West Fork Mouth Bar Dredging Set to Start As TWDB Considers Grant to Extend Program

On December 30, 2019, the City of Houston issued a Notice To Proceed (NTP) for debris removal services. Specifically, that means the large silt deposit at the confluence of the West Fork of the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston. The area is commonly known as the “mouth bar.” See below.

Mouth Bar of the San Jacinto West Fork looking upstream. Picture from 12/3/2019.

Mechanical, Not Hydraulic Dredging

The City hired DRC Emergency Services, LLC (DRC) under an existing contract to begin mechanical dredging of the mouth bar “this week,” according to Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin.

Mechanical dredging differs from hydraulic dredging. With hydraulic dredging, contractors continuously pump sediment from the river to a placement area onshore via long pipelines. With mechanical dredging, they scoop it out of the river and dump it on barges. Then they ferry the barges to the placement area where trucks transport the sediment to its final location.

Hydraulic dredging takes less time once started, but the prep can take months. Mechanical dredging takes longer, but can start immediately.

The City will begin the hydraulic dredging with $6 million of FEMA money left over from Hurricane Harvey debris removal funds. The Texas Division of Emergency Management and Governor Greg Abbott allocated that money specifically for Lake Houston and approved the remaining funds for mouth-bar dredging.

Two-Phase Grant

Next week, another $30 million should become available to extend the program. SB500 earmarked that money for dredging of the San Jacinto East and West Fork Mouth Bars. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) will consider Harris County’s grant application. Approval is expected.

The grant application proposes removing sediment in two distinct phases:

  1. Near and at the mouth bar on the West Fork of the San Jacinto River
  2. In the East Fork of the San Jacinto River AND other locations in Lake Houston.
Mouth Bar on East Fork San Jacinto grew 4,000 feet since Harvey.

Phase-One Funding and Objectives

To complete Phase 1, Harris County proposed taking $10 million of the $30 million to provide a total $16 million for DRC dredging operations.

Phase 1 should remove a minimum of 400,000 cubic yards (CY) of material in eight to twelve months. The Army Corps of Engineers previously removed 500,000 cubic yards from the West Fork Mouth Bar for $17 million in about three months.


During Phase 1, the County will begin some activities for Phase 2. They include:

  • Hydrographic surveys of the West and East Forks, and Lake Houston
  • Development of plans and specifications
  • Identification and permitting of additional disposal sites
  • Competitive bidding

Since the TWDB grant money can only be used for dredging, Harris County will pay for the activities above out of the 2018 HCFCD Bond Program. The fund allocated $10 million for dredging in Lake Houston.

Phase-2 Funding and Objectives

The remaining $20 million from the $30 million TWDB grant will go toward Phase 2 dredging.

During Phase 2, Harris County, City of Houston (COH), HCFCD, SJRA, and Coastal Water Authority (CWA) will develop and execute a plan for the COH or CWA to assume all long-term dredging operations on Lake Houston.

The County does not intend to assume long-term responsibility for maintenance dredging of a City property, i.e., Lake Houston.

TWDB Meets Next Week to Approve Grant

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) will meet on Thursday, January 16, 2020, to approve the $30 million grant. “We are in the final stages of agency approval to continue dredging the lake and river,” said State Representative Dan Huberty. His amendment to SB500 last year dedicated the money for dredging this area. “By approving this amount, the legislature as a whole made a clear and concise statement that Lake Houston and the San Jacinto River are vital resources for the entire region and must be maintained.”

SB500 was a supplemental appropriations bill. The grant itself will technically come from the new Texas Infrastructure Resiliency Fund, created last year by SB7. Senator Brandon Creighton authored SB7.

Harris County Engineer John Blount submitted the grant application to TWDB in late December after receiving approval from County Commissioner’s Court.

“Due to the urgency of this issue, multiple entities worked together to craft a plan that could be executed immediately, allowing the first phase to begin as soon as possible,” said Huberty.

Kudos Go To…

“I would like to thank everyone who has worked to create the final grant program under the supplemental funds we received from the Legislature,” said Huberty. “It would have not been possible without Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Speaker Dennis Bonnen, former Appropriations Chairman John Zerwas, Senate Finance Chairwoman Jane Nelson, State Senator Brandon Creighton, Chief Nim Kidd, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Chief Recovery Officer Stephen Costello, Harris County Commissioner’s Court, Harris County Engineer John Blount, Harris County Flood Control District Executive Director Russell Poppe, Harris County Flood Control District Deputy Director Matt Zeve, Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin and many more.”

