Tag Archive for: development

Dangers of Erosion when Developing Floodplains

A resident of The Commons on Lake Houston contacted me about some severe erosion in her community. I can only describe it as stunning. It destroyed trails owned by the Property Owners Association that people used for hiking, biking and horseback riding. The loss of these trails limits recreational opportunities and has physically divided large parts of the community.

Sadly, it didn’t have to be that way. Infrastructure and ditch maintenance did not keep pace with development.

As development crept closer to the East Fork of the San Jacinto over the years, the erosion worsened. In older neighborhoods on higher ground, a series of small check dams in a major drainage canal reduced erosion.

A check dam is a small dam constructed across a drainage ditch to counteract erosion by reducing water flow velocity. 

Wide grassy, gentle slopes and check dams keep erosion at bay in areas first developed.
The last check dam. Downstream, it’s different. 

Below Check Dams, Uncontrolled Erosion

The dams stop short of the East Fork. A tiny swale that residents used to step over has expanded into a steep-sided gully approximately 20 feet deep and 50-75 feet wide. Not even concrete can stop the erosion now.

Concentrated runoff below the check dams has peeled away concrete used to reduce erosion around this pipe.

Trails used to run alongside and across this ditch. Now they’ve been swallowed. Residents have nicknamed the ditch “The Grand Canyon.” They fear walking near the edge because of potential for cave-ins.

Water exits the other side of the pipe with the force of a fire hose. It has eroded a huge bowl, now eating trails and trees.
Further downstream, a shallow ditch has turned into what residents now call “The Grand Canyon.”
Resident points to where part of a horseback riding trail caved in.
Trees falling into the center force the water wider during floods, worsening erosion.
This tree created an eddy that ate away a foot path. It went from lower left to upper right.

Causes of Erosion

Erosion can result from many things. Multiple factors played a role in the Commons.

As the developer built up land to elevate foundations, he increased the slope. That accelerated runoff.

Clearing land for a new subdivision along the ditch also accelerated erosion of soft, sandy soil.

Finally, concentration of runoff also played a major role. When runoff spreads out over over acres, it poses no threat. But concentrating it turns a thousand trickles into a firehose aimed at loose, sandy soil. The result: severe erosion every time it floods.

Residents of The Commons have already seen how that erosion can destroy recreational opportunities and infrastructure. They pray that their developer will fix the Grand Canyon before it starts eating homes.

Lessons for Kingwood

This Commons story contains timely lessons for the residents of Kingwood as we consider a potential high-rise development in the floodway and floodplain of the San Jacinto.

The Commons erosion reminded me of the Kingwood Rapids. Whitewater enthusiasts gave that name to the drainage ditch that runs between Kingwood and Forest Cove near Deer Ridge Park, just south of Walnut Lane (see below).

The drainage ditch between Walnut Lane and Deer Ridge Park has jokingly been dubbed the Kingwood Rapids by whitewater enthusiasts. Ditch erosion now threatens yards and fences. Image courtesy of Google Earth.

The proposed new high-rise development would use this ditch to drain hundreds of acres that they intend to pave with concrete.

“Kingwood Rapids” in 2009 shows same processes at work here that threaten the Commons.

High-Rise Concern: Erosion and Incision

As you can clearly see, the ditch can barely handle existing runoff during storms. It’s severely eroding.

Draining high-rise, high-density commercial space into these ditches will cause them to “incise.” Incise means “cut into.” Runoff will deepen and/or widen ditches. But ditch erosion already threatens nearby homes.

This same ditch runs through River Grove Park, which already cost Kingwood residents more than half a million dollars in repairs after major storms in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The soccer program at River Grove still has not fully recovered. The lacrosse league has abandoned its lease there. One shudders to think of the damage that the loss of River Grove to do to the entire community.

