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Reminder: Last SJRA Board Meeting Before Vote on Whether to Continue Lowering Lake Conroe Seasonally

The Lake Houston Area Grass Roots Flood Prevention Initiative sent out this reminder via email. It contains information about the last SJRA Board meeting before they vote on whether to continue Lowering Lake Conroe seasonally. I’m posting it here, too, in case you aren’t on their mailing list and want to learn how you can make your voice heard.

Urge the Board to Continue Lowering Lake Conroe

Until other flood mitigation measures can be put in place, lowering Lake Conroe seasonally and temporarily is the only buffer we have against flooding. It creates extra storage in the lake that can reduce the size, duration, and rate of releases from Lake Conroe during a flood. Lake Houston residents and businesses need this. Lake Conroe residents and businesses want to end the policy.

How You Can Help

URGENT….your attendance is needed at the final SJRA meeting on Feb 20th at 6 pm

It is absolutely imperative that we have a large contingency from Kingwood, Humble, Atascocita, Huffman, etc. at the San Jacinto River Authority meeting this Thursday, February 20th @ 6:00pm. We need to show the SJRA board that we support the continued lake lowering policy for 2020.

The meeting will be held at
Thursday, Feburary 20, 2020 at 6pm
Lone Star Convention and Expo Center, 9055 Airport Road, Conroe, Texas 77303

It is important to show up as early as possible, especially if you wish to speak. (The January meeting was already full by 5 pm.) Note: You can simply write a comment and checkmark that you are not going to speak. If would like to share a public comment, the SJRA public comment form is available at https://www.sjra.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Comment-Registration-Form_01062020.pdf.

If you do plan to address the SJRA board, we are encouraging people to speak in a cordial and friendly manner, even if the Lake Conroe residents pursue their verbal assaults.
The temporary, seasonal lowering of Lake Conroe is necessary to protect all downstream property, not just the homes of those living around Lake Houston.

The Board is scheduled to make a decision on the Lake lowering at this meeting or immediately thereafter, making our presence critical. Buses are being arranged by the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber also has more #LivesAboveLevels tee shirts.

Please see the information below copied from the latest email from the Chamber for more information about how to register for transportation and the tee shirts. You can also learn more about the #LivesAboveLevels campaign at the Chamber’s website http://www.lakehouston.org/recoverlakehouston/

Again if at all possible, please plan to attend. Thank for being involved and please help spread the word.

Sincerely-

Lake Houston Area Grassroots Flood Prevention Initiative

Below is a copy the information from the latest email from Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce.

*Dress for Success.*
*Get a T-Shirt at the Chamber for the last SJRA Board meeting if you plan to attend.*

Lives Over Levels T-shirts Available at the Chamber

Lives Over Levels t-shirts are currently available at the Chamber! Pick up your t-shirt if you plan to attend the SJRA Board Special Meeting on February 20.

The San Jacinto River Authority Board of Directors will hold a special meeting on February 20 to hear public comment on the temporary flood mitigation strategy of lowering Lake Conroe on a seasonal basis.

We currently carry size S, M, L, XL, 2XL and 3XL.

LHA Chamber Address:
110 W. Main St.
Humble, TX 77338

Registration is Open to Reserve Seats for Coach Buses, February 20

Three Coach buses with limited capacity have been generously donated by an anonymous donor for those who are unable to provide their own transportation to and from the meeting.

All buses will depart and return to Lone Star College-Kingwood.

Cancellations: We will be forced to cancel Bus B if we are unable to completely fill Bus A.
Each bus holds 52 passengers. We will notify Bus B passengers if Bus B is transferred to Bus A.
(Bus A and B currently leave at the same time.)

You Must Register to Reserve Your Spot!

Bus A Boarding Time: 3:00 PM – Bus A Departure Time: 3:30 PM

Bus B Boarding Time: 3:00 PM – Bus B Departure Time: 3:30 PM

Bus C Boarding Time: 4:00 PM – Bus C Departure Time: 4:30 PM

For more background information, visit the Recover Lake Houston Page of the Lake Houston Chamber Site or the Lake Lowering Page on this site.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/18/2020 based on info from the Lake Houston Flood Prevention Initiative and the Lake Houston Chamber

903 Days since Hurricane Harvey

River Grove Dredging Begins

River Grove dredging has finally begun. Silt and sand deposited by Hurricane Harvey 2.5 years ago is being removed from two areas: the boat launch and boardwalk. KSA obtained a final permit from the City of Houston and equipment arrived yesterday.