To View TWDB Board Meeting Live

Tune in to the live TWDB Board Meeting next Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 9:30 AM by visiting: http://texasadmin.com/tx/twdb/.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/8/2019

863 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 111 since Imelda

Growth of Impervious Cover Across Political Boundaries, Watersheds Complicates Flooding

In December, the New York Times published a story about a company called Descartes Labs, which had trained computers to scan satellite images to detect changes in impervious cover. Descartes found that Texas had 9 of the top 20 counties in the US when ranked by the growth of impervious cover. So I contacted them to learn more.

A Better Understanding of the Planet

Descartes positions itself as a data refinery for satellite imagery. They process images from the major NASA and ESA satellite constellations at scale, creating a digital data twin of the entire planet that monitors the whole earth, in near real-time. Their mission: to better understand the planet.

The red dots in the map below show land that is newly covered in concrete or rooftops. It is a form of “heat map” that shows the hottest areas for growth. Studying this map, we can learn several things:

  • Stories about the demise of suburbs and exurbs after the real estate crash in 2008 proved short-lived. From the numerous rings around major metropolitan centers, you can see that growth outside of major metropolitan areas continues.
  • Texas appears to have the greatest increase in density of any state.
  • Far more growth happened in the East than the West.
Growth of impervious cover in continental US from 2008 to 2018. Copyright ©2020 Descartes Labs. Used with permission.

A Closer Look at Texas

This next map, also courtesy of Descartes, zooms in on Texas and surrounding states. The yellow dots simply correspond to the names of metropolitan centers.

Growth around Houston seems fairly uniform, though my eye does detect slightly more weight to the north, west and south than the east. This will likely change in the next decade with the extension of the Grand Parkway toward the east.

Growth of impervious cover in Texas and surrounding states from 2008 to 2018. ©2020 Descartes Labs. Used with permission.

Factors Contributing to Flooding

Several factors contribute to Houston’s reputation for flooding:

  • Rapid population growth and corresponding growth of impervious cover, as Descarte showed. The impervious cover causes floodwaters to concentrate/accumulate faster.
  • Loss of wetlands And flood plain storage
  • Flat, poorly drained landscape
  • Gulf moisture that regularly brings hurricanes, tropical storms and torrential rains
  • Fierce dedication to individual freedom, property rights, and local authority (Hey, this IS TEXAS after all.)
  • Political fragmentation
  • Widely varying flood control regulations
  • Upstream development that overwhelms the capacity of downstream drainage channels

In the last century, Houston has exploded from a sleepy city of less than 200,000 to a 9-county metropolitan statistical area with a population of about 7 million covering more than 9 thousand square miles.

Nine counties comprise the Houston metropolitan statistical area, home to 7 million people. Source: Greater Houston Partnership.

Now, superimpose watersheds over those counties and you can see how difficult the flood control situation becomes.

Watersheds of the Houston MSA. The Upper San Jacinto River Basin (above Lake Houston) contains 13 major watersheds. But, there are many smaller watersheds within each larger one. Source: San Jacinto River Authority.

Solutions Will Require Cooperation

Rivers and streams cross political boundaries throughout this region. So solutions to flooding problems are, by definition, regional. Yet development regulations and guidelines are anything but.

Most regulations pay lip service to “no adverse impact” on downstream neighbors. But in many areas, the regulations may be based on ancient maps and antiquated data. Moreover, they may have little to no oversight or enforcement.

Retain Your Rain

The region’s growth depends on its reputation for quality of life. If we are to continue growing, we must work together to solve flooding problems.

If every developer did one simple thing, we could eliminate most of our flooding problems. Just be responsible for the rain that falls on your property. Detain it long enough to avoid adding to flood peaks.

It’s that simple and that difficult. Especially considering that Texans don’t like having other people tell them what to do.

Posted by Bob Rehak, with thanks to Descartes Labs

863 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 112 since Imelda

Lake Conroe Association Misleads Area’s Own State Representative and Senator

The problem with incendiary lies: once you start them, they’re hard to stop. In its initial meetings with area residents, the Lake Conroe Association (LCA) told people that West Fork dredging was done. Therefore, said the LCA, the SJRA should stop the temporary seasonal lowering of Lake Conroe.

Lie Takes on Life of Its Own

People believed the lie. They started putting up web sites and YouTube videos to spread the word. Soon, the lie took on a life of its own. And it became impossible for the LCA to stamp it out – even if they were so inclined, which they aren’t.

Residents started writing their state reps. And soon Will Metcalf who represents the Lake Conroe Area took up the cry. See the letter below dated Jan. 6.

A week before Representative Metcalf sent this letter to the SJRA Board, the City of Houston pulled the trigger on the next phase of West Fork dredging. It will start this week, says the City. Now, Metcalf doesn’t just have egg on his face; he has a whole omelette. Made from stale eggs and rancid ham.

State Senator Robert Nichols wound up with the same omelette on his face.

