Some County Department Heads Receive Massive Pay Increases Despite Performance Issues

2/16/2025 – Comparing data recently obtained via a public information request to previous sources available online shows current pay rates and increases for Harris County Department heads. One head now receives more than half of a million dollars per year. Another seven receive more than $400,000 per year.

And some pay increases exceed the entire annual pay of average workers in the United States and Houston. However, recent discussions in Commissioners Court indicate the increases may not be tied to performance.

Obtained via Public Information Request. For a high-resolution, printable PDF, click here.

Increases Exceed Average Salaries in U.S. and Houston

In some cases, the amounts of the increases alone exceed what the average American makes in an entire year.

As of 2023, the average annual wage in the United States was $66,622, according to the Social Security Administration. In that same year, the median household income in Houston, Texas, was $62,894, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Individual salaries in Houston vary widely based on factors, such as occupation, experience, and education. For example, according to Gusto.com:

  • Vice Presidents: Median salary of $125,000.
  • Product Managers: Median salary of $120,000.
  • Software Engineers: Median salary of $110,000.
  • Office Managers: Median salary of $50,000.

Compare those to pay increases received by these Harris County department heads:

  • Milton Rahman, head of the Engineering Department received an increase of more than $135,000.
  • Sindhu Menon, head of Universal Services, the county’s IT department, received an increase of more than $110,000.
  • Leah Barton, the temporary head of Public Health, also received a raise of more than $110,000.
  • Luis Arturo Sanchez, the chief medical examiner, received an increase of more than $90,000.
  • Tina Petersen, head of the flood control district, received an increase of almost $90,000.

Public Sector Vs. Private Sector: Differences in Philosophy

I cannot speak to the qualifications of any of the individuals above, nor the merit of their pay increases. But I would note a major philosophical difference between the public and private sectors re: salaries and salary increases.

The private sector usually links pay to performance in order to incentivize employees to work harder.

But in Harris County, the government reportedly wants to bring salaries up to a level that department heads could theoretically make somewhere else. The announced objective seems to be “employee retention.” However…

Pay Increased Despite Performance Issues

Shortly after department heads received the pay increases above, County Commissioners severely and publicly criticized several of those who received them. The issue: inability to deliver 2018 Bond and Subdivision Drainage Projects, exacerbated by 30-35% inflation in construction.

Commissioner Tom Ramsey (Precinct 3) said, “This is a major crisis. I sense no urgency from flood control. I sense no urgency from the county engineer’s office. And I don’t sense any urgency from the county administrator.” Ramsey also said, “We need to go back and take a look at it, but there needs to be an adult in room to be sure that we get honest answers back.”

Commissioner Lesley Briones (Precinct 4) expressed, “Utter dismay. Frustration. Shock.” She emphasized that the county needed to find solutions for both the subdivision drainage projects and the flood bond. “This is not OK,” she said. “And we need to get it done with a sense of urgency.”

Commissioner Rodney Ellis (Precinct 1) said, “This is an abysmal failure to deliver on the bond issue.”

All this happened after the department leaders of Flood Control and Engineering received pay increases of almost $90,000 and more than $135,000 per year respectively.

When I ran my business, if I had an employee whose performance was an “abysmal failure,” I usually had a different response that involved the door.

The pace of spending for flood-bond projects has declined for four straight years.

HCFCD annual spending trend
Source: FOIA request. After flood bond approval, spending rapidly ramped up. Then the county instituted its Equity Plan and brought in new management. Given 30-35% inflation in construction, the decline is concerning.

If adjusted for inflation, the HCFCD spending decline would be steeper than shown above. In fact, discounting last year’s spending by one third for cumulative inflation would make it equal to roughly $150 million. HCFCD spent that in 2017, the year before the Flood Bond passed.

And then there’s Universal Services (US), which has the county’s fourth highest paid leader. US provides IT support to other departments, such as the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD). But parts of the Flood Control District website has been broken for months. HCFCD no longer shows the location of active projects.

Flood Control blames that on a failure of Geographic Information System (GIS) software maintained by US. But HCFCD’s Flood-Bond update frequency has also decreased from monthly to annually.

Chumocracy vs. Meritocracy and Tax Increases

County employees frequently complain about political hires without professional qualifications. For instance, Universal Services reportedly has a tradition under the current County Judge of hiring foreigners who have poor programming skills and who can barely speak English.

They place a higher burden on the remaining qualified professionals who find themselves doing a proportionally higher share of the work. They also demoralize remaining skilled professionals who see less talented people making equal pay while doing less.

This “chumocracy,” as Brits call it, is an insidious form of institutional cancer spreading throughout Harris County government. And Harris County leaders have asked Harris County taxpayers to foot the bill for their chumocracy with historic tax increases.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/16/25

2728 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.

Mark Your Calendar: Median Madness Round 2, Northpark Closure

2/14/25 – Mark your calendars, Kingwood residents. Two important upcoming events will affect most of you: Median Madness Round 2 and a total Northpark Drive closure lasting 3-days at the UnionPacific Railroad near Loop 494. Here are details of each.