Boardwalk First Priority

As you can see from these pictures, the contractor wasted no time. Equipment has already started removing silt from in front of the boardwalk.

*Mechanical dredging equipment excavates area near boardwalk.*

*Additional equipment is being staged from the parking lot.*

*Contractors closed off* the parking lot adjacent to the boat launch for public safety.

*Contractors have already started removing the top layer of vegetation adjacent to the boardwalk* *that sprouted since Harvey.*

Pictures From Immediately After Harvey

*A huge sandbar deposited by Hurricane Harvey blocked the Kingwood Diversion Ditch which drains the western third of Kingwood.* *Note sand covering the parking lot. It was 5 feet deep in places.* *Taken 9/14/2017.*

The Army Corps dredged a channel through the sandbar above to allow the ditch to empty into the river. However, the Corps’ equipment was too big to maneuver safely near the boat launch. That created the need for a second dredging program with more precise equipment.

*The lagoon in front of the boardwalk was badly silted in.* *Taken 9/14/2017.*

Pictures Taken February 2020 Before Start of Dredging

*Photo taken 2/13/2020 shows how vegetation grew up on silt in lagoon.*

Aerial photo of boat launch area taken on 1/20/2020 shows that Army Corps opened up the drainage channel to the river. However, the area near the boat launch remains too shallow for most boats to launch safely.

Dredging and cleanup should take about 6 weeks. Completion will make eager boaters and park visitors very happy. River Grove has long been one of the most popular parks in Kingwood.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/18/2020

903 Days after Hurricane Harvey

Perry Homes Taking Bids on More Detention Ponds for Woodridge Village

Note: This post has been modified to delete the mention of storm drains. On closer examination of older photos, it appears that the storm drains were installed before January 20th.

Perry Taking Bids on New Detention Ponds

Perry Homes is taking bids on additional detention ponds, as you can see from this document by LJA Engineering, their engineering firm for this property.

In a letter Perry’s lawyer sent to the City Attorney on October 17, 2019, Perry Homes promised the City they would accelerate construction of those. They were originally scheduled for Phase 1.

Status of Detention Pond Construction

The letter by Perry’s lawyer laid out a timetable. Perry Homes was supposed to have finished the S2 detention pond in 30-45 days.

As of last Thursday, they were still doing touch-up work on detention pond S1. Specifically, they were removing soil that had eroded into the pond since last May.

*Woodridge Village S1 Pond still has no grass on shoulders almost a year after substantial completion.* *Last week, workers were trying to repair sidewall erosion and remove sand from pilot channel.*

Grass still has not grown on the sides of either the S1 or S2 ponds.

*Woodridge Village S1 detention pond still has no grass despite substantial completion before the May storms last year. Photo taken 2/13/2020.*

*Woodridge Village S2 pond as of 2/13/2020 still shows little grass.*

Perry’s letter to the City promised construction of a berm between S1 and S2. Work on the berm connecting S1 and S2 looked like it had not begun yet as of last week.

*Area between S1 and S2 where berm should be. Photo taken 2/13/2020. I can’t see it in this photo, but in fairness, resident Jeff Miller feels Perry is building this area up slightly.*

Work on Three Northern Ponds Still Not Started

Perry still has less than 25% of the promised detention capacity constructed. Work on the three northern detention ponds has definitely not begun yet as you can see from the photos below. I took all of them on 2/13/2020.

*The N1 detention pond should go in the foreground in the northwest corner of the site.*

*Montgomery County partially excavated this pond decades ago to count as detention for other development. Perry Homes must deepen it to create additional detention for this site.* *This is the N2 pond in the middle of the western side.*

*The N3 Pond will go above the S2 pond shown in the foreground here.* *It should stretch almost all the way back to the far tree line.*

How Long Will It Take to Build Ponds?

Neither Perry Homes, nor LJA engineering has published bid requirements for the ponds. The only thing we currently have to go on for a construction timetable is J. Carey Gray’s letter to the City.

In it, Perry committed to developing each of those ponds within 250-280 days. Assuming construction remains on schedule and that the deadlines are sequential, not concurrent, Perry should complete the remainder of the ponds in 2.3 years.

