12/7/24 – One of the leading environmental groups in the Houston region is the Bayou Land Conservancy (BLC). Their motto: “We preserve land along streams for flood control, clean water, and wildlife.”
Last year, BLC volunteers logged thousands of hours maintaining and improving natural areas and trails that help others appreciate nature’s wonders.
One such volunteer is Jeff Hodges. He helped restore land along Spring Creek in BLC’s Arrowwood Preserve, which is being used for environmental education. His story is a testament to the tenacity of BLC volunteers in their service of nature.Below are excepts from Hodges’ responses to my questions.
Preserve’s Contribution to Flood Reduction
Rehak: How does the Bayou Land Conservancy help reduce flooding?
Hodges: Development in the Houston area will continue. We need to understand how this can lead to increased flood risk of flooding if not managed correctly.
BLC is a land trust. It protects lands where rain water is absorbed and held as flood waters, slowing down the release of water into creeks, streams and rivers. That helps reduce or eliminate flooding downstream.
These lands are increasingly important. They let water soak into the land providing much needed water, to the water table and aquifers.
Currently, ever major aquifer in the U.S. is being depleted, except in the Pacific Northwest. This depletion contributes to subsidence, which increases flood risk. Areas in the Woodlands have lost two feet of elevation from subsidence.
The lands that BLC protects also provide habitat for wildlife and give people a chance to enjoy nature.
Rehak: Specifically, how does Arrowwood reduce flooding along Spring Creek.
Hodges: Arrowwood is a natural flood plain. It slows and stores rainwater flowing toward Spring Creek. A large portion of the preserve floods in heavy rains. It gives stormwater someplace to sit and wait instead of moving quickly downstream and flooding other areas already developed.
Restoring the Natural Environment
Rehak: I hear that in trying to make Arrowwood more user friendly, you and your fellow volunteers removed more than a mile of silt fence. How did it get there?
Hodges: A sand-and-gravel company installed the silt fence when it applied for a permit to turn the property into a quarry. But neighbors blocked approval of the permit. The mining company, after a number of years, donated the land to Bayou Land Conservancy.
Rehak: Removing that silt fence must have been a chore!
Hodges: We actually made a short movie about it. The preserve comprises 117 acres and the fence surrounded 22 acres. As work began to make the preserve accessible, we realized that we did not have the correct equipment to remove the silt fence.
Bayou Land Conservancy Volunteer Jeff Hodges led the Arrowwood Silt Fence Removal Project
We originally estimated the preserve had 2 miles of silt fencing containing approximately 700 posts, each weighing 5 pounds.
Jeff Hodges
The task seemed overwhelming. But we were very concerned about the impact of the fence on wildlife. Turtles and other small wildlife couldn’t get over or around it.
Volunteers Discover Task is Herculean
Rehak: What kind of problems did you encounter?
Hodges: I started to wonder if we could remove the silt fence manually. Bayou Land Conservancy gave me and a small team permission to work on it. The first day, two of us tried to develop a process to remove the silt fencing. In a half day, we could only remove about 10 posts and 50 feet of fencing.
Most of the posts had to be dug out by hand. Each was four feet and originally pounded into the ground to a depth of two feet. But over time, silt built up around the fence. Many sections were totally buried.
The silt fencing has three components: posts, heavy metal fencing, and a plastic tarp. The combination prevents silt, sand and rocks from washing into the creek.
After the first day, most people would have been discouraged. But our volunteers proved it could be done. It was just going to take a lot of time and effort.
Volunteers decided to separate the fence and post removal operations to speed things up.
We decided we would remove the metal fence along with the black tarp first. We left the posts until we were able to develop a better way to remove them.
But the removal of the fencing was not without problems. Portions of the fencing were buried, so we had to dig them out. Worse, the fencing had become overgrown. Before we could remove it, we first had to remove fallen trees, and cut away vines and brambles.
Triumph of Ingenuity, Sweat and Safety Goggles
Rehak: Did you ever develop a faster system?
Hodges: As we removed fencing over the next couple of months, we worked on developing a technique to remove posts without digging. Eventually, we developed a technique that sped up the operation. We hit the posts with a sledge hammer on all four sides to loosen them. Then we hooked up a farm jack to pry them out of the ground.