Whole Series of Lies, Half-Lies and Logical Fallacies Spread by LCA

The LCA fueled this whole sad, sorry food fight that embarrassed their own representatives with an entire a SERIES of lies, half-lies and logical fallacies that it fed to unknowing people.

For instance, in addition to “the dredging is done”, I see and hear these comments constantly:

  • Because the East Fork flooded during Imelda and Lake Conroe didn’t release water, that proves we don’t need to keep lowering Lake Conroe.
  • The Lake Conroe release during Harvey comprised only 5% of the water going through Lake Houston.
  • All of Kingwood was built in a flood plain. Kingwood people should just move to higher ground.
  • Kingwood’s flooding problems come from upstream developers.
  • No scientific study supports the lowering policy.
  • Lake Houston wants to make the lowering of Lake Conroe permanent.
  • They should lower Lake Houston.

For the Record…

To set the record straight:

  • West Fork dredging is NOT done. Just the portion FEMA paid for.
  • The East Fork and West Fork are in different watersheds. Imelda affected the East Fork, but not the West. Plum Grove got 33 inches of rain while Lake Conroe got two.
  • The Lake Conroe release during Harvey comprised ONE THIRD of the water coming down the West Fork where approximately 80-90% of all the damage occurred in the Humble/Kingwood area.
  • All of Kingwood was not built in a flood plain. For instance, 110 out of 250 of my neighbors in Kings Forest were not in a flood plain yet still flooded. We live more than TWO MILES from the river.
  • Some of Kingwood’s flooding problems come from upstream developers. But that’s a separate issue; they have nothing to do with West Fork flooding due to Lake Conroe releases.
  • The SJRA did commission an engineering study that supported lowering Lake Conroe.
  • Lake Houston IS and HAS BEEN lowered…longer than Lake Conroe.
  • No responsible/knowledgeable person that I know in the Lake Houston area is talking about making the lowering of Lake Conroe permanent.

To correct some of these misperceptions, I met the president of the LCA last year for a whole day. More recently, I spent an hour on the phone with him. I thought I had corrected these misperceptions. But they keep recurring. This is NO accident; this is intentional.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/8/2020

862 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 111 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.

HCFCD Lower Ben’s Branch Clean-out Project Nears Final Stretch

The project to remove approximately 76,285 cubic yards of sediment from the lower reaches of Ben’s Branch in Kingwood is nearing its goal.

High-Priority Ben’s Branch Project Began Last August

This was a high priority project for Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) not just because of the sedimentation, but because of the destruction it helped cause during Hurricane Harvey.

  • 12 seniors from Kingwood Village Estates died either as a result injuries sustained during evacuation, or the stress of losing everything they owned.
  • Every home in the Enclave flooded: 283 out of 283.
  • All homes in Kingwood Greens flooded: 225 out of 225.
  • More than half the homes in Fosters Mill flooded: 346 out of 549.
  • The Kingwood Country Club flooded.
  • The Deerwood Club flooded.
  • 100% of the businesses in Kingwood Town Center flooded.
  • 100% of the businesses in Kings Harbor flooded.
  • Kingwood High School flooded to the second floor.
  • Kingwood’s library flooded.
Scope of project starts at red line on Kingwood Drive and curls south to the YMCA, where oval intersects West Lake Houston Parkway and blue line.
Construction crews today were working on both sides of the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge just above the Y.

The Ben’s Branch cleanup began last August, but suffered a setback during Tropical Storm Imelda. Much of the sediment that had been piled on the sides of the channel washed back into it during the storm.

Crews Making Up for Lost Time Since Imelda

Since then, however, Flood Control crews have been making up for lost time. Construction weather has been almost ideal. I took all the photos below on the afternoon of 1/7/2020.

Contractor pulls sediment from Ben’s Branch under the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge.
Just west of the WLHP Bridge, adjacent to Kingwood Greens in the background, another excavator was pulling sediment from Ben’s Branch and pushing it closer to shore…
…where yet another excavator was loading dump trucks. Contractors will remove an estimated 7,000 loads from the stream.
On the East side of the WLHP bridge, two more excavators tag-teamed more sediment. While one worked the shoreline…
Another broke up clumps of sediment and pulled it from the stream.
The current downstream extent of work is just north of the YMCA. That bend in Ben’s Branch behind the excavator is the final bend in the project.

For More Information

HCFCD expected the Ben’s Branch project to take 9 months. That would put completion in April. At the current rate, the contractor should make that date and perhaps beat it.

For more information about the project, consult the Kingwood pages of the HCFCD website. The project ID is # G103-33-00-X004 – Bens Branch Conveyance Restoration.

