Upstream rains. Downstream pains. On what could be one of the best soccer days of the year, the soccer fields at River Grove Park are mostly underwater this morning. And more rain could be on the way this afternoon.
Conditions Near West Fork Tuesday Morning
At 10 a.m. on 5/16/23, the San Jacinto West Fork was out of its banks by about a foot and a half. The water surface elevation stood at 50’8″.
River Grove Park Soccer Fields, looking NE from over boat docks.Looking SE from over soccer field parking lot.Boat docks and play area under water.Boardwalk under water.Farther upstream, at the US59 bridge, the turnaround under the bridge was closed.No parking today under the bridge.
Last Month Compared to Normal
The last month has been wet!
Rainfall for last 31 days. While Kingwood received 7-9″, Crosby received 11″. Upstream on Spring and Cypress Creeks, many gages recorded 11-12” and one recorded more than 13″.
Luckily, most of the rainfall has been spread out. At 59 and the West Fork, the highest daily total was 1.8″.
But it ain’t over yet. Jeff Lindner, Harris County Meteorologist, says daytime heating today could bring another round of thunderstorms with 2-3 inches in isolated areas.
How does that compare to normal for this time of year? The National Weather Service shows these average rainfall totals by month for the last 30 years for Houston Intercontinental Airport.
The average for April is 3.95″ and May is 5.01″ inches.
Many places in Harris County have received more than double the usual rainfall for this time of year.
The good news: The rainfall was spread out. So few, if any, homes flooded. Mostly, just low-lying areas near rivers and streams flooded, such as River Grove Park.
Parks represent the highest and best use for areas near rivers that frequently flood. When the water goes down, it’s “game on” again. No soggy carpet to replace. No drywall to repair. And they don’t reduce the storage capacity of the floodplain.
Many thanks to the Kingwood Service Association which owns and maintains all five parks and recreation areas in Kingwood.
On April 14, 2022, I wrote about how the brain drain in Harris County government under County Judge Lina Hidalgo compromised productivity and service. At that point, Hidalgo had been in office just 3.25 years. During that time, the heads of 16 out of 20 departments had changed – many more than once. Those 16 departments had had 34 leaders under Hidalgo by then.
To make matters worse, in some cases, 100% of the group heads under the department heads also turned over, leaving whole departments rudderless and gutting institutional knowledge.
Now, a year later, Judge Hidalgo still has not staunched the hemorrhaging. It’s continuing and perhaps worsening, raising costs for you, the taxpayer.
10 New Heads in One Year, More Possible
In the year since my last report:
10 department heads have turned over.
1 of those department heads lasted just weeks.
2 departments still have not announced new or interim leaders after long periods
Commissioners Court is considering duplicating a department because the first is broken.
Elections Administrator’s Office (Clifford Tatum replaced Isabel Longoria. Tatum may be replaced if SB1750 passes.)
In the April 25 Commissioner’s Court meeting, Democrats proposed creating yet another county IT department dedicated to handling justice/law enforcement systems.
One department head who shall remain nameless is under pressure to leave because of alleged sexual harassment and employee intimidation.
The boss. According to multiple studies, most employees quit their boss, not the organization. Professionals want bosses who can teach them things and help them grow within their professions. Political appointees may not have that skill set.
Perhaps nowhere are these problems more apparent than in Universal Services, the county’s IT department. Last year, the department’s JWEB system broke down and caused the release of dozens of prisoners. That happened under a new department leader with no IT experience.
Problems with the system have reportedly continued since then, causing frustrations to mount in the law enforcement community. As a result, the County is exploring creating a new department to do what Universal Services is already supposed to be doing. See item 297 on the 4/25/2023 commissioners court agenda.
But consider several problems with this proposal:
There aren’t enough knowledgeable, qualified IT people to staff two departments.
Universal Services would have to continue hosting the system, further fragmenting responsibility.
Fragmentation of responsibilities undermines response time, which is the problem.
Most of these problems can be traced back to the replacement of a career professional by an unqualified political appointee. Qualified technical people then left in droves because of all the issues cited above.
I asked one person to describe how the turnover has affected system development and support. The source offered this description.
