Tag Archive for: East TC Jester

Construction of Giant East TC Jester Basin Kicks into High Gear

6/26/26 – After getting off to a sluggish start, construction of the giant 725-acre-foot East TC Jester stormwater detention basin along Cypress Creek has kicked into high gear.

History of Project

On 11/30/21, Harris County Commissioners approved an agreement with an engineering company to provide design/bid/construction-phase services.

In September of 2023, Dr. Tina Petersen held a press conference at the site to with Congressman Dan Crenshaw, State Rep. Sam Harless, and Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey to promote the funding secured for construction.

Major funding announced for Cypress Creek Detention Project by Crenshaw, Harless, Ramsey and Petersen
TC Jester Detention Basin Press Conference promoting availability of funding.

Then, there was a long pause. In mid-April this year, I received an email from Harris County Flood Control District saying construction had started. But when I visited the site on 4/22/26, I saw nothing but a construction trailer. That led me to conclude that HCFCD was broken.

On 5/1/26, HCFCD released a report saying it would miss the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) deadline of 2/28/27 by several months.

A little more than a month later, on 6/3/26, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) estimated construction was only 2% complete with only nine months left before the clock ran out on $23,844,000.00 of HUD funding.

Progress in Last 2 Months

Today, 6/27/26, I visited the site again and was pleasantly surprised by the progress.

Contractors had to clear the site before excavation could start. That looked complete and they were well into the excavation phase. I saw a carousel of belly-dump trucks parading past three excavators on a Saturday afternoon. In the 20 minutes I flew over the site, I counted more than a dozen of the giant trucks come in, fill up, and exit the site.

See the pictures below. First, here was the starting point two months ago.

TC Jester East Basin 1B on April 22, 2026 before start of construction. Looking W. TC Jester at top of frame. Cypress Creek on left.
Wider shot of same area two months later showing extent of construction on 6/27/2026.
Looking WSW from over Cypresswood Drive.
Looking E from over TC Jester. Cypresswood Drive on left.
Loaded dump trucks circling around and leaving site.
Closer shot of the parade of dump trucks.
Closer shot showing depth of excavation.

I wish all the HUD Community Development Block Grant projects were moving as fast as this one. Unfortunately, they aren’t. See one tomorrow that seems to be moving slower. Much slower. .

Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/27/2026

3234 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.

Mercer Stormwater Detention Basin Nearing Completion

12/4/25 – The new 512-acre-foot Mercer Stormwater Detention Basin Project at FM1960 and the Hardy Tollroad is finally nearing completion. The project – originally expected to take a year – took more than three and a half.

Mercer basin timetable
From Rodney Ellis presentation to Community on June 29, 2022.

The impending completion is good news. But the length of time it took is not. It raises serious questions for hundreds of millions of dollars of other projects with tight deadlines imposed by the federal government.

Before we get to that, let’s first look at Mercer.

Mercer Project Announced in June 2022

In June 2022, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis announced the start of the Mercer project next to Mercer Botanic Gardens. He said the twin basins would be done on an expedited basis and take a year.

Photos taken this afternoon show that the excavation work appears to be done, but the landscaping work remains. Specifically, the sides and perimeters of the basins need to be planted with grass to retard erosion.

Close examination of the photos show that recent rains have already washed a significant amount of dirt from the slopes into the bottom of the twin basins.

The first photo shows the two Mercer basins from over Cypress Creek.

Looking S at Mercer Basins. Hardy Tollroad in upper right. FM1960 at top of frame.

Notice how the north basin is partially grassed in. The south basin has no landscaping yet. Neither basin has grass on the perimeter roads or back-slope interceptor swales.

Closer view of south basin (top) also shows erosion on slopes of north basin (bottom).
Reverse angle shows erosion on slopes of north basin also. Note collection of sediment at bottom of ramp (lower right).
Looking N from over FM1960. Wider shot shows erosion in foreground. Luckily, contractor has not yet demobilized equipment.

Implications for Other Projects with Tight Deadlines

As I write this, HCFCD is gearing up to construct eleven other projects related to HUD/GLO Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) grants. They total almost a third of a billion dollars. All eleven must be completed before February 28, 2027 – just 15 months from now.

Yet most of the projects won’t be advertised for bids until the first quarter of next year. And two of the projects won’t even be bid until the second quarter of next year according to HCFCD’s most recent Bid Outlook Calendar published on 10/15/25.

One is the $32.8 million East TC Jester Stormwater Detention Basin. The other is the $29.4 million Kluge Stormwater Detention Basin (not even shown on the calendar). Both fall into Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s Precinct 3.

Ramsey has requested “discussion and possible action on the Harris County Flood Control District Construction Bid Calendar.” See Item 495 on the 12/11/25 Commissioners Court agenda.

According to sources in the Flood Control District, it typically takes 3 to 6 months from the time a project is first advertised until dirt starts flying. That would not leave much time to complete the disaster relief projects. Accordingly…

HCFCD Requests $17 Million for Outside Help

Also on the agenda for December 11 are five items relating to staff augmentation for HCFCD. Items 299, 302, 303, 304, 305 request “engineering services to provide program management, project management, construction management, and inspection services for the development and implementation of CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT projects.” They include five engineering companies and total $17 million:

  • Ardurra Group $5 million
  • Jacobs Engineering $1 million
  • WSP USA $1 million
  • BGE $5 million
  • Quiddity $5 million

I have posted ad nauseam about the slowdown at HCFCD. Let’s hope it doesn’t cost the County the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/4/2025

3019 Days since Hurricane Harvey