Median Madness Round 2

City Council Member Fred Flickinger has organized another vine trimming event on Kingwood Drive. It’s called Median Madness, Round 2. Please consider volunteering.

Round 1, held last November was a fun success. Dozens of volunteers from all of Kingwood got to vent their pent-up frustrations on vines that were taking over Kingwood Drive. And they did it with a vengeance.

Vine cleanup on Kingwood drive and the power of people working together, Median Madness
Median Madness Round 1 in November 2024.

They used chain saws, lopping shears, pruning saws and sheer muscle power to push back the wall of vines on a half mile stretch of median. But the best part beyond the results was the camaraderie that came from neighbors working together to improve their community.

Median Madness Round 2 will take place on Saturday, February 22, 2025, between 8:30 AM and 12:00 PM from Kings Creek Drive to Forest Shores Drive. That’s roughly a block past Kings Forest Drive and a block short of Shady Run.

This time parking will be on the westbound lanes (north side) of Kingwood Drive. The organizers request that volunteers carpool.

Median Madness Round 2 Poster

Please Register HERE for the Event

Remember to bring water and gloves, and to wear closed-toe shoes. Anyone under 16 should be accompanied by an adult.

Once registered, you’ll receive an email with a waiver and helpful tips to prepare for the event. Be sure to complete the waiver and bring a printed copy with you on the day of Median Madness, Saturday, February 22nd.

Northpark Drive Closure March 5-7

As part of the Northpark Drive expansion project, both inbound and both outbound lanes will be closed from March 5-7 at the UnionPacific Railroad Tracks. That’s Wednesday through Friday. We’ve known this was coming for years. Now it’s here.

UPRR Crews will need to shut down Northpark within the red box for three days to replace existing track with a SINGLE 200-foot-long section of new track.

The new track will stretch under and across ten full lanes of traffic. Those include:

  • Three lanes of westbound traffic over a bridge yet to be built
  • Three lanes of eastbound traffic over the same bridge
  • Two westbound surface lanes, one for turning north, the other for turning south
  • Two eastbound surface lanes, one for traffic entering from the north and the other for traffic entering from the south.

To accomplish this feat, they need to close down Northpark Drive in BOTH directions simultaneously to work with massive cranes.

Ralph De Leon, project manager for the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority, stressed that the remainder of Northpark Drive will remain open so that people may access businesses.

Just plan on getting across the tracks some way other than Northpark. Contractors will construct a U-turn just before the track closure so that people can get to/from nearby businesses, such as Dunkin’ Donuts.

Start planning your detours now.

UPRR has two crews that handle projects like this throughout the entire country. Missing the opening in their schedule would mean waiting for years before they could return.

So pack your patience. Work from home if possible. And if not, plan extra time for your commute.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/14/25

2726 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Meritage Site Overflows Despite Detention Basin

2/13/25 – Phase I of the new 40-acre Meritage development in Atascocita between Pinehurst and Kings River overflowed after less than two inches of rain on Tuesday 2/11/25. Approximately an inch of that fell in a half hour.

While that is a pretty heavy downpour, it still falls short of the 1.43 inches per half hour needed to qualify as a 1-year rain on the Atlas-14 rainfall-probability scale.

Even when totaling the peak rainfall for an hour (less than 1.5 inches), it still doesn’t qualify as a one year rain.

Atlas 14

The point is that this rainfall was far from extraordinary, yet the Meritage drainage system failed.

Video Shows Half-Flooded Street

A local resident sent me these videos of Pinehurst Trail Drive which runs between Phases I and II. In both videos, you’re looking toward Phase I, west of the street.

Still Photos Show Problems with Pollution Prevention Measures

I took the still photos below after the rain stopped. You can see how the accumulated rain overwhelmed the silt fence. Water ran over and under the fence, and into the street.

Meritage silt fence on N side of Pinehurst Trail Drive on 2/11/25
Meritage silt fence on N side of Pinehurst Trail Drive on 2/11/25
Water pouring into street from Phase One of Meritage Development
Water built up in the street below the entry point (upper left)
On the opposite side of the street, water poured out of Phase 2 through the site entrance, crested over the wattle rolls and went straight into the storm sewer and then Lake Houston.

Insufficient Urgency

The silt fences and wattle roles visible in the photos and videos above certainly helped contain sediment-laden runoff. But they didn’t stop it.

The riskiest time during development happens between clearing and completion of construction when grass and landscaping are installed. All that erosion can reduce the conveyance of drains and ditches, increasing flood risk.

Yet virtually all of Phase I was cleared 11 months ago. Since then, the developer has installed a detention basin, but still not paved the streets, installed all the storm sewers or started home construction.

The excessive delays expose the neighborhood, its infrastructure and Lake Houston to more sediment pollution than necessary. But that’s not all. One neighbor complained that the water on Kings Park Way hasn’t dried out in five months. I have also heard complaints about mosquitoes because of constantly standing water.

One even quipped that they should advertise that they have a “lazy river.” (See below how the site looked a month earlier on January 8.)

Phase I in foreground. Phase II in background, looking E across Pinehurst Trail Drive. Residents call water running down the area on the left the “lazy river.”

Water entered the street on Feb. 11, exactly where that lazy river ends in the photo above.