Working as a team, we could remove about 15 posts per hour. Some, buried to the top in heavy clay, still had to be dug out by hand. Those just took longer.
Everyone working on this project had to wear long pants, long sleeves, safety glasses, and heavy-duty work gloves. We also had to be up to date on our tetanus shots, too for obvious reasons.
Rehak: What did the final boxscore say?
Hodges: All in all, the team ended up removing 499 posts and more than 1.5 miles of fencing. While working on the fencing, we also removed trash and litter which seemed to be everywhere. Fencing and trash filled two industrial dumpsters.
Some of the trash and fencing materials removed from the BLC Arrowwood Preserve.
It was grueling work. But the transformation of the land is overwhelming. And very satisfying. The beauty of what this preserve will become is now evident.
Postscript: Jill Boullion, Bayou Land Conservancy Executive Director, said, ““Jeff was awarded our Trailblazer Award for 2024 because of his leadership on this project. It’s an important part of our restoration plan for Arrowwood that will make the preserve even more ecologically valuable for the community. We appreciate volunteers like Jeff and the crew that did this very difficult project.”
Posted by Bob Rehak and Jeff Hodges on 12/7/24
2657 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241207-Bayou-Land-Conservancy-Arrowwood-1.jpg?fit=1100%2C603&ssl=16031100adminadmin2024-12-07 18:17:022024-12-07 18:30:07Bayou Land Conservancy Volunteers Protect Nature’s Flood Protection
Improving building codes to mandate higher home elevations
Requiring greater setbacks from rivers, streams and bayous
De-snagging to prevent log-jams from backing water up
Preserving wetlands, grasslands and forests to absorb and slow runoff, and to create recreational opportunities for nearby homeowners
Bio-swales and ditches to create more stormwater storage and positive drainage around homes
Buying out flood-prone homes and converting the property to recreational or flood-mitigation space.
I’m sure more techniques exist. But those represent the big categories.
Complex Decisions Involving Many Factors
No one tool works for all situations. And many of the tools that reduce flood risk fly in the face of other human values. They may conflict with other values beyond safety, that we hold dear. Consider, for instance, property rights, individual freedom, job formation, expanding the tax base, a desire to live near water, and risk-taking.
So how do professionals decide which tools to apply where and when?
Again, it depends on a number of factors. To name a few:
Is State or Federal disaster-mitigation aid available?
Is Disaster Relief aid available?
Homeowner Inquiry Prompted Exploration
A homeowner reacted to one of my posts today. She lives in a low-lying area near FM1485 and the San Jacinto East Fork. It flooded badly on May2, 2024. She was certain that dredging and tree removal from the East Fork would help. But after investigating the area online, then from the ground and air, I wasn’t sure.
The normal river elevation in that area is 47.25 feet.
But on May 2, the river rose to 77.4 feet – 17 feet above the top of the river banks and 30 feet above normal!
Jeff Lindner, Harris County Meteorologist, had this to say about the May flood. “Since 1994, this was the second highest crest of the river at FM 1485. It exceeded Tropical Storm Imelda by 4.0 ft and the October 1994 flood by 1.0 ft.”
Lindner continued, “The flood of record remains Harvey which was 4.0 ft higher than the May 2024 event. The river exceeded the .2% (500-yr) exceedance probability elevation at the FM 1485 bridge by 1.5 ft. The table below shows the top five highest peaks on the East Fork of the San Jacinto River since 1994 at that location.”
Residents in this neighborhood experienced five 100-year-or-greater floods in 20 years. That’s one every four years. Is the risk 1% or 25% per year?
See the FEMA floodplain map below for the area in question.
It shows you how difficult flood prediction can be. It also shows you why even nature lovers should give water in Texas a wide berth unless they are prepared to lose everything. The May flood wasn’t even related to a tropical event!
Yellow/green diagonal line is the Harris/Montgomery County line. Image shows neighborhood S of FM1485 near East Fork. Crosshatch=floodway, Aqua=100-year and Tan=500 year floodplain.
Unfortunately, most of the homes in this neighborhood didn’t look like people could afford to lose everything. And I saw several that had been totally obliterated along with two roads that washed out.
I’m not sure what this was. But it was the only structure semi-standing for blocks around.