“There has been a lot of turnover in project management (PM), for instance. And, of course, there is a lag time while a new PM gets set up, learns the systems, and starts to become effective. In addition to that, PMs have to deal with tech staff turnover, since we keep losing developers and infrastructure people and positions. So, the new PM has to figure out how to find replacements from existing staff (and who to ask to find them), then negotiate to get them pulled away from other efforts to get on to their projects, and finally the PM gets tired of dealing with all of that in addition to hostile upper management and leaves for another department or another employer.”
As a result, no coding has yet been done on a highly needed justice IT system for 2.5 years. Worse yet, Universal Services reportedly hasn’t even locked down the system’s specs yet!
Property Appraisals Skyrocket with Increasing Costs
It’s not just county leaders and employees who suffer. You, the taxpayer, have to pay for:
Excessive personnel turnover
Higher recruitment costs
Training of replacements
Loss of institutional knowledge
Costly rookie errors
New employees figuring out where the toilet paper is
Poorer service
Reduced productivity
Without the ability to raise tax rates, where will money to pay for all that come from?
According to an analysis by O’Connor property tax consulting and appraisal services, Harris County is attempting to tax homeowners this year at 116.2% of the value of their properties.
More than 90% of Harris County homeowners received notices of assessed value that exceed the market value of their property.
O’Connor Property Tax Consulting
The excess assessments could cost Harris County homeowners $1,365,000,000, according to O’Connor.
A Never-Ending Story
In Hidalgo’s first 3.25 years, Harris County had 36 new department heads. During the year since then, we’ve had 10 more. In addition:
Four departments have leaders with “interim” in their titles.
Two departments may have vacancies at the top.
Two departments have leaders under pressure to leave.
That could soon push Hidalgo’s “turnover total” among department heads well past 50. And that will make it harder to recruit qualified talent.
Who wants a job where you measure tenure with a stopwatch?
This is what happens when you elect someone who’s never held a real job to become the CEO of a multi-billion dollar enterprise.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/13/23
2083 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hidalgo-Keyframe.jpg?fit=1200%2C835&ssl=18351200adminadmin2023-05-13 17:39:282023-05-15 08:39:53Costly Brain Drain Continues in Harris County
The long-awaited Lauder Basin Phase II on Greens Bayou is now under construction. In May of last year, the Texas Water Development Board announced a $2.2 million grant to expand the basin.
HCFCD is expanding the basin into the old Castlewood Subdivision east of Aldine Westfield Road.
A visit to the job site earlier this week showed that construction is now well underway. See the photos below.
Looking NW.Phase II of the Lauder Basin under construction. Greens Bayou is in upper right. Small creek in foreground is a tributary.
Looking West. Greens Bayou flows toward camera position from upper right to lower right.Still looking west, but from closer position reveals that HCFCD is excavating area closest to Greens first.Looking West from farther away reveals proximity of Phase II with two ponds built during Phase I.See diagram below.
Eventually, Phase 2 should have several compartments with water-quality plantings to help filter out pollutants, and a small stream connecting the ponds. This presentation is a bit dated, but shows HCFCD’s plans for the basin as they existed in 2020.
Artists rendering of Phases I and II of Lauder Basin.Plans for Phase II have reportedly changed slightly.
Project Scope
Together, Phases I and II should provide more than 1,200 acre-feet of stormwater storage. HCFCD designed them to fill up during storms to help reduce the risk of Greens from flooding local homes, businesses and schools. After a flood, the basins release excess water slowly when the channel can safely accept it.
Phase II (651 acre feet) will actually provide more stormwater storage than Phase I (588 acre feet).
HCFCD estimates total Phase II construction costs at $32 million and predicts construction could take 2.5 years.
Spending Comparison with Other Watersheds
Greens Bayou has received more than a quarter billion dollars of projects such as these since 2000. That’s more than any other watershed in Harris County with the exception of Brays Bayou – where Commissioner Rodney Ellis lives.
Data obtained from HCFCD by FOIA request. Includes all spending from 1/1/2000 through end of Q1 2023.
Greens Bayou is one of the few watersheds where HCFCD spending did not plummet last quarter. Even as spending decreased in 15 watersheds, it rose in Greens Bayou by almost $4.8 million. To put that in perspective, it increased 11 times more than the watershed with the second largest increase, White Oak, at $431,126.