It seems the street flooding we saw Tuesday resulted from a failure to build quickly once the land was cleared. It also resulted from a failure to contain water the developer couldn’t channel into the detention basin.

These failures don’t bode well for the future of the neighborhood.

For More Information

Meritage builds homes in 11 states. Their website also shows they build homes in 34 communities in the Houston area alone. The posts below contain photos of and background materials about the development.

12/23/24 – Meritage Finishes Clearing 40 Acres Between Pinehurst and Kings River

10/27/24 – Concerns About Fill Height in New Atascocita Development

3/11/24 – New Kings River Development Gets a Buzz Cut

2/13/24 – Meritage Begins Clearing 40 Acres for 210 Homes, Many Over Wetlands

2/26/24 – New Kings River Development Drainage Analysis, Plans Raise Questions

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/13/25

2725 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

Colony Ridge Foreclosure Notices Appear to Routinely Ignore Texas Law

The controversial Colony Ridge development in Liberty county, which targets Hispanics and which has been labeled a “foreclosure mill” by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, appears to routinely ignore Texas law when sending out foreclosure notices.

Section 51.0075 (e) of the Texas Property Code requires that “the name and a street address for a trustee or substitute trustees shall be disclosed on the notice required by Section 51.002 (b).” But all sampled Colony Ridge foreclosure notices do not include the trustee’s street address.

Nor do they include the location of foreclosure sales, which state law also requires.

These and other irregularities may explain why Paxton found the foreclosure rate in Colony Ridge is 50 times the national average.

They also could theoretically invalidate thousands of foreclosures, according to sources consulted for this post.

Colony Ridge is now 50 percent bigger than Manhattan
The massive Colony Ridge development in Liberty County primarily sells owner-financed land on which buyers put their own homes. Shown above, one small portion of the development now 50% larger than Manhattan.

Colony Ridge Foreclosure Notices Contain No Street Address for Trustee

A random sampling of foreclosure notices for Liberty County properties outside of Colony Ridge shows that all trustees have complied with the street address provision.

However, a second sampling of foreclosure notices on properties inside Colony Ridge shows that none of the 58 notices contains a street address for the trustee. Instead, they include only a Post Office Box number.

In Texas, a “street address” includes the name and number of a building, along with the street or road it’s located on. It’s needed for driver’s licenses and other official documents, such as foreclosure notices.

According to ChatGPT, in Texas, foreclosure notices must include the street address of the trustee or substitute trustee to ensure transparency and accessibility for borrowers and interested parties. This requirement serves several key purposes. It:

  1. Prevents Fraud and Confusion – Clearly identifying the trustee’s location reduces the risk of fraudulent or misleading foreclosure practices by ensuring that the foreclosure is managed by a verifiable, accessible entity.
  2. Facilitates Communication – The trustee is responsible for conducting the foreclosure sale, so providing a physical address allows borrowers, lienholders, and other interested parties to contact them for inquiries, legal matters, or foreclosure-related issues.
  3. Ensures Proper Notice – Texas law mandates that foreclosure procedures follow due process, which includes proper notice to homeowners. Listing the trustee’s address helps ensure that homeowners know where to send requests for information, reinstatement payments, or legal disputes.
  4. Complies with Texas Property Code – Texas law, including Section 51.0075 (e) of the Texas Property Code, sets strict requirements for foreclosure notices. The inclusion of a trustee’s street address aligns with these legal requirements, helping to protect both lenders and borrowers.

Location of Foreclosure Sale Also Omitted

Texas law also requires that foreclosure notices include the location of the foreclosure sale itself.

Properties outside of Colony Ridge list this information. However, all 58 of these Colony Ridge foreclosure notices only say, “At a place designated by the Commissioner’s Court of Liberty County, Texas.”

People from south of the border may not know the customary location of such sales – at county courthouses. That makes it difficult for non-English speakers to figure out where to go if they want to bid on their property. It also increases the likelihood that foreclosures will sale through uncontested.

Finally, it helps explain why investigative journalist Wayne Dolcefino found that Colony Ridge successfully repurchased all properties in a foreclosure sale around Thanksgiving, 2020. In the first 11 months that year, the developer foreclosed on approximately 2,900 properties out of 22,956 that reportedly existed in the development at that time – 13% in less than a year.

Today, the development is at least 50% larger than Manhattan. So, the number of foreclosures each year since 2020 has likely increased.

Contested Foreclosures Possible And Other Implications

Failure to disclose such information could potentially invalidate a foreclosure sale if challenged in court. Texas foreclosure law is strict about proper notice requirements, and any defect in the notice could give borrowers grounds to contest the foreclosure. Here’s why:

1. Strict Compliance Required
  • Texas courts have ruled that failure to strictly follow foreclosure notice requirements can be grounds to invalidate a sale.
  • If the foreclosure has already occurred, a borrower could challenge it and request that the court void the sale due to non-compliance.
2. Violation of Texas Property Code
  • Under Texas Property Code § 51.002(b), a foreclosure notice must include key information, including the date, time, location of the sale, and the name and street address of the trustee.
  • If this information is missing or incorrect, the notice might not meet statutory requirements, making the foreclosure legally defective.
3. Borrower’s Right to Challenge the Foreclosure
  • If a borrower can show that the missing trustee address caused harm or confusion, they may file a lawsuit to halt or reverse the foreclosure.
  • A court could issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) or injunction, delaying the foreclosure until the notice is corrected.
4. Lender May Have to Restart the Process
  • If a court finds that the notice was defective, the lender may have to start the foreclosure process over, sending a corrected notice and waiting the required 21-day period before conducting a new sale.
5. Trustee and Lender Liability
  • A defective notice could also expose the trustee and lender to legal claims, including wrongful foreclosure or violations of Texas consumer protection laws.