Professionals Say Buyouts Best Option In This Case, But…
In an area like this, flood-mitigation professionals have few good options. Given the depth of flooding, three professionals told me that intervention would have to be on a massive and costly scale to make a difference. As a result, each suggested buyouts as the best, most cost-effective alternative in this area.
Shortly after the May event, I interviewed a young couple named Daniel and Kathleen Moore. They lived on some of the highest land in the subdivision, but had flooded three times in the seven years that they owned their home (Harvey, Imelda, and May 2024).
They were hoping for a buyout. I called again today to see if they succeeded, but they were selling their property and moving out of state with their new baby. Why?
While Daniel was restoring the home, someone burned it to the ground on July 28th. Nothing stands there now but a charred chimney.
This was a heartbreaking story that deeply affected me personally. I once lived in a home near a creek that flooded frequently when I had two young babies.
While buyouts may sometimes be the most cost-effective option, they are not easy, according to a County Emergency Management Director that I interviewed. Counties must apply for FEMA buyout money and then it can take years to evaluate and rank all the applications and distribute the money.
Forest Cove buyouts took five years after Harvey to complete.
Ironically, the fact that the Moore’s were in a 500-year floodplain may have hurt their buyout chances. FEMA likes money to go to homes that are insured but which flood frequently.
So What About Dredging and Tree Removal?
The Moore’s lived in Montgomery County. But the other family that contacted me lived on the Harris side of the county line in the same neighborhood.
Typical scene in East Fork south of FM1485Area has trees down everywhere.
Experts I talked to suggested dredging wouldn’t make an appreciable difference given the narrow width of the river channel and the height of flooding. Plus, it could undermine more trees along the heavily wooded banks.
Removing trees that have already fallen, they say, is a good idea. They could float downstream, form log dams that flood other homes, and/or harm boaters in Lake Houston. But who is responsible for removing them?
I asked Matt Barrett, head of SJRA’s Flood Management Division. Said Barrett, “SJRA’s jurisdiction does not include Harris County, so projects constructed in Harris County would have to be led by HCFCD.”
Distant Chances for Other Flood Mitigation
That said, Barrett also volunteered that SJRA has partnerships with both HCFCD and the City of Houston. The entities work together on multiple projects from the San Jacinto River Basin Master Drainage Plan. But finding funding remains a challenge. And large scale projects are not quick to implement.
That brings us full circle to the original question in the headline. What was or is the best thing(s) homeowners can do to reduce their flooding chances? In my opinion:
Avoid buying property near water if you have a flooding concern
I’m not a professional engineer and I do not render professional engineering opinions. But I have interviewed a lot of flood victims who wish they could turn back the hands of time and build on higher ground.
Foundation being endangered by riverbank erosion.
If you have the slightest qualms about flooding when purchasing property, make sure you consult a professional engineer to evaluate your risk and mitigation options.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/20/24
2548 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/2024/08/20240820-DJI_20240820122419_0652_D.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2024-08-20 19:27:412024-08-20 20:02:13What Can Be Done to Reduce Flood Risk?
8/10/2024 – Sometimes Randy Reagan must feel that he has struggled for most of his adult life against rising floodwaters, sand mines and the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA). He has flooded six times in the last nine years. Still, he’s rebuilding on a lot he bought 30 years ago. But he’s doing it differently this time.
May 2024 Flood. Reagan property in background. Note roof of submerged vehicle in foreground.
Erosion of Country Lifestyle
Reagan grew up not far from the San Jacinto West Fork. He remembers a time as a child before Lake Conroe when the river ran clear and teemed with fish.
His wife grew up in the same neighborhood. Her parents were the first settlers in an area that came to be known as Bennett Estates between FM1314 and the San Jacinto West Fork.
They loved living near the river and all the abundant wildlife. So Reagan bought 5.5 acres for $10,000 back in the mid-’90s. He put a mobile home on it and started raising a family. He hunted all the meat his family ate from his own property and the surrounding forests. Life was good.
The 1994 flood was the highest ever in that area. The SJRA released 56,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) from Lake Conroe during the storm. So Reagan elevated his home a foot above the high water mark from that storm and figured he was safe.
But gradually, his dream of peaceful, country living turned sour. In the mid-2000s, two companies started mining sand near his home – one a few blocks north, the other immediately south of his property.