Here are the actual numbers.
Data obtained from HCFCD via FOIA requests.
No doubt, the activity you see in the photos above had a lot to do with Greens’ ranking. So, does construction on Garners Bayou, a tributary of Greens farther downstream.
Stay tuned for more news as construction progresses.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/12/23
2082 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/20230507-DJI_0719.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=17991200adminadmin2023-05-12 15:59:292023-05-12 16:02:39Lauder Basin Phase II on Greens Bayou Under Construction
Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin has announced that Houston City Council unanimously accepted an additional $29,000,000 in state grant funds to continue dredging around the canals and channels of Lake Houston. The money will also help start a pilot program to trap sediment upstream before it reaches the lake, thereby hopefully reducing dredging costs in the long run.
East Side of Lake
The additional funding will allow dredging activities to start on the east side of Lake Houston in the various canals/channels. Martin emphasized, however, that they have some touch up work to do on Rogers Gully on the west side of the lake before they move to the east side.
Once on the east side, dredging will start near FM1960 and work its way south. The City has not yet established a firm timeline.
DRC will handle the dredging. That is the same company that has handled the dredging since the Corps finished its Emergency West Fork Dredging program several years ago.
DRC will reportedly use mechanical, not hydraulic dredging. That means, they’ll be working with long-armed excavators and scooping dirt onto pontoons. See second picture below.
If successful, this could reduce long-term dredging costs. The pilot program will rely on sand miners to excavate sand from point bars outside their mines. But there are few, if any, mines upstream on Cypress and Spring Creeks, where the miners claim most of the sediment is coming from. So that could limit the replicability of the test, even if successful on the West Fork.
More than 4 Million Cubic Yards Dredged to Date
“Tremendous progress has been made since Hurricane Harvey through the completion of FEMA, Texas Water Development Board, Harris County, and City of Houston projects,” said Martin. “Since 2018, the total combined efforts of these entities have resulted in approximately 4,004,008 cubic yards of silt and sediment dredged from Lake Houston and its tributaries at a total cost of $222 million.” That money has come from federal, state, and local funding sources.
Example of canal dredging. Rogers Gully mouth bar in Atascocita before it was removed. This picture shows mechanical dredgers at work. This blockage was eventually removed, but some touch up work elsewhere reportedly remains.
Blockages like those above can back water up during storms, and flood homes and businesses.
Kudos
Martin passed out kudos to those who supported the $29 million appropriation. Martin thanked former State Representative Dan Huberty and Senator Brandon Creighton for their commitment to seeing this project through and their dedication to the long-term maintenance dredging on Lake Houston.
“Harris County Commissioner Precinct 3, Tom Ramsey, and Harris County Flood Control District have also been terrific partners,” said Martin. “I also want to thank my colleagues on City Council, Mayor Sylvester Turner for his unwavering support for Lake Houston, and Chief Recovery Officer Stephen Costello for his continued diligence on flood mitigation efforts.”
Status of Dredging District Legislation
State Representative Charles Cunningham introduced HB 5341 this year. The bill would have created a Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District to handle sediment issues like these in perpetuity. The bill received a public hearing on 4/11/23, but unfortunately, it has stalled in the Natural Resources Committee since then. So has HB 1093, a bill which would have assured cleanup of abandoned sand mines.
With time running out in this session, we will likely need to recycle those bills for the next session.
More news to follow when the dredging starts.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/11/2023 based on information from the Houston District E officeand Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin
2081 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/20220520-DJI_0451.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=17991200adminadmin2023-05-11 07:50:472023-05-11 08:22:27Houston City Council Approves $29 Million More For Dredging, Sand Trap Tests
According to Harris County Meteorologist Jeff Lindner, we can expect more heavy rainfall today. Showers and thunderstorms have developed this morning with a line of thunderstorms extending from near Columbus to near Bay City. Showers and thunderstorms are also developing ahead of this line.
Lindner also adds that the storms’ forward motion is fast enough to help limit any one area from experiencing an excessive amount of rainfall.
More concentrated showers and thunderstorms will likely move into Houston metro area between 6 and 8 a.m. This may result in some street flooding under the heaviest storms. Activity will linger into the midday hours.