If the work on S2 is any indication, consider this. Perry had substantially completed the S2 pond before Imelda. As of today, they have gone 109 days past a 45-day self-imposed deadline. They still don’t have a maintenance road around it. Nor do they have grass established on the sides of it. Both are Montgomery County requirements.

Implications for Future

The end of Perry’s letter says, “…we will continue to consider alternatives that provide more robust mitigation.” Presumably that was a veiled reference to a potential buyout by the City of Houston or Harris County Flood Control. No one is talking about that alternative at the moment…if it exists. A spokesperson for the City this afternoon said only, “We support any alternative that reduces flooding.”

On one hand, it’s exciting that Perry is finally moving forward with work that should have been completed long ago. But on the other…

… the additions to infrastructure signal that hopes for a buyout by the City of Houston and/or Harris County Flood Control – to provide more robust mitigation – have vanished or are fading quickly.

We should not forget that even if Perry succeeds in building additional ponds, they are based on old rainfall statistics. The NOAA Atlas 14 rainfall statistics – on which new flood maps are being redrawn – require about 40% more detention capacity.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/18/2020

903 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 151 since Imelda

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.

Union Pacific Almost Done Removing Last Remnants of Old Railroad Bridge

Replacement of the old Union Pacific Bridge across the San Jacinto West Fork is nearing completion.

Less than a month ago, crews constructing the new railroad bridge still had to remove the supports for the old bridge. See below the old four-post steel-frame structures between the new cement supports.

*Photo taken on January 20, 2020 shows old supports still in place between new concrete supports.*

By 2/13/2020, however, only one of the old supports remained. See photo below.

*Photo taken on 2/13/2020 shows only one of the old supports remains.*

Reason for New Bridge

Union Pacific started reconstructing the bridge after Harvey. Trees swept downstream by the flood caught on the old supports and backed water up.

*Trees caught in Union Pacific Railroad Bridge supports during Hurricane Harvey.*

The result: the tracks were destroyed. UP had to reroute northbound rail traffic out of Houston for months as they literally built a new bridge around the old one.

*Harvey knocked out the Union Pacific Railroad bridge over the San Jacinto River near I-69.*

The concrete supports for the new bridge are spaced much farther apart. Thus, they should allow trees to pass through in a flood and eliminate backwater effects.

*Photo taken 2/13/2020, the same time as the first shot above. This is from the other side of the bridge.*

Other Sign Job is Nearing Completion

Notice in the picture above that crews have already started removing the temporary bridge for cranes on the north side of the river.

All of this is good news from flood remediation and mitigation perspectives. It is yet one more sign that life is finally starting to return to normal after Harvey. The bridge should also help the community deal better with the next major storm.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/17/2020

902 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Detention Pond Construction: Montgomery vs. Harris County

Below are aerial images from two new developments under construction. They show two detention ponds in two different counties. Can you tell which is in Montgomery County and which is in Harris County? I took both photos on the same day, 2/13/2020.

Clue

Look where the grass has established itself:

In A, the land was cleared before the detention pond was completed.
In B, the detention pond was completed before the land was cleared.

And the Answer Is…

If you guessed that Pond A is in Montgomery County, you guessed correctly. Pond A is in Woodridge Village, just north of Sherwood Trails and Elm Grove. It is their S1 detention pond (first southern).

Pond B is in Harris County just north of Bush Intercontinental Airport and Mercer Botanic Gardens.

How You Can Tell

Montgomery County does not require developers to install detention ponds before they clearcut the whole development. So they sometimes come long AFTER clearcutting.

Also, even though Page 44 of Montgomery County’s Drainage Criteria Manual says that “slopes must be revegetated immediately after construction to minimize erosion,” no one apparently enforces the regulation. The sides of Pond A have gone without grass for about a year. See close up below.

*Erosion on the sides of Pond A shown above, the Woodridge Village S1 detention pond.*

All 268 acres of Woodridge Village have been clearcut for the better part of a year. Meanwhile Perry Homes and its engineering firm LJA are just now taking bids on additional detention ponds for the northern section. And the sides of Pond A still have yet to sprout grass.

Harris County Regs Differ

Note in the Pond B photo how the sides of the channel have been stabilized with grass before the developer has even finished clearing the land.

Harris County employs low-impact development procedures (LID). Harris County Stormwater Quality Management regulations discourage clearcutting giant sites like Woodridge Village all at once. See section 4.2.3.1, Stormwater Pollution Prevention (SWPPP) During Construction.