The mines accelerated runoff and erosion. They also changed local drainage patterns in ways that flooded his property.
In the meantime, upstream areas grew, also increasing runoff. And by the time I first met Reagan in early 2020, his property had flooded five times in four years. The worst: Harvey in 2017. Ninety-three inches of water invaded his home. That’s almost 8 feet! See that story here.
Eventually, Reagan tore down the mobil home. Repeat flooding had caused the foundation to shift and destabilized it. He and his wife began living in his workshop or with relatives.
Reagan tried to get a low-interest SBA loan through FEMA to rebuild. But they denied him because he had “let his flood insurance lapse after Harvey.”
“Of course I let it lapse,” said Reagan. “There was nothing left to insure. The home was gone.”
Fast Forward Four Years
The May flood this year swamped his property again after the SJRA opened the gates on Lake Conroe and began releasing 72,000 CFS, the second highest release rate in SJRA history.
Reagan points to high water mark on his shop from May 2024 flood – 52 inches.
Only Harvey exceeded that rate. SJRA released 79,000 CFS in 2017 during Harvey.
Since then, Reagan began planning his comeback against Mother Nature, the sand mines and SJRA.
His dream now is to build a foundation for a new home up 10 feet above the original level of the land. That would make the land higher than the Harvey high-water mark.
Then he wants to build a new home up on stilts, another ten feet above the elevated foundation. It would be elevated 20 feet above his first home on the property and more than 10 feet above Harvey. Hopefully, that will keep him safe for a few years.
The retired oil-field worker and bull rider is looking at designs from UB Homes. He also hired a MoCo excavation company, Graham Land Services, to excavate a pond at the back of the property.
Dirt from pond excavation (background) is being used to build up home pad (foreground).
Dirt from the pond is building up the foundation where his new home will go.
Pros and Cons of Rebuilding in Location that Floods
On the plus side:
Mining behind his property has ceased. He now has a 42-acre pond behind him. No one will ever build behind him and spoil his view.
He can still hunt on his property.
Despite the flooding, property values have appreciated. Not far away, a home recently went up for sale at $1.4 million.
Development in surrounding areas has brought shopping, services and hospitals closer to home without changing his country-living atmosphere.
The May flood deposited fish in Reagan’s pond, which are now thriving.
Randy Reagan property lower right.
On the minus side:
All the tractor work has taken a toll on Reagan’s aging body. He complains of aching joints and bulging disks in his back and neck. He’s also fighting knee and shoulder pain from a lifetime of backbreaking work in the oil fields and on his property.
He wishes SJRA would pre-release water from Lake Conroe at much slower rates in advance of major storms, but has little hope that they will. “This May flood could have been totally avoided if they would have let water out sooner,” said Reagan. “SJRA needs to start operating the Lake Conroe Dam a lot better than what they’re doing.”
Reagan feels SJRA places Lake Conroe recreation above the protection of downstream property.
He feels he would have to move north of Huntsville to find the kind of flood-safe country living he once enjoyed. “It’s hard to get a piece of country living anymore in Montgomery County. It’s all going away,” said Reagan.
A Pioneer Spirit
Reagan typifies the struggle many Houstonians feel. He loves nature and living near water – until floods exact their terrible price. Still, he returns. To fight for a life he loves.
Reagan takes a break from moving in front of the property being raised for a new home.
I admire the fact that he’s not waiting for others to protect him from the ravages of West Fork flooding. By elevating his property and home, he’s protecting himself and his family.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/10/24
2538 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240810-440497047_452461260667459_6359157880369095417_n.jpg?fit=1100%2C825&ssl=18251100adminadmin2024-08-10 18:05:542024-08-10 18:36:31One Man’s Struggle Against Rising Floodwaters, Sand Mines and SJRA
Bayou Land Conservancy Volunteers Protect Nature’s Flood Protection
12/7/24 – One of the leading environmental groups in the Houston region is the Bayou Land Conservancy (BLC). Their motto: “We preserve land along streams for flood control, clean water, and wildlife.”
Last year, BLC volunteers logged thousands of hours maintaining and improving natural areas and trails that help others appreciate nature’s wonders.
One such volunteer is Jeff Hodges. He helped restore land along Spring Creek in BLC’s Arrowwood Preserve, which is being used for environmental education. His story is a testament to the tenacity of BLC volunteers in their service of nature. Below are excepts from Hodges’ responses to my questions.