Bottom Line

According to one lawyer consulted for this post, missing addresses for the trustee and/or sale location represent serious defects that could invalidate a Texas foreclosure if properly challenged. If you or someone you know face foreclosure and notices are an issue, consulting a real estate attorney to explore your legal options may help.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/12/2025

2724 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.

TLDA Email Details Need to Exploit Immigrants

2/10/2025 – An email among a powerful association of real estate developers and mortgage lenders obtained by ReduceFlooding.com details why the group feels the need to exploit immigrants despite criticism of its businesses practices from both the left and the right. The email defends a business model knowingly based on a high percentage of unqualified buyers whose property is repossessed and resold.

Foreclosure Rate 50 Times Higher than U.S. Average

Three days after the Daily Wire wrote an expose about the notorious Colony Ridge Development in Liberty County, Scot Campbell, Chairman Emeritus of the Texas Land Development Association (TLDA), wrote an email to other TLDA board members.

The Daily Wire describes an owner-financing arrangement that “makes it possible for illegal aliens to buy land deep in the heart of Texas. While traditional financing methods require credit ratings and proof of income … buyers at Colony Ridge are able to circumvent the usual requirements, even dodging the need to provide a social security number.”

Traditional bank loans usually require a credit rating and proof of income. But owner financing obtained directly through Colony Ridge reportedly bypasses those traditional mortgage requirements. For a “few hundred dollars” as a down payment, buyers can own a piece of America.

The hitch: they might pay interest rates as high as 15%, according to the Daily Wire. And if they miss a payment, the owner may foreclose on their property and sell it again…with all the improvements that the previous buyer made. Some properties have been resold multiple times.

Merry Christmas from Colony Ridge
Merry Christmas from Colony Ridge, the world’s largest trailer park. Photographed on December 7, 2020. The developer reportedly foreclosed on 1900 properties that year.

Colony Ridge has also been criticized for marketing in Spanish but providing legal documents at closing in English to people who may not even speak the language.

A multi-count lawsuit by the Texas Attorney General alleged deceptive trade practices and cited a foreclosure rate 50 times higher than the national average.

“An Attack on Our Industry”

But in his email to other TLDA board members, Scot Campbell describes the Daily Wire expose as “an attack on our industry.” [Emphasis added]

The Campbell email states, “The right wing … wants to stop all development of this nature. The left wants to knock us out of the market because we make money on the poor.”

He continues, “We will not be able to sell our developments if each of our buyers have to have a SS# and we have to qualify each buyer as to the buyer’s ability to repay.” [Emphasis added again]

“It will kill our industry and make our future resale of foreclosed lots worth a lot less than [before] because we will all be fighting over a few qualified buyers…”

Scot Campbell, Chairman Emeritus of TLDA

The remainder of the email describes criticisms of owner-financing practices from the political right and left.

  • “The right does not like our subdivisions [emphasis added again] because they believe they are a blight on the community” and the people “cannot speak English.”
  • Campbell says people on the left “think its evil to make money on poor people” and “charge higher interest.”

See the email below which responds to the Daily Wire article.

Email from Scott Campbell
For a printable PDF, click here. Most of the addressees still serve as TLDA board members according to the TLDA website.

TLDA describes itself as a group that “works to prevent over-regulation by state and local governments by advocating for common-sense practices in land use and development.” Basically, it’s a lobbying organization.

Particularly worrisome in the email above is the plea to continue selling property to buyers, most of whom the association knows are unqualified. Scot Campbell apparently fears that might impact foreclosure mills in places like Liberty County and along the Mexican border. Developments like Colony Ridge operate throughout the state.

Source of Email

I obtained the email above from an ex-Colony Ridge land-owner-turned-activist named Maria Acevedo. Her property was foreclosed on after she complained about irregularities with the survey and the plat provided to her by the seller.

Investigative journalist Wayne Dolcefino exposed how properties in Colony Ridge are sold over and over again by the developer.

However, according to Acevedo, the legal documents for her foreclosure fail to comply with Texas law. This could affect thousands of foreclosures and resales in Liberty County. But more on that in a future story.

Ironically, the TLDA Chairman Emeritus concludes his memo saying that…

“Our industry does much to help the homeless problem.”

Scot Campbell, TLDA Chairman Emeritus

However, Campbell’s email does not describe how kicking people out of their homes would help the homeless problem.