All Kingwood residents will breath easier when HCFCD finishes Ben’s Branch.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/7/2020

861 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 110 since Imelda

Overflow Spillways: Simple Idea to Help Keep Street Flooding Out of Homes

Overflow spillways in could have prevented many homes from flooding in May and again in September. Rain came down so fast in some neighborhoods that it couldn’t get through storm drains and into drainage ditches fast enough. Water backed up and flooded homes. I’m not talking about flooding like Elm Grove experienced from an external source. I’m talking about situations like we had in Mills Branch where approximately 25 homes flooded. They flooded, says the resident, when water backed up in the street, not because Taylor Gully overflowed.

Now Required in New Neighborhoods

Over the weekend, I corresponded with a Mills Branch resident who has anguished over what to do for months. In some cases, but not all, there may be a simple, relatively low-cost answer for the whole neighborhood. Overflow spillways. And Mills Branch might be a perfect candidate.

Matt Zeve, Deputy Executive Director of Harris County Flood Control, pointed out that regulations in newer neighborhoods now require, where applicable, overflow spillways.

How Overflow Spillways Work

These work for neighborhoods adjacent to drainage ditches, streams or bayous. The channel is built at an elevation that retains water in the street during heavy storms, but lets it flow out before it reaches the level of homes. Obviously, the street must slope toward the spillway. This wouldn’t work for homes in the middle of a block that formed a natural bowl. But assuming conditions are right…

Can Be Retrofitted to Older Neighborhoods

I asked Zeve if the Flood Control District could retrofit this concept to older neighborhoods. The answer: YES, if there’s a home between the neighborhood and the ditch that can be bought out to create space for the spillway AND if that home has flooded repeatedly.

Here are some pictures of the overflow relief spillways in place. The first goes into a retention pond.

The second goes into some woods that apparently contain a natural drainage channel.

Zeve says the Flood Control District has been buying homes and converting them to overflow spillways in key areas around the County.  These homes are in the lowest points and have flooded repeatedly.

Posted by Bob Rehak 1/6/2020, with thanks to Harris County Flood Control

860 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 109 since Imelda

Double Oak Construction Causes Yet Another Delay in Elm Grove Lawsuits

After stonewalling discovery in the Elm Grove lawsuits, on December 27th, defendant Double Oak Construction objected to use of the documents in court that the judge forced it to produce. I don’t know what’s in those documents, but I plan to camp out at the courthouse when this case goes to trial. The documents must be juicier than Juicyfruit gum.

Double Oak appears to be a Perry Homes’ contractor working primarily on the northern portion of the Woodridge Village site, where downed trees are now being turned into mulch.

Summary of Objections

After producing documents, Double Oak now objects to their use in court.

The plaintiffs filed notice that they intended to use, in court, all documents and items produced by Double Oak during discovery.

Double Oak claims that this notice is insufficient and contradicts the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.

The Plaintiff’s Notice leaves them, they say, without knowledge of the specific documents plaintiffs intend to use. That, claims Double Oak, handicaps the company in its ability to defend itself. It must prepare to object to every single document, they say.

But the objections don’t stop there. Double Oak reserves its right to make further objections when the company becomes aware of specific documents being used by the plaintiffs.

And if that isn’t enough, Double Oak reserves the right to object to all documents on all grounds, including documents produced by third parties.

Here is the full text of Double Oak’s objections.

No End in Sight to Delays

Sadly, there’s no end in sight to these procedural delays in court. They parallel the construction delays on the actual job site.

Perry Homes broke its promise to the Houston City Attorney to accelerate construction of additional detention ponds. Perry pulled all actual excavation equipment from the job site in December. Only Double Oak crews turning dead trees into mulch remain.

Meanwhile, the flood risk remains high for the people of Elm Grove. Based on detention capacity in place today, that risk is no lower now than it was in August before Imelda. That’s when work on the site came to a virtual standstill.

Playing the delay game is a high risk strategy for companies already facing obscenely high risk due to previous delays.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/5/2020

859 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 108 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.

Billboard on FM105 Implies Lake Conroe Is Threatened and Near Death

Lake Conroe is being drained, says the billboard. The lake is threatened. It MUST be saved. Homes are being destroyed. Armageddon is at hand.

Lake Down About a Foot, No Releases in 3 Months

Well, the Lake IS down a foot compared to its average January level thanks to evaporation and a dry Fall.

But the SJRA stopped releasing water more than 3 months ago.

So what’s all this “Stop Draining the Lake” stuff about?

When You Don’t Have Facts on Your Side, Rile Their Bile

The Lake Conroe Association is trying to rile people up to protest the seasonal lowering of Lake Conroe. That seasonal-lowering strategy, developed at Governor Abbott’s request, helped provide an extra measure of protection against downstream flooding by lowering the lake one foot in the Spring and two during the peak of hurricane season. It helped prevent West Fork flooding last May.