Primary Heavy Rainfall Threat During Morning Hours
As the low pressure system over central Texas begins to lift northward today, drier air will move in from the west and rainfall will become increasingly isolated during the afternoon hours.
Additional rainfall this morning of 1-2 inches will be common with isolated totals of 3-5 inches under any areas of cell training.
Jeff Lindner, Harris County Meteorologist
Main threat remains street flooding through the morning hours. While rises on area creeks and bayous will be likely with heavy rainfall this morning, the chances for significant and widespread flooding are low.
Beyond Today
The unsettled weather pattern will continue into late week. This weekend and early next week, another slow moving upper level system over northern Mexico will slowly progress into Texas.
Those storms will probably drop more rain on central and southwest Texas than southeast Texas. But how and whether they advance eastward is still in question.
The more significant flood threat this weekend will focus west of Houston. However, showers and thunderstorms will be possible in the Houston area through the weekend and into next week.
Forecasted Rainfall Today
Source: National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center5/10/23
Forecasted Rainfall Next 7 Days
Source: National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center5/10/23.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/10/2023 based on info from Harris County
2080 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image001-2.png?fit=800%2C563&ssl=1563800adminadmin2023-05-10 06:35:182023-05-10 06:37:49Potential For More Heavy Rainfall Continues into Midday
A flood watch is in effect from now until 7:00 PM Wednesday, May 10, 2023.
Here are the headlines. According to Harris County Meteorologist Jeff Lindner expect:
Heavy rainfall and flash flooding possible today-Wednesday.
Street flooding along with significant rises on creeks, bayous, and rivers.
Widespread rainfall 1-3 inches with isolated totals possibly reaching 5-7 inches or more.
A pattern similar to May floods in 2015, 2016 and 2019.
Deep Tropical Moisture
A flood and flash-flood threat is materializing across SE TX and will last into Wednesday. Deep tropical moisture is in place with a nearly saturated air mass across the region. Continued onshore flow will pump a steady stream of low-level Gulf moisture into the region.
In the mid and upper levels, a stream of Pacific moisture is noted with total column water values near maximum levels for this time of year.
A mid- and upper-level low-pressure system currently over SW/S TX will slowly move ENE/NE into the Houston area today and tonight. Numerous showers and thunderstorms with excessive rainfall rates will be possible.
This pattern started yesterday afternoon. 2-4 inch-per-hour rates were recorded near Tomball. And the air mass now in place remains capable of such intense short-term rainfall.
Linder does not have much confidence in the details on how this will play out, but slow movement of cells suggests a flooding threat.
The National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center has placed much of the area in a moderate (3 of out 4) risk for excessive rainfall and flash flooding both today and Wednesday.
Rainfall Amounts and Ground Conditions
Widespread amounts of 1-3 inches are likely with higher totals of 5-7 inches. Lindner says he “would not be surprised to see an isolated location approach 10-12 inches.” The map below shows expected total rainfall accumulation through May 15.
Grounds are becoming increasingly wet from rainfall over the last 48 hours and there is certainly concern moving forward with the potential for excessive rainfall rates and significant amounts of run-off.
Rises on area creek, bayous, and rivers will be possible over the next 48 hours, especially where the heaviest rains occur. Some creek and bayou flooding will be possible.
A round of thunderstorms has been moving toward Houston all morning and has already dumped 2″ on Cinco Ranch.
This week is the fourth anniversary of the May 7, 2019 flood that damaged hundreds of homes in Kingwood’s Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest villages. I asked Lindner if this pattern was similar.
He replied, “The upper level pattern this week is similar to previous heavy rainfall events in May of 2015, 2016, 2019. Given the moisture values in place along with the near continuous lift over the area…excessive rainfall rates will be possible in slow moving storms.”
The City of Houston has opened the floodgates at the Lake Houston Dam and is lowering water levels in anticipation of the approaching storms.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/9/2023
2079 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image001-1.png?fit=804%2C562&ssl=1562804adminadmin2023-05-09 11:08:542023-05-09 11:26:12Flood Watch In Effect
On September 26, 2022, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) announced a $5.2 million channel restoration project on Garners Bayou, a tributary of Greens Bayou. Garners Bayou cuts through Humble after leaving the Bush Intercontinental airport area. I was driving by yesterday with a drone, so I thought I would check the status of the project.
