Tag Archive for: Commissioner Tom Ramsey

Flood Digest: Flooding, Planning and More

Below is a digest of seven flood-related items in the news lately.

Dubai Floods 

On April 18, 2024, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates saw the heaviest flooding in 75 years. That’s as far back as their records go. Dubai began data collection efforts in 1949. The floods followed several cloud-seeding flights. They probably did not cause the heavy rain, but many believe they contributed to it. Highways, the airport and large parts of the city were under water.

“By the end of Tuesday, more than 142 millimeters (5.59 inches) of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours. An average year sees 94.7 millimeters (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport,” said the AP. Wave after wave of thunderstorms from a strong low-pressure system triggered heavy rains in neighboring Oman that killed 19 people.

Sally Geiss, a former Kingwood resident, sent me a link to a dramatic collection of videos of the flooding on NotTheBee.com.

Regional Flood Planning Group Recommendations

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has approved amendments to the first-ever regional flood plans. They recommend additional solutions to reduce the risk and impact of flooding across the state. The amendments bring the total estimated cost of flood-risk-reduction solutions for all 15 planning regions to more than $54 billion.

Significantly, 30 of the flood-mitigation projects could provide water-supply solutions if implemented.

All of the flood-risk-reduction solutions recommended in the amended regional flood plans should be included in the 2024 State Flood Plan. That will make them eligible for funding through the State’s Flood Infrastructure Fund.

San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group 

The San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group – Region 6 is currently underway to solicit a technical consultant for the second planning cycle. 

Harris County will advertise a request for qualifications (RFQ) within the coming weeks. The RFQ selection and process will follow standard Harris County procurement procedures.

Interested? The flood planning group provided this link to monitor opportunities:
https://purchasing.harriscountytx.gov/Services/Online-Solicitation-Opportunities

Harris County Purchasing

County Judge Lina Hidalgo held a press conference last week in which she blasted Harris County purchasing procedures. She wants to change them. According to Hidalgo, RFQs for Flood Control, Engineering and the Toll Road Authority are approved without bidding or documentation.

In virtually all cases, Purchasing rubber stamps the recommendations of Commissioners, according to Hidalgo. And she says that 93% of those approved contributed heavily to commissioners.

Here’s a link to her press conference video.

Lina Hidalgo Press Conference on Purchasing

She starts about 15-20 minutes into the video, and there’s a Spanish translation at the end. So it’s not as long as it looks.

Hidalgo based her allegations on a series of audit reports of the purchasing department, which were previously publicized by the Houston Chronicle.

Hidalgo never mentioned her own legal troubles re: the Elevate Strategies contract.

Kingwood Open House

Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s office is hosting a Kingwood Open House on Thursday, April 25, 2024 between 6:30 and 8 PM at the Kingwood High School, 2701 Kingwood Drive.

The focus will be on infrastructure improvements and include representatives from Precinct 3, City of Houston, San Jacinto River Authority, and Harris County Flood Control District.

The Woodlands MUD Elections 

In Texas, Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs) have the legal authority to partner with other governmental agencies such as the Texas Water Development Board and Harris County Flood Control District for flood-mitigation projects.

Early voting for The Woodlands Municipal Utility District directors begins on April 22 at the Shenandoah Municipal Complex.

In preparation, The Woodlands Township Future Group will sponsor an informative talk by Robert Leilich, Director of the Board of The Woodlands MUD #1 and Erich M Peterson, PE, General Manager of the Woodlands Water Agency. 

Their topic: “All You wanted to Know about Municipal Utility Districts.”

Date: Monday, April 22, 2024

Time: 7 pm to 8 pm

Please copy the link below and paste in a browser to join the presentation via Zoom:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82866382552?pwd=IB2JnUwSD96Tq68oZLygYaNPRTbWT4.1

 Passcode: 346862

The discussion of Municipal Utility Districts will cover:

What is a MUD?

  • What services do MUDs provide The Woodlands?
  • Who determines and directs the activities of a MUD?
  • What is The Woodlands Water Agency (also known as WoodlandsWater) and what is its relationship to MUDs in The Woodlands?

Emergency Habitability Repairs

The City of Houston Planning Department publishes a weekly Permit Activity Report. I usually scan it for development projects in the Lake Houston Area. But in the last few weeks, I have noticed something else that’s highly interesting.

There’s an extremely high correlation between “emergency habitability repairs” and proximity to drainage ditches and bayous with a reputation for flooding, such as Greens Bayou.

In one of the previous reports, I found that 90% of the emergency repairs happened in apartment complexes right on the banks of Greens or within a block of it. 

This should underscore the risk of living close to waterways. Even though the permit applications may not have immediately followed a flood, they may have resulted from problems, such as mold that build up after floods. 

I intend to follow this trend and report more when I have more data.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/18/24

2424 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Commissioners Discuss Colony Ridge, But Take No Position Yet

As the state legislature takes up what to do about Colony Ridge, Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey, PE, brought the issue up in the 10/10/23 session of Commissioners Court.

Screen capture of Ramsey starting discussion.

Ramsey Leads Off Discussion with Photos of Dramatic Erosion, Impacts

Ramsey presented dramatic photos of erosion coming from Colony Ridge. He also discussed how rampant erosion impacts areas downstream. He referred to:

Ramsey also reminded everyone that Lake Houston supplies drinking water to roughly 2.2 million people, about half the population of Harris County.

Next, Ramsey introduced a motion to determine how much a study would cost to learn how Colony Ridge drainage has impacted Harris County. Ramsey, an engineer by trade, limited his remarks to drainage and infrastructure issues, even though the state legislature is examining a much broader range of issues.

You can see slides from Ramsey’s presentation here.

Commissioners and HCFCD Director React to Ramsey

Ramsey asked Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) to come back to the next Commissioners Court meeting with an outline and cost for a study that would determine the downstream impacts from Colony Ridge.

Dr. Tina Petersen, HCFCD executive director, said they hadn’t studied Colony Ridge but would do everything she could to come back to the next Commissioners Court meeting with a proposal for a study.

Then the scope of the task started expanding. Other commissioners, including Rodney Ellis, pointed out that Liberty County wasn’t the only upstream county impacting Harris County.

Commissioner Adrian Garcia asked whether Director Petersen could expand the scope to consider impacts from other counties. But Petersen said that would be impossible by the next meeting.

Because other upstream areas have similar issues, commissioners felt a regional approach might make more sense and funding might be available from the Texas Water Development Board to study the problem.

So, Commissioner Ellis suggested having Intergovernmental Affairs look into what other counties, including Liberty, are doing.

Judge Hidalgo called the other Colony Ridge issues being investigated by the legislature and Attorney General Ken Paxton “conspiracy theories.”

No Action Taken in Meeting, but Unanimous Agreement to Revisit Issue

In the end, the Commissioners voted to take “no action” on Ramsey’s motion in yesterday’s meeting. However, they also agreed to reconsider it at a future date when Commissioners have more information about the scope and costs of a study.

In the meantime, I’m not sure how much cooperation Harris County will get from upstream counties. In my opinion, other counties sometimes see lax enforcement of regulations as tools to attract development.

See the entire discussion. It lasted about 18.5 minutes from 5:04:25 to 5:23, and ended with unanimous agreement to revisit the issue at an unspecified future date.

If nothing else, this raises the profile of Colony Ridge issues in the state legislature. The bi-partisan nature of the meeting’s outcome and the focus on infrastructure issues may make Colony Ridge’s charges of racism much more difficult for the legislature to ignore.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/11/2023

2234 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.