and US59. I reported last November that they were pouring concrete. They still are. But there’s a lot more of it on the ground of the 80+ acre site. About half of the site is now covered with gray concrete. However, the most striking feature is the intensely green detention pond. The grass lining it looks more like a thick blanket of neon green faux fur.
Photos Taken on 3/19/2021
Looking east across the southern part of the site at the large detention pond. Grass in such ponds reduces erosion. The erosion can clog ditches, streams and rivers; and contribute to flooding.US59 cuts through the top of the frame. For orientation, note the Lowes Store in the upper left.Looking south toward the San Jacinto River, which is out of sight above the top of the frame. Sorters-McClellan Road cuts through the upper right of the frame. Approximately half the site is now covered in concrete. Playing fields will eventually occupy the area to the left.Looking NE from the northernmost part of the site. US59 cuts diagonally through the upper right of the frame. Note HCA Medical Center and Insperity in the distance at Kingwood Drive.Artists rendering of New Caney High School #3, looking east. The main entrance of the school will face Sorters-McClellan Road; the playing fields will face US59.General plan for New Caney High School #3. North is to the left.
New Caney ISD’s enrollment grew 31 percent between 2011 and 2016. That ranked NCISD first in the greater Houston area and fourth in the state for percentage enrollment growth. Eventually, the high school will hold 2,250 students. However, the school will open with only 1,350.
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Harris County Flood Control District’s current excavation/repair project on Taylor Gully is nearing its downstream limit. The project began in January upstream from the Maple Bend Bridge. Drone photos below taken on 3/19/21 show the extent of work downstream from the bridge.
The project has two main objectives: 1) restore the conveyance of the ditch, and repair damaged or blocked storm-drain outfalls and backslope interceptor structures.
Pictures from 3/19/21
Taylor Gully in Woodstream. Direction of flow goes from lower left to upper right toward woods. Total project length is about 2250 feet: 750 upstream and 1500 downstream from the Maple Bend bridge between the two red lines.Looking NE from Maple Bend in Woodstream Village. Upper banks have already been addressed on both sides of channel. Now, excavation seems to be focusing on the lower areas near the water and working back upstream (toward the camera position).Ground level shot in same direction taken with telephoto lens from Maple Bend bridge.Note the height of these drain pipes – 6 feet! They will convey water from storm drains directly into the ditch.
Smaller pipes stacked along the banks (see below) will be used to create backslope interceptors before the job is complete.
Looking back upstream toward the Maple Bend Bridge in the middle ground. Areas beyond the bridge appear complete, but area in foreground does not yet have backslope interceptor pipes installed.(See more below.)
Excavation and final dressing of slopes is almost complete upstream of the bridge. See below. When complete, the downstream slopes will look this way, too!
The two concrete structures on the sides of the the ditch are called backslope interceptors. Swales run parallel to the ditch and catch water before it can flow over the banks. The pipes carry the water beneath the bank to the bottom of the ditch. This is a “best management practice” that reduces erosion and extends maintenance intervals.
Next Steps
The project started in mid-January. At the current rate of progress and assuming cooperative weather, “substantial completion” could happen within a month. Substantial completion is a major milestone for contractors. When they think they are done, they schedule a walkthrough for HCFCD to inspect the work. If anything misses the mark, the Contractor has 30 days to clean-up the “punch list items”. Then HCFCD walks it again. Once the Contractor has addressed all outstanding items, the company demobilizes and the Flood Control District “accepts” the channel.
1303 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 552 since Imelda
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Hurricane naming is changing. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has retired the names of Hurricanes Laura, Eta, and Iota from 2020 and Dorian from 2019 because of the death and destruction they caused. WMO also eliminated use of the Greek alphabet when names based on the Latin alphabet are used up. Now, a second list of names, also keyed to the Latin alphabet will be available. In other words, we’ll go around twice with the Latin alphabet if necessary.
The Greek alphabet will not be used in the future because it creates a distraction from the communication of hazard and storm warnings and is potentially confusing.
The 2020 season got off to an early start with a nine named storms from May through July. And for the first time on record, it ended with two MAJOR storms in November. The season was so active that the Greek alphabet was used for only the second time; the first was in 2005.
“In total, 93 names have now been retired from the Atlantic basin list since 1953, when storms began to be named,” says WMO.
Recently retired Hurricane Names
Recap of Storms with Newly Retired Names
2019 – Dorian
Dorian was a Category 5 hurricane and the strongest to hit the Bahamas in modern times. “More than 75 percent of all homes on the island were damaged,” said WMO. The hurricane left 29,500 people homeless and/or jobless.
2020 – Laura
Category 4 Laura hit Louisiana with a 17 feet storm surge. It killed 47 people in the United States and Hispaniola, and caused more than $19 billion in damage.