Impact on Water Quality

All this erosion also has a direct impact on water quality in several ways. First, the sediment flows into the lake. There, it reduces lake capacity. The sediment also increases turbidity, which increases water treatment costs and harms riparian vegetation. That vegetation helps stabilize banks, protect property and provide cover for fish which waterfowl and eagles feed on6

More food for thought as you compose your letters to the TCEQ and Army Corps.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/16/2019

506 Days since Hurricane Harvey

New Drone Video Shows Areas for Proposed High-Rise Development

Jim Zura, owner of Zura Productions, flew his drones again on January 8 after the most recent flood went down. This time, he’s sharing two videos. The first, shot from River Grove Park, shows the area south of Barrington. The second, shot from Woodland Hills Drive at Deer Springs, shows the area north of the Barrington. Together, they show you the areas for most of the proposed new Romerica high-rise development and marina.

Drone pans approximately 120 degrees across the Romerica property from Barrington to the West Fork of the San Jacinto. End of shot zooms into the narrow area between Barrington and small lake where high rises would be built.
This video starts on Woodland Hills at Deer Springs. It pans up to reveal the northern part of the proposed high-rise development, then pans south toward Barrington.

Both videos offer panoramic views of the areas that Romerica proposes to raise by 12 feet. Raising these two areas would destroy trees and wetlands, increase the rate of runoff, and alter drainage patterns. It would also likely worsen flooding problems upstream and around the proposed development.

Not Only Human Residents Worry

Clark McCollough, a resident of Kingwood Lakes, reported that two bald eagles live near the property being permitted. He supplied this spectacular photo which I am reprinting with his permission. The developer wants to fill in wetlands near the nests and mitigate the loss of wetlands by purchasing credits somewhere else.

  • Eagle spotted near proposed high-rise development. Photo courtesy of Clark McCollough of Kingwood Lakes.

Register Comments on Permit Application with Army Corps

For complete details of the permit application, see this post. If no comments are received by January 31, the Corps will assume there are no objections. Do not assume that this permit will be denied just because FaceBook has a lot of negative buzz about it. The Corps does not read FaceBook. The best way to ensure this development does not happen is to write. We need every resident in Kingwood to respond. Important: In your letter, state that you want a public hearing.

Comments and requests for additional information should reference USACE file number, SWG-2016-00384, and should be submitted to: 

  • Evaluation Branch, North Unit 
  • Regulatory Division, CESWG-RD-E 
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
  • P.O. Box 1229 
  • Galveston, Texas 77553-1229 
  • 409-766-3869 Phone 
  • 409-766-6301 Fax 
  • swg_public_notice@usace.army.mil 

Posted by Bob Rehak on January 10, 2019

499 Days after Hurricane Harvey

Drone Video Underscores Dangers of Development without Remediation

Yesterday, the area where a developer proposes a new high-rise development flooded for the fifth time this year. This underscores the need for remediation before any permitting.

It wasn’t an especially heavy rain last week. Kingwood received about 2.5 inches. Areas upstream averaged 3 to 4 inches. Yet the West Fork came out of its banks and flooded River Grove Park for the fifth time this year (February 26, March 28/29, July 4, December 7/8, December 27). The USGS Gage at US59 showed that the flood crested at about midnight. The crest reached almost 50 feet at US59.

The West Fork at US 59 crested at almost 50 feet from the most recent rains. In the days preceding, SJRA released 5-7,000 cfs from Lake Conroe.

Jim Zura of Zura Productions took his drone to River Grove during the last light before the overnight crest. The video shows that although the road was still useable, many of the park’s popular amenities were not. The playground, soccer fields, boat ramp and boardwalk all flooded.

Earlier this year, the US Army Corps of Engineers found that excessive sedimentation in the river contributed to excessive flooding. The frequency of these floods supports that conclusion. The Corps began dredging in late September to remove sediment, but has completed only about 20% of the project so far. Downstream blockages remain. And the biggest – at the mouth of the West Fork – is not even within the scope of the current dredging project.

The end of Zura’s video shows the soccer fields and adjoining property, including a small lake in the floodway. This flood gives us a glimpse of how a minor rain would affect the proposed high-rise development there.

Watch all the way to the end!