The text states, “The clearing, grubbing and scalping (mass clearing or grading) of excessively large areas of land at one time promotes erosion and sedimentation problems. On the areas where disturbance takes place the site designer should consider staging construction [emphasis added], temporary seeding and/or temporary mulching as a technique to reduce erosion. Staging construction involves stabilizing one part of the site before disturbing another [emphasis added].”

Two Different Approaches

You would think that preventing erosion would be cheaper than cleaning it up. Why do a job once when you can do it twice? Right?

*Close up of remediation work in Pond A, from a slightly different angle.* *Photo taken 2/13/2020.*

Evidently, Perry Homes prefers it that way. Last Thursday, I spotted men digging out the pilot channel of Pond A and restoring slopes…again. This was at least the third or fourth time. No wonder those Perry Homes are so expensive.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/16/2020

901 Days After Hurricane Harvey and 150 after Imelda

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.

Part II: When Is A Detention Pond Not A Detention Pond?

Q: When is a detention pond not a detention pond?
A: When it’s just a wide spot on a stream.

The defining characteristic of a detention pond is an “outfall” smaller than the inlet. The pond holds back rain in a storm and releases it later at an acceptable rate. This reduces downstream flooding.

*From the Montgomery County Drainage Criterial Manual*

That’s the theory, at least. In practice, sometimes things don’t always work out that way. It often depends on maintenance.

Unrestricted Outfalls

On 2/13/2020, I reported on one Woodridge Forest detention pond on Ben’s Branch that had an outfall LARGER than its inlet. Harvey and Imelda blew out the pond’s outfall.

This week, I discovered that a second pond immediately upstream also apparently has an unrestricted outfall.

*Two tributaries of Ben’s Branch come together in the foreground pond. The pond also collects runoff from surrounding commercial and residential areas.* *Photo taken 2/13/2020.*

*Water flows toward exit in upper right.* *Photo taken 2/13/2020.*

*Note height and width of exit.* *Photo taken 2/13/2020.*

The low area in the picture above measures more than 200 feet wide in Google Earth. That’s far wider than the combined inlets. Net: this pond provides little if any detention capability.

Same Problem with Second Pond

Neither does pond beyond it that I highlighted last week provide much detention capacity.

*Note how Ben’s Branch flows both through and around the next pond. Direction of flow is from bottom to top of frame.* *Photo taken 2/13/2020.*

*Reverse angle looking NW. Direction of flow is now toward camera.* *Note how the outfall (foreground) is larger than the inlet. Also note how runoff from residential streets (upper right) is channeled outside the pond. Photo taken 2/13/2020.*

Both Ponds Provide Little Detention Benefit, If Any

Both of these ponds provide little detention benefit, if any.

Neither pond has a maintenance road around it, even though Section 7.2.8 of the Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual specifies that “A 30-foot wide access and maintenance easement shall be provided around the entire detention pond.”

Sometimes, what looks like a detention pond is really just a pond. Or a wide spot in a stream.

Recent Surge in Downstream Flooding

During the May 7th and Imelda floods in 2019, water flowing through these ponds then flowed over Northpark Drive and flooded homes in North Woodland Hills. It also flooded numerous homes and businesses downstream on Ben’s Branch between Woodland Hills Drive and the San Jacinto River West Fork.

One wonders whether those damages could have been averted if the ponds had detained water.

As Harris County Flood Control conducts the Kingwood Area Drainage Study, engineers must consider the possibility that this area may be dumping more water downstream than planned.

The Woodridge Municipal Utility District apparently is responsible for these ponds.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/16/2020

901 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 150 after Imelda

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.

Take Down: West Fork Mouth Bar

DRC (Disaster Recovery Corporation) excavators are slowly whittling down the mouth bar of the West Fork of the San Jacinto. DRC is picking up where the Army Corps and Great Lakes Dredge and Dock left off around Labor Day last year. The Corps and Great Lakes removed 500,000 cubic yards of sediment. DRC will remove another 400,000 in 8-12 months as part of its contract.

DRC Focus Differs from Corps’ So Far

The Corps effort focused on deepening the channel between the mouth bar and Atascocita Point. DRC’s effort appears to focus on reducing the mouth bar itself.

A survey conducted after the Corps finished in September showed they had reduced the average depth in front of the mouth bar to about 5.5 feet. Local residents including high-level geologists questioned whether that was enough to restore safety. They pointed out that the river upstream of the mouth bar had been dredged to more than 25 feet and worried that the 20 feet difference would partially dam the river during floods and create a backwater effect that contributed to flooding.