2020 – Eta & Iota
Hurricanes Eta and Iota hit Nicaragua two weeks apart in November last year. They caused extensive flooding in Central America, killed 272, can caused more than $9 billion in damages.
Reasons for Retiring Greek Alphabet
According to WMO, “The annual name list has been exhausted on two occasions during the past 15 years, and it is likely that this will occur again in the future.”
Because of problems associated with the Greek alphabet, WMO will substitute Latin-based A-Z names (excluding Q, U, X, Y, Z).
Confusion when translating Greek names into some languages.
Too much focus on the novelty of Greek names detracts from safety messaging.
Similarity of Zeta, Eta, Theta, which occur in succession resulted in storms with very similar sounding names occurring simultaneously. This caused confusion.
WMO has already agreed on a supplemental list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names to replace the Greek names. It’s a little bizarre. I noted that they used “Pax.” Pax means stability and peace, not meanings I would normally associate with a Cat 5 hurricane!
Post by Bob Rehak on March 23, 2021, based on information from the World Meteorological Organization.
Even if you don’t believe in climate change, the way the National Hurricane Center (NHC) covers tropical weather will change this year. Until now, NHC began issuing regular tropical weather outlooks on June 1st. Now they will start two weeks earlier.
The actual start date of the Atlantic basin hurricane season will remain June 1, but this is also being looked at for changes to an earlier start date in future years.
Hurricane Harvey at its peak intensity in August of 2017 as it came ashore in Texas. Photo courtesy of NOAA.
Text of NHC Press Release
“In order to provide more frequent information on the potential for tropical cyclone formation as the official June 1 start of the Atlantic hurricane season approaches, the National Hurricane Center will begin routine issuance of the Atlantic Tropical Weather Outlook (TWO) and the Graphical TWO at 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC) May 15, 2021.”
“Given recent increased tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic basin in late May, routine issuance of the Atlantic TWO starting on May 15 offers a service improvement over unscheduled Special TWOs that are issued to discuss the possibility of tropical cyclone formation prior to the official start of hurricane season on June 1.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/23/21 based on information from the National Hurricane Center
1302 Days after Hurricane Harvey
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In 2018, Humble ISD voters approved a $575 million bond referendum. One of the projects involves a complete rebuild of Kingwood Middle School with an open, airy feeling; much larger classrooms; and unlike the old school, a large detention pond. Three years later, it’s starting to look real. I took all photos below on March 21, 2021.
Framing of a new building with steel. This is when you can see plans on paper start to come to life for the first time.Looking west toward Woodland Hills Drive.Looking north toward the middle part of the new site. Construction is moving in this direction. Those green boxes are where concrete piers will eventually support steel columns that, in turn, support the weight of the building.At the southeast end of the site, a temporary detention pond holds runoff from the construction site. Eventually, contractors will replace it with a permanent detention pond farther to the west.This Google Earth photo taken months ago, shows the new middle school going in where the playing fields used to be north of the existing school. When the new building is complete, it will be torn down and the playing fields will be relocated where the existing building is now.
The new middle school’s design incorporates the concept of Kingwood’s “Livable Forest,” using ample amounts of natural light to combine interior and exterior spaces into a cohesive learning environment. There will be more space for collaboration, integrated physical activity and movement. Classrooms will be about 200 square feet larger. Car and bus drop-off and pick-up have also been optimized to relieve traffic on the neighboring streets.
Computer rendering of new school.
Target opening: start of the 2022 school year. So we still have another year of construction. But I’m sure the result will be well worth any inconvenience.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/22/2021
1301 Days since Hurricane Harvey
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On January 21, 2021, the Texas Sunset Commission released its “Staff Report with Commission Decisions” on the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA). The 53-page report generally gave the SJRA a good review, but recommended that it:
Improve trust through better communications, public outreach, openness and transparency
Receive better value by improving contracting processes
The Commission also recommends that the Texas Legislative Council update and consolidate the SJRA’s governing law and processes.
The Sunset Act never subjected the SJRA to abolishment. However, it put its governance, management, operating structure, and compliance with legislative requirements under a microscope.
The report alluded to issues surrounding flooding and groundwater. However, Sunset Commission does not comment on issues in litigation as a matter of policy, so as not to influence the outcome. And although the Commission received extensive public input, it did not address comments directly for the same reason.
Those who take the time to read the entire report will be rewarded with a thorough, yet concise and illuminating summary of the SJRA’s business and the challenges it faces. The SJRA has adopted most, if not all, of the recommendations made by the Commission to some degree. Adopting the recommendations should not have any adverse fiscal impact on the SJRA or cause it financial strain.