The frequency of these floods underscores the need to consider the implications of permitting such a major development – especially when officials know the engineering is based on obsolete data and flood maps that in no way reflect current realities.

Until remediation efforts are complete, officials should postpone consideration of the permit. Remediation efforts include:

  • Dredging the West Fork all the way from US59 to Lake Houston
  • Creating additional upstream detention
  • Adding flood gates to Lake Houston
  • Restoring the conveyance of local drainage ditches and streams.

Rainfalls of the magnitude that caused these five floods should happen about once every 2 years according to Harris County Flood Control. This year they happened five times: 10X greater than expected. A review of peak crest data since 1929 roughly confirms these expectations. In the 80 year since then, the river crested over 50 feet only 40 times.

A review of the same data shows that the river has crested over 57 feet 9 times in the last 80 years and six times since 1994.

I believe excessive sedimentation played a role in this frequency increase. Instead of flooding every other year like this, we’re flooding almost every other month. That’s significant enough to put the brakes on development in the floodway, at least until we understand the extent of the problems and can fix them.

These are my opinions on matters of public policy. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statutes of the Great State of Texas.

Posted by Bob Rehak on December 31, 2018

489 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Public Notice: Army Corps and TCEQ Soliciting Comments on High-Rise Development Near River Grove Park

Romerica Investments, LLC has applied for a permit to develop wetlands, flood plain, and floodway in the area around Barrington and River Grove Park in Kingwood. Rumored for years, many residents, including me, assumed the project died after Harvey. After all, who would be crazy enough to build high-rises in the path of 250,000 cfs? But as they say in horror movies, “It’s baaaa-aaack.” The proposed development includes: a marina/resort district, a commercial district, a residential district, and roadway expansion.

Here’s a link to a video that describes the architect’s vision for the development. It was posted to Vimeo in February of this year. Note the sky-blue waters of the San Jacinto. (This is what you get when a developer in Mexico uses an architect in Rome.) See more specifics below.

Location of Romerica’s proposed development.
The major pieces of Romerica’s proposed Kingwood development. For details see below.

River and Floodway Alterations

The applicant proposes to construct a new navigation channel on the West Fork to the south of the proposed marina and expand the existing channel on the east for better connectivity between the proposed marina and the West Fork San Jacinto River. 

Features of Proposed Resort District

The applicant proposes to develop the 25 acres north of the proposed marina into a resort district. The resort district will consist of a resort hotel, commercial, and residential space. The applicant proposes to construct:

  • Five towers within the resort district at a height of 90 feet for the western hotel parcel
  • Residential condominium towers at a height of 260 feet, and at a height of 500 feet (50 stories) for the eastern hotel and condominium parcel. 
  • Fill material would be used to raise the elevation of the resort district 12 feet from 45 to 57 feet to raise the proposed structures above the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 100-year floodplain of the West Fork San Jacinto River.  

Features of Proposed Commercial District

In a 47 acre commercial district, the applicant proposes to construct:

  • Retail, residential, and office space.
  • Three towers ranging in height from 230 to 400 feet for the retail offices and residential condominium towers.
  • Additional mid-rise residential and retail spreads at a height of 70 feet. 
  • Fill material would raise the elevation of the commercial district from 45 feet to 57 feet over base flood elevation and raise the proposed structures over the FEMA 100-year floodplain of the West Fork San Jacinto. 
  • Parking garages with two below grade levels and concealed above grade levels to increase the footprint density. 
  • A 19.25-acre lake (from an existing 16.25-acre lake) to create a smaller marina area for personal watercraft parking.
  • A 125-foot wide channel between the 80-acre marina and the 19.25-acre marina and the marina/resort district and the commercial district. 

Features of Proposed Residential District

The 64-acre residential district would include:

  • Condominium structures, 65-feet high, on pier and beam foundations with elevated first floor parking and four stories.
  • They would use fill to elevate them to 58.5 feet, which is above the FEMA 100-year floodplain of the West Fork San Jacinto River. 
  • 25-story condominiums with parking garages.
  • Nearly 2 miles of 41 foot wide roadways with bridges over canals and streams.