But it evidently has also triggered the demise of Western Civilization and recreational boating on Lake Conroe. People can no longer boat to their favorite float-in restaurants to clog their arteries with fried shrimp and shatter their neighbor’s eardrums with the shrill screams of outboard engines.

According to the Lake Conroe Association, the economy of the county and lake are collapsing – except for the second fastest growth rate in the region, which they fail to mention.

World Leaders Rally to Boaters’ Side

In New York, the United Nations called a special session to raise awareness of the threat to Lake Conroe. In Rome, the Pope considered gathering Cardinals from around the world to debate the threat to bass fishing. In Hollywood, the Screen Actors Guild summoned Bruce Willis to star in a thriller about the next “Threat to Life on Earth as We Now Know It.”

“If they can drain Lake Conroe,” said Willis, “What’s next? Fort Knox? Your IRA? Your crankcase?”

In Washington DC, the EPA declared the seasonal lowering of Lake Conroe a larger threat than climate change, deforestation and baby wipes flushed down your toilet … put together.

“This is an existential threat to Budweiser and the American way of life,” intoned Larry the Cable Guy from a stand-up gig at Hooters on 105. “Why can’t we all live in peace? Two feet of water out of a 75-foot-deep lake is outrageous. Those Kingwood people whose homes and businesses were flooded just don’t recognize the sacrifice Lake Conroe bass fishermen are making.”

Showdown in Conroe on the 21st

Lake Conroe lakefront homeowners are reportedly renting a flotilla of tour buses to ferry them to the Montgomery County Convention Center at 6PM on January 21. There, insiders say, the Lake Conroe Association plans to pack the room and shout Kingwood people down, as they did at the last SJRA board meeting, to deny Kingwood residents a chance to tell their side of this story.

At press time, it is unclear what the Lake Houston response will be, if any.

Some community organizers were considering a rally of flooded cars around a “Days of Thunder and Lightning” theme. For a spokesperson, they were reportedly negotiating with Tom Cruise to play the role of Hurricane Harvey.

Personally, I would like to see the five to six thousand West Fork home and business owners who flooded submit pictures of their damage. Then maybe policy makers can consider real vs. imagined threats as they debate whether to extend the seasonal lake lowering policy another year.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/4/2020

858 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.

When Measured by Growth of Impervious Cover, Texas Has 9 of Top 20 Counties in U.S.

According to a recent New York Times article, nine of the 20 counties in the U.S. that have experienced the most development the last decade are in Texas. Prominent among them is Harris County. The article does not cite population growth. Rather, it relies on computer analysis of satellite imagery that detects the growth of impervious cover.

Analysis of Satellite Imagery Shows Land Newly Paved or Topped With Buildings

The Times cites the work of Santa-Fe-based Descartes Labs, which positions itself as a data refinery. The company trained a computer model to automatically identify newly impervious surfaces — land that appears paved or topped with buildings — in satellite imagery. It then produced dozens of paired images that show the effects of development. It also produced a map that shows where that development took place.

This Descarte map clearly shows the pattern in Texas. Each of the major cities looks like a bullet hole in the map with development splashing out ward…a ring of concrete.

Return of Suburban and Exurban Growth

The data suggests that the growth of suburbs and exurbs has returned. There was a brief hiatus of suburban development after the housing bust in 2008, which saw people returning to the inner city. But that trend appears to be over, according to this analysis.

I’m not sure if this should be a source of pride, alarm or both.

Texas Grows While Other Areas Lose Population

Many Rust Belt cities are experiencing population shrinkage. That presents another set of problems altogether. The Times article shows how several northern cities, including Detroit, are clearing thousands of dilapidated and abandoned homes. In the process, they are restoring pervious (natural) cover.

As luck would have it, another article in The NY Times the next day talked about a slowdown in U.S. population growth. Population grew at its slowest pace in decades in 2019. A decline in the number of new immigrants, fewer births and the graying of America accounted for the decline, which the Census Bureau estimated.

Given slow population growth on the national level, local growth in Texas and Houston must come from migration. I’m not talking about foreign immigration. I’m talking about one area attracting residents and businesses from another.

Texas Has Seven of Fifteen Fastest Growing Cities in U.S.

In marketing, if the market itself is not growing, the only way for a company to grow is to steal share from its competitors. And that is exactly what Texas seems to be doing. Markets such as New York and California are losing population while Texas gained more than 14% in the last decade. From 2010 to 2018, Texas had the largest population growth in America: 3,555,731.

Texas also had 7 of the top 15 fastest growing cities in the country between 2017 and 2018.

So clearly, from a marketing point of view, Texas must be seen as a desirable place to live by many people. We’re doing many things right.

Can Texas Meet the Challenge of Rapid Growth?

But in my 45 year career in marketing and advertising, I have seen many instances where companies had record growth one year only to have record losses later. It comes down to how you manage growth.