Work started in the fall of 2022. The project was supposed to take 360 days. But from the photos below, it looks as though they may finish sooner.
Project Location
Garners covers a lot of territory. The project itself covers only about a mile out of more than 12 stream miles. See the two maps below.
Garners Bayou starts in the upper left and angles toward the very middle of this map before joining Greens Bayou in the lower center.This closer view shows the project extent between Mesa Drive and Wilson Road.
Construction equipment accesses the work via Mesa Drive. The five photos below show the major segments of the repairs.
Photos Taken on 5/7/2023
Looking east from over Mesa Drive. Note the low water crossings. HCFCD started downstream and worked its way up to here.Farther downstream, just past the low water crossing visible in the first photo above.Note the major repair underway on the left.Even farther downstream, note the off-channel stormwater detention basin on the left by the tank.That’s the Wilson Road Bridge in the distance and the Atascocita Landfill in the upper left.
Level of Service Being Restored
Periodically, channels such as these need clean-out. Sediment washes downstream and the banks slump in, reducing the carrying capacity. So, instead of water staying in the channel during heavy storms, it spills out into surrounding neighborhoods and floods homes.
HCFCD rates channels in terms of a “level of service.” By that, the District means, it can safely handle a 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50- or 100-year rainfall event. The District rates every segment of every channel in the county.
Backing up from the starting point in the series above, you can see how sediment has clogged the area under the Mesa Avenue Bridge. This doesn’t look as though its within the project scope, but I hope they clean it out.
Looking east at the Mesa Drive Bridge over Garners Bayou. Note sediment reducing flow under bridge.
Posted by bob Rehak on 5/8/2023
2078 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/20230507-DJI_0745.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=17991200adminadmin2023-05-08 20:44:162023-05-08 23:40:28HCFCD Restoring Garners Bayou in Humble
Alan Black, P.E., formerly Director of Operations at Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD), is now Vice President at Quiddity Engineering responsible for helping public agencies secure local, state and federal partnership funding.
While at HCFCD, Black oversaw planning, design and construction of all projects and managed applications to State and Federal agencies for flood-mitigation funding, bringing in more than $1 billion since Hurricane Harvey. Since leaving HCFCD, Black helps clients understand the labyrinth of funding opportunities and develop a long term, proactive strategy to secure funds. His comments below provide insights into Texas’ multi-year funding process for the Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF) and how to improve it.
Alan Black, VP at Quiddity Engineering and former Director of Operations at HCFCD
Black: Yes. We started developing that when I was still at Flood Control. That list was submitted to the San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group for inclusion in the State Flood Plan. It includes everything on the radar for Flood Control that they would like to be eligible for State funds at some point in the future. The list includes Flood Management Evaluations, Strategies and Projects.
The labels can be a bit confusing, but Flood Management Projects (FMP’s) include design/construction; Evaluations include engineering studies, and strategies are things like flood warning systems. FMP’s involve the biggest dollars, but it takes a lot of upfront work to get there since TWDB requires a benefit-cost ratio (BCR).
Calculation of the BCR is no small task, so there aren’t a whole lot of construction projects on the Harris County list; many got relegated to FME’s because the feasibility studies didn’t have enough information yet.
It’s hard pulling together lists like that because of the level of detail required, the short time allotted, and the politics involved. Commissioners’ Court members, for instance, might say, “There aren’t enough projects in my precinct!”
Importance of Being in Flood Plan
Black: Even though state funding dollars aren’t available at this instant, you want every single project you’re contemplating to be on that list.
These projects will compete for whatever the state appropriates this year. And right now, that could be $400 to $700 million for the whole state depending on which bill you look at.
Houston Stronger has been advocating for $5 billion, but will consider themselves lucky if legislators appropriate $1 billion.
Rehak: Where did this all this start?
Black: After Harvey, voters approved a constitutional amendment that created the FIF, which the legislators can replenish periodically.
In 2019, the legislature appropriated $770 million out of its economic stabilization fund, – the rainy-day fund – to get things started.
