“I Know There’s a Drainage Ditch in There Somewhere”
6/24/25 – Representatives of the City of Houston District E Office, Houston Public Works, Kings Forest, and the Bear Branch Trail Association (BBTA) met this morning west of Kingwood High School. Purpose: to discuss clearing a drainage ditch that had been neglected for so long, it became seriously overgrown. So overgrown, in fact, that the ditch was almost impossible to see.






Can You Spot the Water?
And then! Aha! Water! Can you see it below? It’s almost up to the level of Kingwood Drive…when it hasn’t rained for eight days. That’s how blocked the ditch was by vegetation!

One hundred and ten homes adjacent to this ditch flooded, not including the community meeting room. So did Kingwood High School. And Kingwood Drive which is a major evacuation route.
All that vegetation increases the risk of future flooding by backing water up.
Residents have been lobbying for years to get the City to address this issue. Now, it’s finally happening!
The Plan to Clear It
I don’t have anything in writing yet, but I think Public Works agreed to start from the downstream side which you see immediately below. The vegetation blocking the outflow needs to be removed and the culverts need cleaning out.

More vegetation in the median also blocks the flow and will be cleared.

Next, they will work back north to clear the entrance to the culverts under the westbound lanes.
Then, they will continue working their way up the ditch removing blockages, including several trees that fell during Beryl last year.
After removing those, Public Works will ensure that the storm sewers leading from neighborhoods to the ditch are also clear and graded properly. Sediment currently blocks the outfalls backing water up into storm sewers and neighborhoods.
BBTA and Kings Forest representatives plus their residents emphasized that they don’t want the entire greenbelt scalped. They just want to remove enough vegetation to restore the flow as designed.
Chris Bloch of the BBTA Board hacked his way through the underbrush to help document the blockages. He said that Public works told him they hope to have the work started by the end of June and completed in July before the start of school.
Public Works also promised to evaluate the roadside ditches in Kings Forest to restore conveyance. But that will be a separate project.
Thank You!
Thanks to Houston District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger, and his staff members Dustin Hodges and Demari Perez. Thanks also to BBTA Board members Chris Bloch and Lee Danner for their assistance in documenting issues and granting access to their property.
Finally, thanks to the staff of Houston Public Works who showed up in the heat and humidity this morning. They braved poison ivy and mosquitoes the size of B-52 Bombers to help protect residents.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/24/25
2856 Days since Hurricane Harvey