For More Information about Colony Ridge

To learn more about the squalid living conditions in Colony Ridge, see History of Heartbreak: A Colony Ridge Chronicle. It contains links to more than 75 stories about substandard living conditions, poor infrastructure, and environmental issues in Colony Ridge.

Many of the latter impact downstream areas. For instance:

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/10/25

2722 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.

Northpark Drive Expansion Update: Life in the Slow Lane

2/9/25 – Northpark Drive expansion has become a bewildering maze of lane switches and traffic barriers where SUVs tango daily with excavators and dump trucks. All of that makes for life in the slow lane … which can actually be a good thing given the potential for accidents.

Since my last construction update, contractors have removed the old:

  • Eastbound pavement between Kings Mill and Russell Palmer Road
  • Loop 494 Northbound pavement on both sides of Northpark

They have also substantially completed the installation of storm sewers underneath the westbound surface turn lanes that will parallel the bridge over the UnionPacific Railroad Tracks and Loop 494. However, crews still need to install many laterals.

Pictures Taken 2/9/25

I took all pictures below on 2/9/25. They show the status of construction. If traffic looks light in these photos, it’s likely because I took them during the pregame show for the Super Bowl.

Looking east from in front of Italiano’s. The old eastbound pavement has been completely removed.

Before contractors pour new concrete, they will have to install drainage, compact the dirt, prepare the base, and place rebar. All of that could take another month or more.

As soon as they finish the drainage on eastbound Northpark between Italiano’s and Russell Palmer the same crew will rotate to the northeast side of the Loop 494/Northpark intersection then the southeast side. Again, once the drainage is complete, they will begin to prepare the sub-grade, then rebar, then concrete paving.

Looking W from in front of Kings Mill Entrance (bottom left). Crews have spent the last several months installing large culverts.
They have moved from E to W toward the railroad tracks. They still need to install some laterals.
The surface turn lanes that parallel the bridge over the railroad tracks and Loop 494 will go in the area between the existing lanes (left) and the new power lines (right).
Wider, longer turn lanes and thru lanes will also be installed on Loop 494, shown here looking south from over Northpark.

The southbound lanes of Loop 494 south of Northpark are complete! So are the driveways!

Ditto for the north side.
On the west side of 494, some power lines that need to be moved are still holding up construction (see lower right).
But farther west, two new lanes have been poured that now go all the way to US59 at the top of the frame.

The lookahead schedule posted on the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority website shows major efforts for the next three weeks include installation of:

  • Fire lines, water lines, water meters
  • Box culverts and laterals
  • Sub grade and fine grade prep

In other words, no big concrete pours for a while.

For More Information

See the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority project web pages. For a history of the project, see these select posts on ReduceFlooding.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/30/25

2711 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Kingwood Diversion Ditch Preliminary Engineering Review Released

2/8/2025 – Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) has finally released the full text of the Kingwood Diversion Ditch Preliminary Engineering Review and its supporting files. The report, which was originally due in 300 days took more than 1400 days. When asked why it took so long, a HCFCD representative replied, “Personnel turnover.”

The files transmitted to Commissioners Court on 2/6/25 include:

See links to all of them at the bottom of this post.

Kingwood Diversion Ditch Preliminary Engineering Review – text of full study
Preliminary Engineering Study of Kingwood Diversion Ditch produced by Neel-Schaffer

Altogether, the 175 megabytes of materials include hundreds of pages. I could not even post some files because they exceeded the size limit of my website or because they were engineering files that required specialized software to open.

I have uploaded what I can. However, I have not studied them all thoroughly yet. Based on a preliminary scan, here are some of the highlights.

Three Alternatives Evaluated

Neel-Schaffer, the engineering company that produced the report, considered three alternatives. Each improves stormwater carrying capacity of the ditch and relieves some of the pressure on Bens Branch. The two are connected near the Northpark Drive Fireworks Stand. The three alternatives include the following features:

  • Alternative 1 – A widened Kingwood Diversion Ditch including grass-lined trapezoidal channel, one drop structure and a new outfall of the Kingwood Diversion Ditch to West Fork San Jacinto River.
  • Alternative 2 – A widened Kingwood Diversion Ditch including a benched channel section above Ordinary High-Water Mark, two drop structures and a new outfall of the Kingwood Diversion Ditch to West Fork San Jacinto River.
  • Alternative 3 – A widened Kingwood Diversion Ditch including a Natural Stable Channel Design Sections with riffle and pools and a new outfall of the Kingwood Diversion Ditch to West Fork San Jacinto River.

Alternative #3 Recommended

For each alternative, Neel-Schaffer examined:

  • Hydraulic performance
  • Increased channel conveyance capacity
  • Costs and benefits in relation to the reduction in the area of inundation
  • Environmental impacts
  • Construction feasibility.

The engineers recommended Alternative 3 after comparing:

  • Capital cost estimates
  • Stormwater detention cost estimates
  • Maintenance costs per 10 years
  • Number of parcels, acres and structures removed from the 1% annual chance floodplain

The table below summarizes their benefits.

Kingwood Diversion Ditch Preliminary Engineering Review – table comparing benefits of alternatives considered

Even though alternative #3 was the most expensive to construct, lower maintenance costs would offset the increase within 28 years.