The legislature is now modifying the flood-infrastructure fund rules so that dollars can only be spent on projects in the state flood plan.Alan Black
Need for More Frequent Plan Updates
Black: The flood plan is to be updated every five years. So, think about that for a second. If in the next five years you want to apply for FIF funding, the only way to be eligible is if you’re already in that plan.
Many have already urged the San Jacinto regional flood-planning group to establish more frequent updates – say once a year – because HCFCD by itself is constantly developing new initiatives.
Method for Prioritizing Projects is Changing
Rehak: With so many projects, how will they be prioritized?
Black: For now, look at the first round of applications on the TWDB website under the “flood intended use plan.” TWDB spelled out the scoring criteria. They received 285 submittals and ranked them using those criteria. Then they invited the top projects to submit final applications that used up the amount of money available.
Rehak: The benefit/cost ratio seems to be a sticking point for a lot of people. Tell me more about that.
Black: Buried in the original plan was a statement that said a benefit/cost ratio greater than one is “generally preferred.” At the time, we interpreted that as a green light. We thought, “Hallelujah! Somebody finally gets it. They’re not going to make go/no-go decisions based purely on a BCR.”
So, we intentionally submitted several projects with low BCRs because we thought we had a rare opening to get them funded. Unfortunately, TWDB rejected four of our applications – three in State Representative Armando Walle’s district alone – because of their low BCR.
Possible Change In Benefit/Cost Ratio Requirements
Rehak: Are people trying to change the rules for future funding?
Black: Yes. This session, Senator Creighton filed SB 2524 to prohibit the TWDB from requiring a benefit/cost ratio on applications.
How Memorandum of Understanding Requirements Complicate Projects
Black: Also, currently, TWDB requires “memorandums-of-understanding” (MOU) between jurisdictions for FIF projects. Say one MUD has a project that benefits the entire Cypress Creek watershed. Right now, that MUD must enter into an MOU with every other MUD in the entire watershed! Senator Creighton’s bill would remove that requirement.
New Ranking Criteria Not Yet Finalized
Black: To be fair, TWDB has stated they plan to adjust how they award future funding based on lessons learned. For example, to rank the projects in the State Flood Plan, the TWDB recently published draft ranking criteria and invited public comment.
TWDB has stated they don’t know yet how they will use that, but first and foremost, things will be narrowed down simply by who submits applications. If the state flood plan has 2,000 projects but only 300 submit full applications, that just filtered out 1700.
When New Funding Could Become Available
Rehak: When could we see flood infrastructure funding for projects on Flood Control’s list?
Alan Black: Fairly quickly, I hope. Fiscal Year 2024 for the state begins September 1, 2023. They’re likely already working on their draft future intended use plan. So ideally, they roll out the application window late this year or early next and start that process. It takes a couple of months to put the applications together, evaluate them, score them, and invite final applications. Actual money maybe starts flowing this time next year.
Benefit of Two-Step Applications
Rehak: Why the two-step process?
Alan Black: Two steps actually benefit local agencies because of the effort it takes to finish the final application. Abridged initial applications let you invest smaller amounts of time, money and resources. Why make people fill out full applications if TWDB knows it won’t have enough money to cover all of the projects?
Rehak: TWDB offers both loans and grants. Why?
Loans vs. Grants and the Local Funding Requirement
Black: Everybody wants grants because loans have to be paid back, but flood projects don’t generate revenue like water projects do. And the TWDB share of grant funding ends up the opposite of the way the Feds work. The Feds will say, look, you are going to have to have some local skin in the game, but we’ll cover 75% – 80% of the project.
The best grant percentage TWDB gave any Flood Control District project was 35%. All the rest had to come from local funds and they had to be truly local.
For example, FEMA lets you use HUD Community Development Block Grant funds to offset local match requirements. But TWDB won’t.
That’s going to greatly impact the number of applications in the future. People will say, “Oh, wait a minute, you’re only going to grant me 20% of my project? Well, I don’t have the other 80%. That’s why I was applying.” I hope they change that.
Barriers to Cooperation Among Jurisdictions
Rehak: There were many projects in the Region Six San Jacinto flood plan outside Harris County that affect flooding inside Harris County. Is Harris working with other counties?