Preserve’s Contribution to Flood Reduction
Rehak: How does the Bayou Land Conservancy help reduce flooding?
Hodges: Development in the Houston area will continue. We need to understand how this can lead to increased flood risk of flooding if not managed correctly.
BLC is a land trust. It protects lands where rain water is absorbed and held as flood waters, slowing down the release of water into creeks, streams and rivers. That helps reduce or eliminate flooding downstream.
These lands are increasingly important. They let water soak into the land providing much needed water, to the water table and aquifers.
Currently, ever major aquifer in the U.S. is being depleted, except in the Pacific Northwest. This depletion contributes to subsidence, which increases flood risk. Areas in the Woodlands have lost two feet of elevation from subsidence.
The lands that BLC protects also provide habitat for wildlife and give people a chance to enjoy nature.
Rehak: Specifically, how does Arrowwood reduce flooding along Spring Creek.
Hodges: Arrowwood is a natural flood plain. It slows and stores rainwater flowing toward Spring Creek. A large portion of the preserve floods in heavy rains. It gives stormwater someplace to sit and wait instead of moving quickly downstream and flooding other areas already developed.
Restoring the Natural Environment
Rehak: I hear that in trying to make Arrowwood more user friendly, you and your fellow volunteers removed more than a mile of silt fence. How did it get there?
Hodges: A sand-and-gravel company installed the silt fence when it applied for a permit to turn the property into a quarry. But neighbors blocked approval of the permit. The mining company, after a number of years, donated the land to Bayou Land Conservancy.
Rehak: Removing that silt fence must have been a chore!
Hodges: We actually made a short movie about it. The preserve comprises 117 acres and the fence surrounded 22 acres. As work began to make the preserve accessible, we realized that we did not have the correct equipment to remove the silt fence.
The task seemed overwhelming. But we were very concerned about the impact of the fence on wildlife. Turtles and other small wildlife couldn’t get over or around it.
Volunteers Discover Task is Herculean
Rehak: What kind of problems did you encounter?
Hodges: I started to wonder if we could remove the silt fence manually. Bayou Land Conservancy gave me and a small team permission to work on it. The first day, two of us tried to develop a process to remove the silt fencing. In a half day, we could only remove about 10 posts and 50 feet of fencing.
Most of the posts had to be dug out by hand. Each was four feet and originally pounded into the ground to a depth of two feet. But over time, silt built up around the fence. Many sections were totally buried.
The silt fencing has three components: posts, heavy metal fencing, and a plastic tarp. The combination prevents silt, sand and rocks from washing into the creek.
After the first day, most people would have been discouraged. But our volunteers proved it could be done. It was just going to take a lot of time and effort.
We decided we would remove the metal fence along with the black tarp first. We left the posts until we were able to develop a better way to remove them.
But the removal of the fencing was not without problems. Portions of the fencing were buried, so we had to dig them out. Worse, the fencing had become overgrown. Before we could remove it, we first had to remove fallen trees, and cut away vines and brambles.
Triumph of Ingenuity, Sweat and Safety Goggles
Rehak: Did you ever develop a faster system?
Hodges: As we removed fencing over the next couple of months, we worked on developing a technique to remove posts without digging. Eventually, we developed a technique that sped up the operation. We hit the posts with a sledge hammer on all four sides to loosen them. Then we hooked up a farm jack to pry them out of the ground.
Working as a team, we could remove about 15 posts per hour. Some, buried to the top in heavy clay, still had to be dug out by hand. Those just took longer.
Everyone working on this project had to wear long pants, long sleeves, safety glasses, and heavy-duty work gloves. We also had to be up to date on our tetanus shots, too for obvious reasons.
Rehak: What did the final boxscore say?
Hodges: All in all, the team ended up removing 499 posts and more than 1.5 miles of fencing. While working on the fencing, we also removed trash and litter which seemed to be everywhere. Fencing and trash filled two industrial dumpsters.
It was grueling work. But the transformation of the land is overwhelming. And very satisfying. The beauty of what this preserve will become is now evident.