Need for Better Communication and Engagement to Improve Trust
The Commission found that SJRA needs an effective communications strategy to advance projects. Especially if the projects could result in increased costs to the general public years before the public sees benefits.
Criticism: SJRA has not developed a formal strategy for engaging the general public in its activities, struggles to provide clear explanations of its wholesale water rates, and does not maintain important information on its website.
The Commission recommended a more proactive and strategic approach to communicating with and engaging the public. That, it felt, would help SJRA earn the trust of and get buy-in from the communities it ultimately serves.
Key recommendations included:
Require SJRA to adopt a public engagement policy that guides and encourages public involvement on key decisions.
Direct SJRA to develop a strategic communications plan.
Direct SJRA to provide clear, understandable information on its rates and fees prominently on its website.
Improve Contracting Function to Receive Best Value
The Commission also found that the SJRA guidance to staff fell short in important areas. Those areas included justifying the need to outsource services and maximizing open competition for contracts. In addition, the commission also felt SJRA lacks consistent documentation for monitoring the performance of its vendors.
Key recommendations included directing the SJRA to:
Establish additional guidance for contracting needs and procurement methods, and use open solicitations except in documented exceptions.
Consistently monitor, document, and evaluate vendor performance.
Improve the transparency, fairness, and effectiveness of its contracting process.
Update Governing Law and Processes
Over the years, Sunset reviews have included a number of standard elements designed to ensure open, responsive, and effective government. SJRA’s governing law does not contain several standard provisions, including those related to the governor’s appointment of the board president, grounds for removal of a board member, board member training, separation of duties of board members from those of staff, public testimony at board meetings, and maintaining a system for receiving and acting on complaints.
SJRA’s governing law is also uncodified and difficult for the public to find and understand. Finally, SJRA lacks goals and a plan to increase its workforce diversity.
Key recommendations:
Apply the standard across-the-board requirements regarding governor appointment of the board’s presiding officer, grounds for removal of a board member, board member training, separation of duties of board members from those of staff, public testimony at board meetings, and maintaining a system for receiving and acting on complaints.
Direct the Texas Legislative Council to update SJRA’s governing law.
Direct SJRA to plan and monitor its efforts to increase workforce diversity.
Other Findings
Strained Relationships with Stakeholders
Sunset Commission staff observed how protracted legal disputes and other controversies have strained SJRA’s relationship with some stakeholders and communities. That eroded trust in its decision making and jeopardized its ability to conduct the long-term planning and construction for which the Legislature created it.
The general public was highly critical of SJRA’s efforts, in contrast to SJRA’s direct customers who were generally satisfied with the authority’s performance.
No Formal Strategy for Public Engagement
SJRA’s own recent public opinion poll revealed most respondents had a negative opinion of the authority, no opinion of it, or had not heard of it, highlighting the need for direct outreach to the public rather than relying on others to speak on its behalf.
Lack of Clear Communication about Rates and Fees
A frequent complaint during the Sunset review was that consumers often see an “SJRA fee” or “surface water conversion fee” listed on their monthly bill with little to no explanation. SJRA’s public opinion poll confirms many consumers do not know what the fee is for. Only about half of respondents correctly identified the fee is used for maintaining a water treatment plant and pipeline.
Several other wholesale water providers in the region explain their rates and fees, which are higher than SJRA’s, on the front page of their website and clearly describe how some retail utility providers modify the fees when passing them on to consumers to cover other costs.
Governing Law Outdated, Difficult for Public to Find and Understand
While some water districts and river authorities are governed by laws that are fully compiled in a specific Texas code or statute, SJRA’s governing law exists solely in “session law.” That means changes are scattered in various statutes and amendments dating back to 1937. In the absence of ONE codified statute, members of the public and even the river authority itself struggle to correctly compile all of the changes to its laws and understand their cumulative impact.
For example, SJRA’s governing law stipulates the board has six members, even though the Texas Constitution now requires all boards and commissions to have an odd number of members. Even Rep. Will Metcalf’s recently introduced bill, HB3116 – recommending changes in how the governor makes SJRA board appointments – still refers to six positions.
Although general law adds a seventh member to preserve the board’s constitutionality, this outdated provision in SJRA’s governing law misrepresents the board’s actual makeup.
SJRA’s governing law contains many more out-of-date references to defunct state agencies and code sections that have been amended, renamed, or no longer exist, further complicating full understanding of the authority’s powers and duties.
Revenues and Expenses
The SJRA had approximately $112 million in revenues in Fiscal Year 2019 with $115 in expenses. The difference had to do with some reserve-fund expenditures for specific projects.
Litigation Summary
For an excellent summary of SJRA litigation over groundwater issues and Harvey flooding, see Appendix B on Page 37. Even as someone who follows these cases closely, there were several aspects that I simply did not know about.