Can you deliver what you promise and keep product quality up as you grow?

Many areas can. Many areas can’t.

County officials face a conundrum: growing rapidly while maintaining quality of life. You want to attract growth, but you don’t want to be overwhelmed by it.

Montgomery Vs. Fort Bend Counties: Strategic Differences

Some compete for growth by relaxing regulations. For instance, this video from the East Montgomery County Improvement District boasts, “We don’t have rules that confine us.” The no-hassle upfront, anything-goes, follow-your-dream approach tempts many, especially those coming from other areas with onerous regulations.

Meanwhile, other fast-growing counties, such as Fort Bend, are adopting new flood plain regulations, designed to protect the quality of life they are selling.

Tougher Fort Bend County Regulations Went Into Effect New Year’s Day.

As of 1/1/2020, Fort Bend County adopted new Atlas 14 rainfall statistics and updated their drainage criteria manual accordingly to protect new homes AND existing downstream developments. Fort Bend is the fastest growing county in the region.

There you have it. Two opposite ends of the spectrum.

It will be interesting to see the outcomes that these two development strategies produce ten years from now.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/2/2020

856 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 104 since Imelda

Multiple Mouth Bars Forming Around Lake Houston; Check out Walden’s

Yesterday’s second post about the wettest AND driest decade in our lifetimes helped explain something I’ve been puzzling about. Multiple mouth bars are forming around Lake Houston. The loss of tens of thousands of trees during the drought exposed soil. One massive storm after another then washed that soil toward the lake. Voila! Mouth bars.

Diversion Ditch Blockage

We already cleared the massive side bar that blocked the mouth of Kingwood’s diversion ditch.

The ditch (center left) that empties the entire western part of Kingwood at River Grove Park on the west fork of the San Jacinto was virtually closed off by this sandbar that formed during Harvey. An estimated 500+ homes above this point flooded.

West Fork Blockage

The Army Corps removed about a fifth of the West Fork mouth bar.

Army Corps at work removing a small portion of the West Fork Mouth Bar. Photo courtesy of BCAeronautics.

East Fork Mouth Bar

But an East Fork Mouth Bar grew 4000 feet during Harvey and Imelda. It’s now almost blocking Luce Bayou, just as the Interbasin Transfer Project is nearing completion.

Water flows left to right.

Walden Blockage

And other drainage ditches are now plugging up, too, such as the one at Walden. This is symptomatic of many ditches that empty into Lake Houston.

Walden drainage ditch now blocked by its own growing mouth bar.

Here’s what it looks like from a drone from a lower altitude and angle. Video courtesy of Jack and Greg Toole.

Still shot from Jack and Greg Toole’s video. Used with permission.

Cause of Mouth Bars

This is not surprising for a man-made lake that’s 65 years old. Dams have a tendency to hold back sediment. Sediment drops out of suspension where the moving waters in a ditch or stream slow down as they meet the still waters of a lake.

These mouth bars increase flood risk for everyone who lives near them. They form sediment damns that restrict the conveyance of the channels behind them. That forces water up and out of the channel into people’s living rooms.

Clearing the Way for Political Solutions

So how do we get rid of these mouth bars?

State Representative Dan Huberty is organizing another dredging program that should start soon. Primary targets will be the West and perhaps East Fork Mouth mouth bars. These smaller bars represent, believe it or not, a larger problem though. They fall into a jurisdictional quagmire. Does the water body they are on belong to adjacent property owners, the City, the County, or the State?

That will determine where the money for dredging comes from. And more importantly, whether the money that is already available can be used to attack the problem when a dredge is in the lake.

The bar is in an unincorporated section of Harris County. But the City owns the shoreline, and usually the first few hundred feet of channels.

Who will take ownership of problems like Walden’s? These details still need to be worked out.

HB1824 May Help

Ironically, HB1824, which I criticized because I believe it opens the door to river sand mining, may help in cases like Walden’s. The bill allows Harris County Flood Control to take sediment from the San Jacinto and its tributaries without obtaining a permit or paying a fee as long as HCFCD deposits the sediment on private land. (Remember: Lake Houston IS the San Jacinto River.)

I suspect the Walden ditch will become precedent for how such minor tributaries are treated. Walden’s nearness to the West Fork mouth bar would argue for making it part of any dredging program there.

A new year, new challenges!

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/1/2020 with photo and video from Jack and Greg Toole, and BCAeronautics.

855 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 104 since Imelda

From Drought to Floods: The Decade in Review

Jeff Lindner, the Harris County Flood Control District Meteorologist compiled this Decade in Review. After a very dry start, the decade ended incredibly wet. We started with five years of below normal rainfall (2010-2014). Then rains and floods returned in 2015 and continued through 2019. For the period from 2010-2014, the rainfall DEFICIT for BUSH IAH was -56.70 inches. For the period from 2015-2019, the rainfall SURPLUS was +69.78 inches.