Postscript: Jill Boullion, Bayou Land Conservancy Executive Director, said, ““Jeff was awarded our Trailblazer Award for 2024 because of his leadership on this project. It’s an important part of our restoration plan for Arrowwood that will make the preserve even more ecologically valuable for the community. We appreciate volunteers like Jeff and the crew that did this very difficult project.”
Posted by Bob Rehak and Jeff Hodges on 12/7/24
2657 Days since Hurricane Harvey
What Can Be Done to Reduce Flood Risk?
Flood-control experts have many tools in their tool chests to reduce flood risk. They include:
I’m sure more techniques exist. But those represent the big categories.
Complex Decisions Involving Many Factors
No one tool works for all situations. And many of the tools that reduce flood risk fly in the face of other human values. They may conflict with other values beyond safety, that we hold dear. Consider, for instance, property rights, individual freedom, job formation, expanding the tax base, a desire to live near water, and risk-taking.
So how do professionals decide which tools to apply where and when?
Again, it depends on a number of factors. To name a few:
Homeowner Inquiry Prompted Exploration
A homeowner reacted to one of my posts today. She lives in a low-lying area near FM1485 and the San Jacinto East Fork. It flooded badly on May2, 2024. She was certain that dredging and tree removal from the East Fork would help. But after investigating the area online, then from the ground and air, I wasn’t sure.
The normal river elevation in that area is 47.25 feet.
But on May 2, the river rose to 77.4 feet – 17 feet above the top of the river banks and 30 feet above normal!
Jeff Lindner, Harris County Meteorologist, had this to say about the May flood. “Since 1994, this was the second highest crest of the river at FM 1485. It exceeded Tropical Storm Imelda by 4.0 ft and the October 1994 flood by 1.0 ft.”
Lindner continued, “The flood of record remains Harvey which was 4.0 ft higher than the May 2024 event. The river exceeded the .2% (500-yr) exceedance probability elevation at the FM 1485 bridge by 1.5 ft. The table below shows the top five highest peaks on the East Fork of the San Jacinto River since 1994 at that location.”
Date Peak Elevation
HCFCD calculates the elevation of a 100-year flood is 70.6 feet.
So…
See the FEMA floodplain map below for the area in question.
It shows you how difficult flood prediction can be. It also shows you why even nature lovers should give water in Texas a wide berth unless they are prepared to lose everything. The May flood wasn’t even related to a tropical event!
Unfortunately, most of the homes in this neighborhood didn’t look like people could afford to lose everything. And I saw several that had been totally obliterated along with two roads that washed out.
Professionals Say Buyouts Best Option In This Case, But…
In an area like this, flood-mitigation professionals have few good options. Given the depth of flooding, three professionals told me that intervention would have to be on a massive and costly scale to make a difference. As a result, each suggested buyouts as the best, most cost-effective alternative in this area.
Shortly after the May event, I interviewed a young couple named Daniel and Kathleen Moore. They lived on some of the highest land in the subdivision, but had flooded three times in the seven years that they owned their home (Harvey, Imelda, and May 2024).
They were hoping for a buyout. I called again today to see if they succeeded, but they were selling their property and moving out of state with their new baby. Why?
While Daniel was restoring the home, someone burned it to the ground on July 28th. Nothing stands there now but a charred chimney.
This was a heartbreaking story that deeply affected me personally. I once lived in a home near a creek that flooded frequently when I had two young babies.
While buyouts may sometimes be the most cost-effective option, they are not easy, according to a County Emergency Management Director that I interviewed. Counties must apply for FEMA buyout money and then it can take years to evaluate and rank all the applications and distribute the money.
Forest Cove buyouts took five years after Harvey to complete.
Ironically, the fact that the Moore’s were in a 500-year floodplain may have hurt their buyout chances. FEMA likes money to go to homes that are insured but which flood frequently.
So What About Dredging and Tree Removal?
The Moore’s lived in Montgomery County. But the other family that contacted me lived on the Harris side of the county line in the same neighborhood.
Experts I talked to suggested dredging wouldn’t make an appreciable difference given the narrow width of the river channel and the height of flooding. Plus, it could undermine more trees along the heavily wooded banks.
Removing trees that have already fallen, they say, is a good idea. They could float downstream, form log dams that flood other homes, and/or harm boaters in Lake Houston. But who is responsible for removing them?