But instead of deepening the channel, the next phase of dredging seems aimed at reducing the mouth bar itself.

Progress to Date in Reducing Mouth Bar

Aerial photos taken on 2/13/2020, show that to date DRC has removed most vegetation from the bar. They have also reduced the crown of the bar and flattened it to create a platform for excavator(s) that’s little more than a foot or so above the water. Parts of the bar used to stand four to five feet above water.

While two excavators worked on the scalping process Thursday, a third took bites from the edge of the bar, much like a human might nibble away at an ear of corn, row by row.

*On Thursday, 2/13/2020, three excavators worked various portions of the mouth bar.*

*Two were still leveling the bar and removing vegetation while a third whittled down the edges of the bar.*

*The excavator near the water appears to be walking backward as it pulls sediment from in front of it and dumps it on the waiting pontoon.*

*When the pontoon is full, a small tug pushes it upstream*.

Placement Area for Sediment

Tugs push the pontoons upstream to Berry Madden’s property on the south side of the West Fork, just upstream from Kings Lake Estates, roughly opposite River Grove Park.

*…through the back channels of the West Fork to Berry Madden’s property, the placement area. Photo courtesy of Josh Alberson.*

*At Madden’s property, the sediment is offloaded.* *Photo courtesy of Josh Alberson.*

*The tug will then take a pontoon back downstream for the next load.*

*The sediment will then get loaded into dump trucks…*

From the number of trucks on Madden’s property, it appears that DRC is using it as its command post for the operation.

*Bulldozers then compact the dirt and spread it out.*

Operational Tempo Expected to Increase

Josh Alberson, a local boater, monitors the dredging program. He says that the cycle time per pontoon load has decreased from roughly three hours to about two hours and twenty minutes.

Berry Madden, the placement area owner, says DRC has told him that it expects to add more equipment to the job by next week. That should increase the operational tempo and the volume of sediment transported each day.

Madden’s property is also permitted to receive spoils from hydraulic dredging.

The Harris County Engineering Department is managing this project with the City of Houston.

Next Steps Still Unclear

The Harris County Engineers office has not yet released plans for the remainder of the project. Several things remain unclear at this point. Key among them:

Why remove the mouth bar instead of deepening the channel in front of it?
Will the operation switch over to hydraulic dredging to speed up the project and reduce the flood-risk window?
What will the next steps be after completion of the West Fork?
Have the partners agreed on a maintenance dredging program?

The grant request submitted by the County to the TWDB indicates that the team also expects to tackle the rapidly growing East Fork mouth bar. During Imelda, boaters say the channel north of Luce Bayou silted in badly. It went from 18 feet deep to approximately 3 at the deepest point, they say.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/15/2020 with photos from Josh Alberson

900 days after Hurricane Harvey

Corps, Contractors Vacate Old Dredging Command Post, Demobilize

The Emergency West Fork Dredging Program started by the Army Corps of Engineers in May of 2018 is now virtually done with demobilization. In the last month, the Army Corps and its contractors have vacated the old command post they established on the south side of the San Jacinto West Fork opposite Forest Cove. They have removed the remaining pieces of the Great Lakes dredge, dredge pipe, booster pumps, construction trailers, cranes and more.

Nothing Remains But Sand and Memories.

As I flew over the site on 2/13/2020, men were removing two small bulldozers, the last pieces of equipment. Here’s how it looked from the upstream side.

*The once bustling Army Corps Command Post for the Emergency West Fork Dredging Program after Harvey. Photo taken 2/13/2020.*

Here’s how it looked from the downstream side.

*Reverse angle of same location, looking west toward US59.*

How Same Site Looked Three Weeks Ago

Less than a month ago, on my January 20th flyover, the site still bustled with activity. Demobilization was in full swing.

*Army Corps Command Post on January 20, 2020.* *Looking East.*

*Pieces of the Great Lakes dredge at the Army Corps Command Post on January 20, 2020.*

They say, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” Well, I’d say that the Emergency West Fork Dredging program that started in 2018 is now over.

Altogether they removed approximately 2.3 million cubic yards of sediment clogging the West Fork that Hurricane Harvey deposited.

Moving On to Next Phase of Dredging

This, however, does not affect the current mouth bar dredging program. That is a separate effort mounted by the State of Texas. Harris County and the City of Houston.