Five Deficit Years…

2010: 42.72 (-7.07)

2011: 24.57 (-25.2)

2012: 43.32 (-7.45)

2013: 38.84 (-10.93)

2014: 43.72 (-6.05)

Followed by Five Surplus Years

2015: 70.03 (+20.26)

2016: 60.96 (+11.19)

2017: 79.69 (+29.92)

2018: 56.02 (+6.25)

2019: 51.93 (+2.16)

The decade featured one of the most significant droughts since the 1950’s across the state of Texas and a series of floods that rivals any period of flooding ever experienced in this state.

Jeff Lindner, Harris County Flood Control Meteorologist

1. Hurricane Harvey (2017)

Harvey made landfall at Port Aransas on August 27, 2017 at 10:00 pm as a category 4 hurricane with 130mph winds producing extensive wind damage across portions of the Texas coastal bend. A maximum wind gust of 132mph was recorded at Port Aransas and 118mph at Copano Bay. Harvey would then meander slowly east-northeast across portions of southeast Texas and the extreme northwest Gulf of Mexico producing record breaking rainfall and flooding.

A maximum total rainfall of 60.58 inches was recorded at Nederland, TX with over 10,000 square miles receiving over 35 inches of rainfall.

Across Harris County, on average 33.7 inches of rainfall occurred, resulting in record flooding along many of the bayous and creeks. In additional inflows into Addicks and Barker Reservoirs resulted in record pool elevations (exceeded Tax Day by 6.0 feet) in both reservoirs and significant flooding of structures located within the flood pools. Water flowed around the north end spillway of Addicks for the first time since the completion of the dams in the 1940’s.  In Harris County alone over 154,000 homes were flooded and statewide over 250,000 homes were damaged from either flooding or wind. An estimated 500,000 vehicles were damaged or destroyed.

In the counties of Jefferson, Orange, Hardin, and Tyler upwards of 110,000 structures were flooded which is about 33% of the total number of structures in these four counties.

The highway 96 bridge over Village Creek near Silsbee, TX was completely washed away. In Fort Bend County over 200,000 residents were asked to evacuate due to flooding from Barker Reservoir, the Brazos River, and local drainage issues with some 8,700 homes being flooded. Over 9,000 homes were flooded in Brazoria County and over 7,000 in Galveston County. Many of the creeks, bayous, and rivers in southeast Texas surpassed previously held flood records by several feet.

More than 100,000 residents were rescued across southeast Texas by both government and civilian resources with more than 40,000 sheltered in over 150 shelters.

Over 336,000 customers lost power during the hurricane mainly across the coastal bend from wind related damages, but also in the Houston and Beaumont areas from flooding.

Harvey resulted in 125 billion dollars in damage making the hurricane the second costliest hurricane in American history (behind Katrina 2005). Harvey is the worst flooding event to ever impact the United States and resulted in the highest death toll from a landfalling tropical system in the state of Texas since 1919 with over 68 direct fatalities (36 in Harris County alone).

2. Drought/Wildfires (2011)

One of the worst droughts to impact the state of Texas and southeast Texas occurred in 2011 resulting in widespread mandatory water restrictions, the loss of millions of trees, and significant wildfires. High temperatures during the drought were some of the warmest on record and exceeded the extreme heat of the summer of 1980.

For the period from February 1 to August 18, Hobby Airport only recorded 6.36 inches of rainfall breaking the previous driest record from those dates by 6.25 inches. On August 27, 2011, Houston IAH reached a high temperature of 109 at 2:44pm which tied the hottest all-time temperature from September 4, 2000 for the city of Houston.

Over the Labor Day weekend of 2011, primed vegetation from the drought combined with strong winds of 30-40mph on the western side of Tropical Storm Lee over Louisiana produced one of the most devastating wildfire events in Texas history. The Bastrop fire burned over 35,000 acres and some 1600 homes and is the single most devastating wildfire in Texas history.

The tri-county fire (Waller, Grimes, Montgomery Counties) burned over 19,000 acres and some 100 homes. In September 2011, the statewide PDSI index fell to -7.97 or its lowest values ever, indicating the 2011 drought was nearly as equal in severity as the drought of record in the 1950’s.

For 2011, Tomball averaged a rainfall deficit of over 40 inches. Overall statewide water storage fell to 58.78% at the end of October 2011 and Lake Conroe fell to -8.0 feet below its conservation pool. Lake Travis fell to -54.61 feet below its conservation pool or (34% capacity). 644 jurisdictions across the state were under mandatory water restrictions.