I asked Matt Barrett, head of SJRA’s Flood Management Division. Said Barrett, “SJRA’s jurisdiction does not include Harris County, so projects constructed in Harris County would have to be led by HCFCD.”
Distant Chances for Other Flood Mitigation
That said, Barrett also volunteered that SJRA has partnerships with both HCFCD and the City of Houston. The entities work together on multiple projects from the San Jacinto River Basin Master Drainage Plan. But finding funding remains a challenge. And large scale projects are not quick to implement.
That brings us full circle to the original question in the headline. What was or is the best thing(s) homeowners can do to reduce their flooding chances? In my opinion:
I’m not a professional engineer and I do not render professional engineering opinions. But I have interviewed a lot of flood victims who wish they could turn back the hands of time and build on higher ground.
If you have the slightest qualms about flooding when purchasing property, make sure you consult a professional engineer to evaluate your risk and mitigation options.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/20/24
2548 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.
One Man’s Struggle Against Rising Floodwaters, Sand Mines and SJRA
8/10/2024 – Sometimes Randy Reagan must feel that he has struggled for most of his adult life against rising floodwaters, sand mines and the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA). He has flooded six times in the last nine years. Still, he’s rebuilding on a lot he bought 30 years ago. But he’s doing it differently this time.
Erosion of Country Lifestyle
Reagan grew up not far from the San Jacinto West Fork. He remembers a time as a child before Lake Conroe when the river ran clear and teemed with fish.
His wife grew up in the same neighborhood. Her parents were the first settlers in an area that came to be known as Bennett Estates between FM1314 and the San Jacinto West Fork.
They loved living near the river and all the abundant wildlife. So Reagan bought 5.5 acres for $10,000 back in the mid-’90s. He put a mobile home on it and started raising a family. He hunted all the meat his family ate from his own property and the surrounding forests. Life was good.
The 1994 flood was the highest ever in that area. The SJRA released 56,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) from Lake Conroe during the storm. So Reagan elevated his home a foot above the high water mark from that storm and figured he was safe.
But gradually, his dream of peaceful, country living turned sour. In the mid-2000s, two companies started mining sand near his home – one a few blocks north, the other immediately south of his property.
The mines accelerated runoff and erosion. They also changed local drainage patterns in ways that flooded his property.
In the meantime, upstream areas grew, also increasing runoff. And by the time I first met Reagan in early 2020, his property had flooded five times in four years. The worst: Harvey in 2017. Ninety-three inches of water invaded his home. That’s almost 8 feet! See that story here.
Eventually, Reagan tore down the mobil home. Repeat flooding had caused the foundation to shift and destabilized it. He and his wife began living in his workshop or with relatives.
Reagan tried to get a low-interest SBA loan through FEMA to rebuild. But they denied him because he had “let his flood insurance lapse after Harvey.”
“Of course I let it lapse,” said Reagan. “There was nothing left to insure. The home was gone.”
Fast Forward Four Years
The May flood this year swamped his property again after the SJRA opened the gates on Lake Conroe and began releasing 72,000 CFS, the second highest release rate in SJRA history.
Only Harvey exceeded that rate. SJRA released 79,000 CFS in 2017 during Harvey.
Since then, Reagan began planning his comeback against Mother Nature, the sand mines and SJRA.
His dream now is to build a foundation for a new home up 10 feet above the original level of the land. That would make the land higher than the Harvey high-water mark.
Then he wants to build a new home up on stilts, another ten feet above the elevated foundation. It would be elevated 20 feet above his first home on the property and more than 10 feet above Harvey. Hopefully, that will keep him safe for a few years.
The retired oil-field worker and bull rider is looking at designs from UB Homes. He also hired a MoCo excavation company, Graham Land Services, to excavate a pond at the back of the property.
Dirt from the pond is building up the foundation where his new home will go.
Pros and Cons of Rebuilding in Location that Floods
On the plus side:
On the minus side:
A Pioneer Spirit
Reagan typifies the struggle many Houstonians feel. He loves nature and living near water – until floods exact their terrible price. Still, he returns. To fight for a life he loves.
I admire the fact that he’s not waiting for others to protect him from the ravages of West Fork flooding. By elevating his property and home, he’s protecting himself and his family.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/10/24
2538 Days since Hurricane Harvey