Features Included in Recommendation

The recommended project alternative includes:

  • A diversion structure at the intersection of the Diversion Ditch and Bens Branch to reduce the volume flowing into Bens Branch
  • Channel conveyance improvements to the Diversion Ditch
  • Bridge replacements at Kingwood Drive, Walnut Lane, Deer Ridge Estates Boulevard and the pedestrian bridge at Lake Village Drive
  • A new outfall to the West Fork San Jacinto River, just west of Woodland Hills Drive/River Grove Park
  • A stormwater detention basin on the south side of the San Jacinto West Fork.

The bridges at Northpark Drive will also be rebuilt, but as part of the Northpark Expansion Project.

Impacts on Bens Branch

In each alternative, stormwater flow to Bens Branch was restricted by pipes. That forces more stormwater into the expanded Diversion Ditch.

The Flood Control District’s guidelines allow for the use of a minimum pipe diameter of 24-inches. That would take enough stormwater flow out of Bens Branch to improve it from a 2-year level of service to a 100-year level.

Remember, the function of the Diversion Ditch is to take stormwater out of Bens Branch. Friendswood hoped to minimize flooding through the western half of Kingwood by using two channels instead of one to convey stormwater.

Detention Basin Also Recommended South of West Fork

Neel-Schaffer also evaluated the need for stormwater detention storage volume to mitigate adverse impacts of the proposed alternatives. They recommend one across the West Fork on high ground.

Neel-Schaffer recommended the green-colored basin south of the West Fork (#1). (Bottom Center)

Funding Not Identified Yet

Funding does not currently exist for any construction. HCFCD would have to apply for grants. The Preliminary Engineering Report outlines several possible sources of funding. However, Stephanie Zertuche, Flood Control’s Project Manager, says that pursuit will likely happen as part of the next phase – construction engineering – when costs are locked down.

However, that assumes that the project even gets that far. $55 million to remove 34 structures from the 100-year flood plain will be a difficult sell based on the Benefit/Cost Analysis alone.

But there are other factors to consider. We shouldn’t forget that:

  • 12 people died along Bens Branch during Harvey.
  • The entire Kingwood Town Center area was under water
  • Thousands of people got cut off from evacuation routes.
  • Kingwood High School flooded to the second floor and thousands of students had to be bussed to other schools for a year.

Social benefits go far beyond cost and are hard to quantify.

To Review the Original Docs…

Below are links to all the Kingwood Diversion Ditch Preliminary Engineering Report documents.

For ease of future reference, I’ve also linked them on the Reports Page under the Harris County Flood Control District tab.

If you are an engineer in the Humble/Kingwood Area, please help. Send me your opinions through the contact page of this website.

Even if you don’t read the entire study, you may be interested in seeing where your home stands in relation to the new expanded floodplains under Atlas 14. Those inundation maps at the bottom of the list are very interesting.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/8/25

2720 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Flood Bond, Subdivision Drainage Shortfalls Prompt Harsh Words From Commissioners

2/6/2025 – Fireworks erupted in Harris County Commissioners Court today over the 2018 Flood Bond and Subdivision Drainage shortfalls. It was a rare display of bipartisan outrage.

Commissioners Court

All four commissioners and the county judge expressed concerns about budget shortfalls. The County Engineer, the Head of the Flood Control District, the County Budget Manager and the County Administrator all took turns in the crosshairs when it became clear that the County didn’t have enough money to deliver flood-mitigation projects promised long ago.

Budget Shortfall and Contributing Factors

Subdivision drainage projects used to be a subset of projects within the flood bond. However, Commissioners formally transferred them to the Office of the County Engineer in April 2021 (Item 21-1833 in the 4/27/21 Commissioners Court meeting).

That said, the cost of subdivision drainage projects alone increased from $451 million to $590 million since 2018. Comparable figures were not provided for flood-bond projects although the July 2024 Flood Bond Update alluded to 33 projects that have “uncertainty about whether current funding levels are sufficient to take the associated projects through construction.”

Reasons cited for the subdivision drainage project budget shortfall included 30-35% inflation in the construction sector, scope creep, additional projects, and adoption of higher Atlas-14 rainfall standards after passage of the flood bond. Atlas 14 requires projects to handle larger rainfall events than the previous standards.

Reasons cited for the bond-project funding uncertainty included “inflationary pressures and the rising cost of property acquisition, as well as potential schedule impacts due to inclement weather, supply chain pressures, and regulatory changes.”

“An Abysmal Failure” and Loss of Trust

During the contentious 24-minute discussion, the County Judge said that the county needs another flood bond.

Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis said that he would campaign against it. Ellis also accused the County Engineer of ignoring the county’s equity plan.

“This is an abysmal failure to deliver on the bond issue.”

Rodney Ellis, Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner

Ellis also said, “It would be very challenging to go to voters in Precinct One [and ask them] to ever trust this county with money again … even to trust me. … This is an abomination.”

We haven’t heard the last of this. Ellis addressing the county engineer said, “So, you would have a $150 million hole before you discovered there was a problem. I’m just curious about all of the bureaucracy we put in place. I’m a person who voted to have a county administrator, our deputy county administrators … paying the best money, if not in the state, in the country for these folks.”