Grants from FEMA and the Texas Water Development Board, plus money from the 2018 Harris County Flood Bond fund the current program.

It uses mechanical, not hydraulic dredging equipment. The focus of activity is farther downstream closer to the West Fork Mouth Bar.

Bald Eagle Sighted Over Romerica Property

*Photo taken 2/12/2020 on West Fork San Jacinto from helicopter.*

While photographing the West Fork from a helicopter Thursday, I saw something large from the corner of my eye. I looked up and was treated to a magnificent sight – a bald eagle in flight … right beside us. I quickly zoomed my lens out to 300mm and snagged this air-to-air shot.

We were in the vicinity of the Romerica property just downstream from River Grove Park. You may remember a year ago that two developers from Mexico wanted to build 500-foot high-rises right next to the river. The community rose up in protest. One of the biggest concerns: the effect on bald eagles nesting in the area.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service wrote a scathing letter urging the Corps to deny Romerica’s application to fill in wetlands.

After 770 more letters of protest to the Corps, the Corps withdrew Romerica’s permit application.

The company reserved the right to refile in the future. In the meantime, it appears that the eagle(s) living there have no intent to move.

The Herons Kingwood recently took down its website. However, the domain name is still registered. I have contacted the agent for the company to inquire about the project’s status. Emails have not yet been returned.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/13/2020

899 Days after Hurricane Harvey

HCFCD Launches Channel Repair Projects in Walden on Lake Houston and Kingwood

Yesterday, a reader, Donna Hanna Dewhirst, sent me pictures of a dredging operation beginning in the channel that cuts through Walden on Lake Houston. Today, I photographed it from the air.

Walden Project Kicks Off

*That’s the Walden Mouth Bar in the distance. So far, though, dredging activity has focused upstream near the country club.*

*HCFCD classifies the project as a repair, though it is not yet listed on HCFCD’s repair page for this area.* *Photo by Donna Hannah Dewhirst.*

*De-watering the spoils before transport*. *Photo by Donna Hannah Dewhirst.*

Typically, in a project with wet dirt like this, contractors “de-water” it by letting it drain on the banks for a while. Once dry, they haul it away. HCFCD sent dirt from Ben’s Branch to a cleaning facility to ensure they weren’t transporting any dangerous bacteria or organisms living in the mud. From there, it’s reused in landscaping and other projects.

*Reverse angle, looking upstream toward excavation in background on left.*

Reader Jeff Bayless volunteered, “This is called Rogers Gully and drains a large part of Atascocita. This is actually the 2nd time they have removed sediment from this location. They finished the first round right before Imelda and lined the banks with riprap and fresh top soil further upstream all the way to Framingham Road. Had it looking good then Imelda hit and washed all their new soil back into the downstream parts by the County Club. This also made the mouthbar in the lake larger and shallower. My fear with the large mouthbar is if Atascocita gets a Kingwood May 7 type flash flood, the mouthbar will push drainage water into the homes along this gully. Hopefully the mouthbar removal is a real project that will happen before flooding occurs.”

Series of Ditch Repairs Begins in Kingwood

Work on Ben’s Branch is now approximately 50% complete, according to Beth Walters of HCFCD.

Meanwhile, more channel repairs have started in Kingwood within the last few weeks. They consist primarily of erosion and outfall pipe repairs. Repairs are so numerous, HCFCD had to group them into a a series of smaller projects to expedite bidding and repairs. The project include:

G103-41-00-X008: Two damage sites (5622 and 5622A) consisting of slope erosion, toe line repair, and channel scour.
G103-38-00-X020: Three damage sites (5416, 5680, and 5682) consisting of bank sloughing and erosion repair.
G103-38-01-X014: A series of voids on the southern side of the channel. One void is very large and the concrete paving has begun buckling. Another void is above an outfall pipe that will need to be replaced. Access is limited and encroachments are present.
G103-38-00-X021: Slope erosion has progressed and will eventually begin to affect the concrete channel lining. Also, some sediment has built-up and needs to be removed.
G103-38-01-X010: One damage site consisting of slope erosion.

To see the locations of these channels, zoom waaaaay in on the map.

Funding for most of these repairs comes from NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service), which is part of the US Department of Agriculture.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/13/2020 with photos from Donna Hannah Dewhirst

899 Days since Hurricane Harvey