Alan Black: The San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group represents eleven counties. But the Harris list comes from agencies within Harris boundaries. There was a tremendous outreach effort to other counties and municipalities. But many of them just never put two and two together. When I joined Quiddity, I asked one of our clients why they didn’t submit a project to the state flood plan. They said, “We didn’t even know about it.”
Fortunately, we got their project into the plan. But many smaller agencies just don’t realize the ramifications of not having projects in the plan. Getting their attention will be an uphill battle for several years.
Rehak: Why isn’t Harris County cooperating more with other counties?
Black: To be fair, they are somewhat. But first, there has recently been some reluctance at Commissioners Court to spend Harris dollars outside of the County.
Second, when Harris projects benefit other areas, we have to enter into an MOU with the adjacent agency or jurisdiction. It’s too complicated. People have other things to do. They have other, higher priorities closer to home. They just don’t have the time or the resources.
In a perfect world, it would be great if the development of the San Jacinto Regional Flood Plan included every single agency in the region, but getting them all together at the same table at the same time is too big of a lift.
Flood Infrastructure Funding “Only a Start”
Rehak: Will we ever have enough money to fill all our needs?
Black: Let’s just say for the sake of argument, the legislature appropriates $400 million. That’s across the whole state. Now, let’s assume they have a $30 billion plan. That $30 billion could easily be spent in Harris County alone and still not meet half the needs.
Pulling together this state flood plan is a great start, but we WILL need other sources of funding.
At Quiddity, I preach being proactive with funding pursuits. Pick the project you want to apply for a grant for in 2 or 3 years and start developing the information now!
Black’s Guiding Principles for Funding Applications
Black: And understand my three guiding principles for funding.
You have to spend some money to make money.
There’s no such thing as free money.
And your project will go slower with federal funds.
Guest Post by Alan Black, VP at Quiddity Engineering on 4/7/23
2077 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/20160421-Alan-Black.jpg?fit=1200%2C1090&ssl=110901200adminadmin2023-05-07 13:28:132023-05-07 14:15:37Ins and Outs of Texas Flood Infrastructure Funding
After three years of La Niña, signs point to the start of El Niño with cooler-than-normal temperatures off the Pacific Coast of North America. Jeff Lindner, Harris County’s meteorologist, says an El Niño could fully develop in the next few months. Here are El Niño implications for the Gulf Coast.
Cooler, Wetter, Fewer Hurricanes
In the south-central United States, major impacts during an El Niño event consist of:
above-normal precipitation, particularly during winter
below-normal temperatures, also during winter
a less active hurricane season, with fewer named storms
In general, stronger winds from the west during El Niño tend to inhibit development of storms trying to approach from the east. Meteorologists call that process “wind shear.” See red arrow in second map below.
While most organizations have expressed growing confidence in the development of an El Niño, a few have noted above-average ocean temperatures in the eastern Atlantic that introduce uncertainty and which could actually yield greater activity, particularly if a weaker El Niño event materializes. See below.
Note cooling sea surface temps off coast ofwestern U.S. and warming temps off coast of western South America and Africa. Source: NOAA SST Anomaly Charts.
South America has had cooler-than-normal waters off its west coast for the last three years, but now those same waters have warmed for the last 3-5 months. And the cooler waters have shifted north of the western coast of the U.S. and Canada.
Jeff Lindner, Harris County’s meteorologist says, “We need to see these conditions hold for a few months for the official declaration of El Niño. Lindner says conditions could likely intensify into a strong El Niño by late this summer or early fall.
El Niño Typically Brings Wetter Weather to Gulf Coast
He also notes that sea surface temperature anomalies of this magnitude can shift weather patterns across the globe.
Locally, Lindner says, “El Nino tends to support wetter and cooler conditions during our fall, winter, and spring months. There is less influence during summer.”
“The threat for heavy rainfall and flooding is generally higher during El Niño periods.”
Jeff Lindner, Harris County Meteorologist
According to Lindner, La Niña tends to correlate with the opposite influences – warmer, drier conditions for Texas or even drought…as many areas have experienced during the most recent La Niña event that started in early 2020.
Not all El Niño events are the same. Other global weather patterns can enhance or interfere with the effects of El Niño.