Ellis continued, “I’m curious to know, when did the county manager know about it? When did the deputy county administrator know about it, and when did the Budget Office know about it? When did you all discover it? Is it tracked by anybody?”

“Major Crisis” with No Sense of Urgency

Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey, PE, said, “This is a major crisis. I sense no urgency from flood control. I sense no urgency from the county engineer’s office. And I don’t sense any urgency from the county administrator.”

Ramsey also said, “We need to go back and take a look at it, but there needs to be an adult in room to be sure that we get honest answers back.”

“Utter Dismay. Frustration. Shock.”

Normally restrained Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones said, “I share my colleague’s complete and utter dismay. Frustration. Shock.” She emphasized that the county needed to find solutions for both the subdivision drainage projects and the flood bond.

“This is not OK,” she said. “And we need to get it done with a sense of urgency.” Then in a thinly veiled threat, she added, “If we’re not being clear, I don’t want to go back to the policy about wages. But when we say something, we mean it.” Commissioners recently voted department heads large pay increases.  

Before finishing, Briones emphasized that Flood Bond Projects, not just subdivision drainage projects needed to be completed also.

However, no one could say exactly where all the projects stood. The Flood Control District’s Active Projects page stopped working long ago. The last “Completed Projects” Report on the District’s website is dated 12/14/2020. And the frequency of flood-bond updates has declined from monthly to annually.

Motion to Revisit Issue on March 27 Unanimously Approved

In the end, Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia introduced a motion to direct the Office of Management and Budget “to work with flood control, county engineering, and any relevant departments to return to court on March 27 with proposed options and recommendations using any and all county resources for closing the shortfall on the Harris County Engineering Department Subdivision Drainage Program and ensuring the implementation of the flood bond framework adopted by Commissioners Court.”

Commissioner Ramsey offered a friendly amendment. “The financial analysis should include, at a minimum, the entire program showing all projects completed. Projects under construction with any potential changes in contract. Active projects awaiting funding. Remaining available funds for all projects now that the project budgets have been increased.”

The motion with the amendment carried unanimously.

Video of Meeting

You can view the entire discussion and vote on the motion at this link. Click on Departments (Part 2 of 3). Then scroll forward to 3:24:01. You’re looking for item 217.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/6/2025

2718 Days since Hurricane Harvey

 

Cypress Creek Drainage Improvement District Provides Unified Voice for Watershed

2/5/2025 – The Cypress Creek Drainage Improvement District (CCDID) just published its first “impact report.” The report comes about a year and a half after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 5334 – authored by State Rep. Sam Harless – which created the special purpose district to address flooding in the Cypress Creek Watershed. Below is a summary of several key accomplishments from the report. And what CCDID hopes to accomplish in the near future.

Mission and Vision

The group’s mission is to reduce future flooding and increase flood resilience in the Cypress Creek Watershed through a comprehensive mitigation and funding plan. They hope to do that by providing a unified voice for all the residents, businesses, organizations and elected officials of the watershed.

To put the need for a unified voice into perspective, the watershed comprises 154 local water districts. It has 8 representatives in the Texas House, 5 state senators, 5 county commissioners (in Harris and Waller), 5 U.S. Congressional representatives, and 2 U.S. Senators. It also works with Harris County Flood Control, the Texas Water Development Board, chambers of commerce and more.

Strategic Directives

The group’s 2024 Impact Report lists several strategic directives:

  • Becoming a trusted source of factual information
  • Unifying all the groups working to improve the watershed and providing a single voice for them
  • Expanding community outreach
  • Engaging the public with community meetings
  • Building support among elected officials, private businesses, school districts, cities and citizens
  • Developing an action plan to share with potential financial supporters
  • Meeting with supporters to provide updates and answer questions
  • Building a volunteer advisory group.

Accomplishments in Year One

To date the CCDID has:

  • Appointed temporary directors
  • Created a website
  • Held town hall meetings throughout the watershed
  • Conducted meetings with Harris County and the Harris County Flood Control District
  • Held organizational meetings
  • Started efforts to formalize district boundaries and create maps
  • Solicited financial support
  • Started developing an initial resiliency plan

Next Up

In 2025, it will:

  • Prepare a status report for the legislature
  • Complete the resiliency plan
  • Continue fund raising, workshops and townhall meetings
  • Develop outreach initiatives.
  • Plan for election of permanent directors.

CCDID has already identified strategies to reduce flooding and planned a state-of-the-art geographical information system (GIS). GIS would incorporate elements of the resiliency plan; demographics; analyses; current and future projects; watershed information; potential partners; officials; and contact information at the local, state and federal levels.

Altogether, the CCDID Impact Report for 2024 is well written, well art directed, and easy to understand at a glance.

Unified Voice Needed in Lake Houston Area

After Harvey, Dr. Guy Sconzo, then Humble ISD superintendent, formed a volunteer task force to bring together disparate interests in the Lake Houston Area. However, the task force dissipated after Sconzo’s untimely death. And with the loss of the task force, the many elements within the Lake Houston area lost their unified voice.

Certainly, there’s strength in numbers.