Expansion of Woodland Hills Drive

The applicant also plans to bring in more than 1700 cubic yards of fill to raise and expand Woodland Hills Drive. Woodland Hills would become four lanes all the way to Hamblen.

Wetlands Mitigation: Somewhere Else

To compensate for all the fill they are bringing into the floodplain and wetlands, they would purchase mitigation credits from outside the Kingwood area. Basically this means that all of this development would be filling in local floodplains and floodway without commensurate local compensation. Said another way, it would constrict the flow of the West Fork during floods.

To review the complete text of the public notice, click here.

To review the proposed plans, locations and schematics, click here.

Comments are used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity. For accuracy and completeness of the record, all data in support of or in opposition to the proposed work should be submitted in writing. Concerns should contain sufficient detail to furnish a clear understanding of the reasons for support or opposition. Prior to the close of the public comment period on January 29, the Corps’ District Engineer will determine whether sufficient cause exists to hold a public hearing.

If no comments are received by that date, it will be considered that there are no objections.

Comments and requests for additional information should reference USACE file number, SWG-2016-00384, and should be submitted to: 

  • Evaluation Branch, North Unit 
  • Regulatory Division, CESWG-RD-E 
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
  • P.O. Box 1229 
  • Galveston, Texas 77553-1229 
  • 409-766-3869 Phone 
  • 409-766-6301 Fax 
  • swg_public_notice@usace.army.mil 

Rehak’s Concerns

  1. If not removed, the mouth bar will back flood water up into this area during major floods.
  2. I thought Friendswood deed restrictions limited the height of commercial structures to 3 stories. When I built my commercial property, that was the limit. It was also a major point of contention during the construction of the new Emergency Hospital at 59 north of Kingwood Drive. I wonder how they’re getting around that. All these high rise buildings in the middle of a residential area will significantly change the character of the community. Most residents bought into Kingwood because of those deed restrictions.
  3. Filling in our floodplain with mitigation credits purchased from somewhere else will significantly alter floodplain characteristics here. When KSA explored building a dog park in River Grove Park, the City engineer told us that the width of the fence posts could not reduce flood conveyance by .000001%. The maximum allowable was 0%.
  4. Boat navigation on the West Fork has been if-fy for decades and getting worse due to sediment washed downstream from sand mines. Dredging may improve a two-mile stretch, but until the mouth bar is removed, boats will have a difficult time navigating beyond that. The Army Corps is having to dredge its way up and down the river. Any marina likely could not survive the kinds of floods we had in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Other structures would also likely be damaged.
  5. If damaged in a future flood like Harvey, who would have pockets deep enough to repair these huge structures? Few would want to inhabit them. The one office building on Hamblen has flooded repeatedly in the 35 years I have lived here. It’s not just repairing water damage this close to the river; Harvey deposited 5 feet of sand in River Grove Park. How do you clean all of that sand out of a luxury resort?
  6. The paving and filling of all this wetland will increase and accelerate runoff that endangers downstream properties.
  7. It appears that no environmental impact study has been filed.
  8. All of the floodplain calculations are based on old surveys which are currently being revised. Before these buildings could even be built, floodplain maps will be redrawn. Remember, USGS reclassified Harvey flooding at Highway 99 as a 42-year storm. The area where many of these buildings would be built has been under three feet of water at least four times this year.
  9. I’m not an engineer, but will the soil support structures this large?
  10. It already can take a half hour to get in and out of Kingwood at rush hour. This high density development could add thousands of additional cars when residents have indicated they do not want to widen Kingwood Drive or Hamblen Road. The information provided to date makes no mention of traffic loads.

Having said all that, the architects renderings look gorgeous. If they could solve those concerns, the development might be an asset to the community.

Please send your feelings, pro or con, to the address above.

These are my opinions on matters of public policy protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statutes of the great state of Texas.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/29/2018

487 Days since Hurricane Harvey