The City of Houston also recorded 47 days above 100 degrees (previous record was 32 in 1980). Huntsville recorded 72 days above 100 (previous record was 43 in 1980). The incredible heat of August 2011 was estimated to be a 10,000 year return event for the City of Houston.

3. Tropical Storm Imelda (2019)

Tropical Storm Imelda formed 15 miles off the coast of Brazoria County and made landfall near Freeport on September 17, 2019. Imelda would slowly drift north-northeast across SE TX during the 18th and into the 19th.

Early on the morning of the 19th an extensive band of heavy thunderstorms producing extreme amounts of rainfall developed from Jefferson County to east-central Montgomery County.

Rainfall rates under this band frequently exceeded 4.0-5.0 inches per hours with a few locations receiving over 6.0 inches per hour.

This band of excessive rainfall drifted south-southwest in Harris County by mid morning. 31.0 inches of rainfall was recorded in just 12 hours at Fannett, TX near the Chambers/Jefferson County line with a storm total of 44.29 inches of rainfall at that site.

The 44.29 inches recorded at Fannett, TX makes TS Imelda the 4th wettest tropical cyclone in Texas history and the 5th wettest in US history dating back to 1851.

A 48-hour rainfall total of 29.1 inches was recorded in northeast Harris County near Huffman with 30.4 inches recorded in southeast Montgomery County near Plum Grove. 6.5 inches of rain fell in just 1 hour over the Aldine area of Harris County.

The resultant flooding in Jefferson, Liberty, Chambers, and portions of northeast and north central Harris County equaled and in some cases exceeded that of Harvey.

While overall storm total rainfall amounts were less than Harvey, the duration (intensity) at which some of the rainfall occurred in certain areas was much greater for Imelda than for Harvey yielding in certain instances areas that would flood in Imelda and not Harvey. 3,990 homes flooded in Harris County alone. Several thousand flooded in Montgomery, Liberty, Chambers, and Jefferson Counties.   

4. Tax Day Flood (2016)

On April 17-18, 2016 a slow moving to at times stationary cluster of thunderstorms producing excessive rainfall rates developed over portions of Waller, Austin, northern Fort Bend and western Harris County. Over the next 12 hours rainfall amounts of 12-24 inches would occur from southern Waller County into portions of western Harris County resulting in extensive and severe flooding.

The flooding resulted in 9 fatalities in Harris, Waller, and Austin Counties (7 in Harris County) with an estimated 40,000 vehicles flooded and 9,840 homes flooded in Harris County alone.

A maximum 14.5 hour rainfall rate of 23.50 inches was recorded in Pattison in southern Waller County with 19.30 inches occurring at Monaville in 10 hours.

Modern day record flooding occurred along Cypress Creek and in portions of Addicks Reservoir (only to be exceeded a year later by Harvey).

Significant flooding occurred along the lower Brazos River, only to be exceeded a month later when 20 inches of rainfall fell near Brenham, TX. Addicks Reservoir peaked at its highest level ever recorded at 102.65 feet (only to be exceed by Harvey the following year).

5. Memorial Weekend (2015)

Devastating flooding impacted the state of Texas over the Memorial Day weekend in 2015. The initial onslaught began with excessive rainfall and resulting catastrophic flooding along the Blanco River at Wimberley where the river rose over 30 ft in less than 3 hours. It reached a peak elevation of around 40.2 ft (flood stage 13ft) and exceeded the previous record of 33.3 ft (an 86 year old record).

The Blanco River at San Marcos rose 17 ft in 30 minutes and over 29 ft in 2.5 hours.

Over 1000 residents were displaced and over 350 homes in Wimberley destroyed and washed away. The storm killed 13 persons including 8 from a single river house that washed away. The Ranch Road 165 and Fischer Store Rd bridges across the river were completely destroyed and the Ranch Road 12 bridge sustained significant damage.

The following day, a line of intense thunderstorms would originate in central Texas and move into southeast Texas and slow over southwest Harris County. A total of 8.0 inches of rainfall would fall in a 3 hour period.

11.0 inches fell in 12 hours north of US 59 and Beltway 8 resulting in extensive flash flooding. The first ever Flash Flood Emergency was issued for Harris County at 10:52pm. There were 7 fatalities in Harris County (4 from submerged vehicles at underpasses).

Statewide a total of 27 people died in flash flooding. Flooding along Brays and Keegans Bayous was the most extensive since September 1983 and along Buffalo Bayou since March 1992 and TS Allison (2001).

A total of 6,335 homes flooded in Harris County and an additional 3,540 multi-family units flooded. Some of the same homes would be flooded a year later with the “Tax Day Flood” and all would flood again during Harvey 2 years later. 

That’s the decade in review! If you weren’t browning, you were drowning. Any time your friends and family in other states start complaining about the weather there, send a link to this page to them.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/31/2019

854 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 103 since Imelda