Lindner believes that the speed with which El Niño conditions form this summer will likely determine the fate of the Atlantic basin hurricane season. “A quicker onset would tend to significantly reduce Atlantic basin activity while an onset more toward early fall may allow a slightly busier and “front loaded” season,” he says.
El Niño patterns tend to favor reduced Caribbean hurricane activity and a higher chance of more sub-tropical development over the mid-Atlantic.
During El Niño years, says Lindner, tropical storms and hurricanes tend to form “in close” in the northern Gulf and off the southeast U.S. coast as tropical waves move into more favorable conditions.
Less Drought Likely
As El Nino develops this summer into the fall, it is likely that Texas and the southern plains will transition toward a wetter pattern. That should lessen or eliminate the ongoing drought across portions of Texas. Lindner expects to see significant improvements by late fall into the winter.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/4/2023based on a press release by Harris County Meteorologist Jeff Lindner
2074 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ssta.daily_.current.png?fit=1787%2C1085&ssl=110851787adminadmin2023-05-04 16:11:532023-05-04 16:27:44El Niño Implications for Gulf Coast
The stormwater-detention basin at the Laurel Springs RV Resort is supposed to have, according to the construction permit plans, a dry bottom. However, the basin almost always retains water, despite the fact that it should empty within 48 hours of a 100-year rain. A 100-year rain is 17.3 inches in the Lake Houston Area.
The pond retains so much water for so long – after even minor rains – that the resort has posted “No Swimming” signs.
As a tribute to the presence of water, the pond has even attracted nesting ducks, which can be an aviation hazard so close to Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Reason for Dry-Bottom Requirement
The Resort falls within a defined radius of Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport and the City wants to discourage birds from nesting there, especially large birds that can damage aircraft. Hence the requirement on the permit plans. (See more below.)
A retired airline pilot, who lives nearby and knows the dangers of bird strikes all too well, sent me the two photos below. The first shows seven ducklings in the Resort pond. The next shows a “No Swimming” sign next to the walking trail around the pond.
Seven ducklings enjoying the waters of the Laurel Springs RV Resort. No adults seen at this time.Sign warning customers not to swim indicates permanence of water.
Construction Permit Plans Note Restriction
Because of this pond’s location near IAH, the FAA and City of Houston stipulate that the stormwater detention basin should have a dry bottom within 48 hours after a “design storm.” The requirement helps discourage birds, especially geese and other large waterfowl, from taking up residence close to the airport. That’s an important consideration, especially during the migration season, which we are in right now.
Reference to “design storm”means a 100-year event. In this location, that means 17.3 inches of rain in 24 hours.
A retired airline captain who lives near the RV resort keeps calling this to my attention.
I first posted about this in May of last year and was told that the Resort hadn’t hooked up electricity to its pumps yet. Six months later, the pumps still weren’t working.
Now, a full year later, we have a brood of ducklings in the pond and a no-swimming sign that shouldn’t be necessary if the drainage worked properly.
No Rain in Past 48 Hours, Little Rain in Past Week
It hasn’t rained in the last 48 hours, according to the official gage at US59 gage about a half mile from the basin.
And in the last week, we have received only .72 inches of rain. That occurred in two events more than 24 hours apart.
That’s about one sixth of a 1-year rain according to Atlas-14 standards below. It’s also less than one twenty-fourth of a 100-year rain stipulated by the FAA.
Atlas-14 Rainfall standards used as the basis for designing detention basins.
Here’s what the pond looked like today – five days after after the last rain – which could have been pumped out within hours.
Laurel Springs RV Resort Detention basin should be dry but obviously isn’t.
Two Bird Strikes Force United Flights Down at IAH Last Week
CNN reported last week that two bird strikes within 20 minutes of each other forced United flights to return to Intercontinental. CNN said that this year alone the FAA has already reported about 2,000 bird strikes, and 85% involved commercial airliners. Most bird strikes are waterfowl, although admittedly larger than the ducklings above.
Something to think about next time you fly.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/3/2023 based on pictures from a reader
2073 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.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/No-Swimming.jpg?fit=1200%2C822&ssl=18221200adminadmin2023-05-03 13:05:012023-05-03 14:06:45“No Swimming” in Dry-Bottom Pond!
