Almost from the day voters passed the historic $2.5 billion Harris County 2018 Flood Bond Referendum, people started arguing over whose projects should be developed first.
This led to a debate about equity and passage of an equity prioritization framework that favors low-to-moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods.
Activist groups in watersheds that have received hundreds of millions of dollars in funding now claim they have received none and blame it on racism and white supremacy. One group has even demanded the cancellation of projects in affluent watersheds so that even more money can be diverted to theirs in the name of “equity.”
Raw Data
Links below and to the right lead to articles about funding.
The information below was provided by Harris County in response to a Freedom of Information Act Request.
This spreadsheet contains spending data on capital improvement projects (not normal maintenance) by watershed as of the end of the first quarter of 2021. It is broken down as follows:
- Since 2000
- Since Harvey
- 1/1/2000 to 12/31/2009
- 1/1/2010 to 12/31/2019
It also includes breakdowns for items such as design, right-of-way acquisition, buyouts, and construction.
Finally, I also requested additional data about each watershed to help put the spending in perspective. For instance:
- Square Mileage
- Population
- Percentage of population with Low-to-Moderate Income (LMI)
- Number of Damaged Structures in Major Storms (Allison, Tax Day, Memorial Day, Harvey)
With this information, I compiled a master spreadsheet that showed spending, spending per square mile, spending per capita, damage by storm, total damage, and rank orders for each watershed during various periods.
Harris County Flood Control Capital Improvement Spending By Watershed since 2000.
I have also flown over the more “controversial” watersheds and photographed flood mitigation projects that “don’t exist” according to some activists and politicians arguing for an even greater share of the pie.
Analysis/Findings
With all this information, I have compiled a series of articles related to funding for those who wish to make informed decisions.
For more information and analysis of the data, see the links below and to the right.
- Flood Mitigation Funding: Halls, Greens Get $422 Million
- Funding Comparison of Low- and High-income Quartiles
- Funding Comparison of Watersheds Above and Below 50% LMI
- Funding per Square Mile
- Why Racial Rhetoric Distracts from Finding Flood Solutions
- Funding vs. Voter Turnout for Flood Bond: Implications for Future Bonds
- Responsibilities for Street Flooding vs. River Flooding
- Highest correlation between funding and damage
- Baseless claims of racism in allocation of flood funds
- Socially vulnerable zip codes receive 80% of Buyouts
Also, here are several articles with aerial photos that show what the money bought.
Mercer Basin Illustrates Risks of HCFCD Slowdown for Quarter Billion in HUD Funding
8/8/25 – The Mercer Stormwater Detention Basin at FM1960 and the Hardy Tollroad along Cypress Creek illustrates the difficulty HCFCD will face as it attempts to build 11 comparable basins in the next year and a half. The Mercer Basin, originally projected to take one year – on an expedited schedule – has taken more […]
Leadership Crisis in Harris County Government
8/7/25 – Lina Hidalgo threw another temper tantrum in Commissioners Court today, left and never returned. She also received a censure from her colleagues, the commissioners. Worse, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) seems adrift. Current HCFCD leadership seems to have no sense of urgency. Eight years after Harvey, less than a quarter of flood-bond […]
Diversion Ditch Study Did Not Consider Obvious Opportunities that Might Have Reduced Costs, Flood Risk
7/30/25 – The Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) of Kingwood Diversion Ditch Conveyance Improvements makes no reference to three obvious detention opportunities that could potentially reduce project costs and help protect people in Kingwood from flooding. Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) commissioned the PER in 2021 after the Kingwood Area Drainage Analysis identified fixing Diversion Ditch issues as one of […]
The Dirty Dozen: 12 Ways Harris County Makes It Hard to Track Your Tax Dollars
7/23/25 – Ever wonder how someone could lose track of billions of tax dollars? It takes a lot of effort. But Harris County’s current Democratic leadership has proven adept at the task. Here are some of tricks of their trade. 1. Moving money around That makes it more difficult to trace. Put Toll Road money […]
Commissioners Clarify Stance on Flood-Bond Partnership-Project Funding
7/10/25 – In today’s Harris County Commissioners Court meeting, the Court clarified its stance on funding flood-bond partnership projects in the face of spending cuts announced in the last meeting. Commissioners revisited a vote on a motion from their 6/26/25 meeting that cast doubt over completion of 80% of the projects in the 2018 flood […]