If nothing else, such a group makes it easier for organizations such as HCFCD to address the needs of a watershed.

The Lake Houston Area could certainly use something like the Cypress Creek Drainage Improvement District. Since the formation of the CCDID a year and a half ago, funding for the watershed has soared. The District has established itself as a unified voice that speaks for all the interests in the watershed. If nothing else, it gave needs in the area a critical level of visibility.

The San Jacinto Watershed no longer has anything comparable. And funding has suffered as a consequence.

We could certainly use something like the Cypress Creek Drainage Improvement District.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/5/25

2717 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Climate-Related Risks Could Reduce Real Estate Values by $1.4 Trillion in Next 30 Years

2/4/25 – First Street Foundation released a new study today as part of its 12th National Risk Assessment. “Property Prices in Peril” estimates that real estate values could lose $1.4 trillion over the next 30 years due to climate-related risks. That number is unadjusted for inflation.

First Street specializes in climate risk financial modeling. Its clients include financial institutions, companies and governments. The organization announced the research in a webinar this morning. I will summarize it below.

Summary of Research

The basic premise: Homeownership has long been the primary pathway to wealth creation in the U.S. Prospective homeowners decide where to live by balancing quality of life and cost of living. That drives home value increases and decreases.

Crucial Role of Insurance Costs

But climate change is now causing many to recalibrate that value proposition as insurance costs now represent a higher proportion of mortgage costs than ever before. And First Street predicts premiums will continue to rise until they become actuarily sound.

Projected insurance increases

The First Street presentation began with several slides on insurance rates and factors affecting them (losses, predicted risk increases, government regs, etc.). In some areas, monthly insurance payments could soon comprise 25% of total home payments. First Street predicts that…

Huge increases in insurance premiums will drive up the cost of home ownership and make homes in risky areas less affordable for many.

In addition, money paid out to insurance companies does not appreciate like the home itself does. As a consequence, a lower percentage of a family’s total income will be available to build wealth from home ownership in the future.

Diagram showing main influences of flooding on property value
Diagram showing how climate change and insurance rates affect home values and demand
Secondary Impacts

Further, the authors found that “The implications for local economies extend far beyond direct housing market effects to regional GDP, household financial stability, and public services.”

“Communities facing declining property values due to climate risks confront multiple economic threats,” says First Street. “Falling home equity reduces household wealth and borrowing capacity, constraining consumer spending and local economic activity.”

“Lower property assessments significantly impact state and local government revenues, with property taxes accounting for over 30% of local government funding nationwide. This reduction in revenue can trigger a vicious cycle, where limited funds hinder investments in critical climate adaptation infrastructure just when it is most urgently needed— further exacerbating the decline in property values.”

“States like Texas and Florida, which rely heavily on property taxes due to their no-income-tax structure, are increasingly exposed to fiscal risks as climate change threatens their tax base by impacting property values.” 

Flooding Most Widespread Risk

“Flooding will emerge as the most geographically widespread driver of climate migration, leading 11.9 million Americans to relocate by 2055,” says the study.

“This migration pattern affects every region of the U.S., from coastal communities facing sea level rise and storm surge to inland areas facing fluvial flooding from rivers and streams to urban areas subject to pluvial flooding from heavy rainfall events,”

First Street projections indicate that “over one-third of U.S. counties and more than half the population are exposed to frequent, chronic flooding from precipitation alone.”

Effects of Climate Migration Most Apparent in Small Areas

Instead of looking at national and state trends, the First Street study looked at every census tract in the county. It found that housing choices at that micro-economic level are increasingly being driven by awareness of climate risks such as flooding.

Five Market Segments Illuminate Different Climate-Migration Patterns

Looking forward, First Street modeling segments neighborhoods into five categories:

  • Climate Abandonment – 26% of neighborhoods/census tracts, show sustained population loss due to climate change.
  • Risky Growth – 31% of neighborhoods continued to grow despite high risk, suggesting other strong economic or social drivers.
  • Tipping Point – 27% of neighborhoods show initial growth followed by decline as rising insurance premiums and climate impacts reach unsustainable levels.
  • Economic Decline – 11% of neighborhoods lose population despite low risk and stable insurance rates, suggesting economic factors, not climate, are driving decline.
  • Climate Resilient – 5% of neighborhoods attract population growth with low risk and stable insurance rates.

The study found five counties in Texas fell into the “risky growth” category: Fort Bend, Denton, Williamson, Travis and Montgomery.

For More Information

To learn more, visit the First Street Foundation website where you will find links to:

Rehak’s Take

All in all, the authors made an excellent case for “climate caution.” That in itself could affect migration and home prices.

But the study did not address many of the factors that have made Texas one of the fastest growing states in the country, despite the fact that more people live in Texas floodplains than live in 30 states.

For instance, the study did not take into account immigration or variation in tax rates compared to other states.

I’m also a bit skeptical of any study that tries to project current trends 30 years into the future. Fifty years dealing with market research taught me how quickly trends can change.

Despite those concerns, the study makes excellent reading. It also makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of flooding and how it could impact the future of the Houston region.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/4/25

2716 Days since Hurricane Harvey