half a billion Archives - Reduce Flooding

Since 2000, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) and its partners have spent more than a half billion dollars to reduce flooding in the White Oak Bayou watershed. And they aren’t done yet. Before the flood bond is complete, they will have spent at least $575 million to create detention basins, widen channels and make other improvements.

On 7/19/2022, I flew up White Oak Bayou in a helicopter with Bill Calligari and Ken Williams, two fellow members from the Harris County Community Flood Resilience Task Force. Our goal: to learn what the money bought.

This is the second of four posts. The first covered Greens Bayou. The next two will cover Hunting and Halls Bayous.

White Oak Bayou by the Numbers

White Oak Bayou is Harris County’s sixth largest watershed but its third most populous. 51% of its residents qualify as Low-to-Moderate Income (LMI). It’s our fourth most densely populated watershed (people/square mile). Not surprisingly it had the third most damage in 5 major storms since 2000 (Allison, Tax Day, Memorial Day, Harvey, Imelda). The storms damaged 25,739 structures. Look at some of the photos below of structures crowding the bayou and you will understand why.

White Oak Bayou from the Air

White Oak Bayou flows southeast from its headwaters northwest of FM 1960 to its confluence with Buffalo Bayou near downtown Houston. The watershed comprises 111 square miles, with 146 miles of open streams. They include:

White Oak Bayou
Little White Oak Bayou
Brickhouse Gully
Cole Creek
Vogel Creek

Our helicopter started the White Oak leg of our flight near the Heights north of downtown. From there, we flew upstream. This is what the Heights looks like from the air – a study in population density which correlates highly with flood damage.

*White Oak drains most of the Heights. Note the density of development. In 2010, the watershed census was 433,250. But by 2020, it had increased to 464,933.*

The lower section of the bayou needs repairs according to HCFCD. The Army Corps straightened, widened and partially concreted lower White Oak upstream approximately to West Tidwell Road between 1964 and 1971. See below.

*Looking south toward downtown from over Ella and TC Jester. Most of this segment of the bayou was finished years ago and requires only repairs now.*

*Looking W, upstream from over West 34th and TC Jester*.

HCFCD now maintains White Oak and has observed a number of locations where concrete is approaching the end of its useful life.

*Looking upstream from over Garapan Street just north of Tidwell at bank and concrete repairs.* *(Arbor Oaks buyout area is in upper right. See end of post.)*

16 Other Projects in Works

HCFCD currently lists 16 other projects in the White Oak watershed.

Some projects are still being studied. Some are complete or nearly so. As of June 8, 2022, HCFCD was working out a contractor issue on the largest project, which will delay the originally scheduled completion this summer.

Federal Flood Damage Reduction Project

The largest project is the White Oak Bayou Federal Flood Damage Reduction Project. This $124 million project will substantially reduce flooding risks along White Oak Bayou. It started in 1998 in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with the Flood Control District designated as the lead. The two segments of the project are fully funded to completion.

Limits of downstream segment of Federal Project

They include:

Construction of approximately 15.4 miles of channel conveyance improvements along the bayou from FM 1960 to Cole Creek near West Tidwell in the two segments above.
Excavation of six stormwater detention basins to hold almost one billion gallons of stormwater. That’s enough to hold a foot of rain falling across almost 5 square miles.
Construction of the Jersey Village Bypass Channel

*Stretch of improvements upstream from Alabonson Road.*

Upon completion, HCFCD estimates that most parts of the project area will see water surface elevation reductions of 0.1 to 1.8 feet for a 1 percent annual chance (100-year) flooding event.
HCFCD

*Looking S.* *White Oak Bayou Detention Basin near West Little York and Hollister.*

*Looking S toward White Oak Bayou near Fairbanks North Houston Rd. Basin completed in 2021*

*A smaller detention basin opposite the one above skirts the south side of White Oak at Fairbanks North Houston (bottom right).*

*Channel improvements and greenbelt trail still under construction.*

*Looking west at White Oak where it crosses under Beltway 8. Note bridge improvements and vegetated detention ponds on left on both sides of bayou.*

Many smaller detention ponds like those above now line both sides of the bayou and its tributaries from upstream to down.

Arbor Oaks Subdivision Buyout

Since 2003, HCFCD has bought out more than 200 homes in the Arbor Oaks subdivision. It is still buying more on either side of Vogel Creek to build a 431 acre-foot stormwater detention basin and restore the floodplain. That would hold a foot of rain falling over 2/3rds of a square mile.

Acquisition costs in such densely populated neighborhoods can easily exceed construction costs.

This part of the White Oak story dramatizes how costly, difficult and time-consuming it can be to buy out and mitigate areas built in floodplains.

*Note the large areas with streets marked, but few or no homes on them. They were bought out and this area will become another large detention basin. Image courtesy of Apple Maps.*

Here’s what part of it looks like from a few hundred feet up.

*Lower part of Arbor Oaks area on bottom left.* *Bridge is on West Little York. Looking SE toward downtown.*

*Looking SE at floodplain south of Little York near Arbor Oaks. Note aging concrete along White Oak Bayou on right.*

Many Other Projects

There are so many other projects underway on White Oak that I scarcely have room to mention them. See my previous post that discusses conversion of the Inwood Golf Course to a series of 12 connected detention ponds. It will hold 1200 acre feet. That’s a foot of rain falling over 2 square miles.

Then there’s the Woodland Trails Detention project downstream from Fairbanks N. Houston Road. It’s budgeted at $63.5 million. But it’s still in right-of-way acquisition.

And then there’s the North Canal near downtown. HCFCD and the City of Houston are working to finalize an interlocal agreement. Grant funding calls for completion of the first phase of the project by May 2023.

Finally, don’t forget the detention basins and channel conveyance improvements on tributaries, such as Little White Oak Bayou and Brickhouse Gully.

They all add up to more than a half billion dollars…and counting! Water needs somewhere to go during a storm. If we don’t leave a floodplain for floodwaters to safely expand, they will wind up in peoples’ living rooms.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 7/20/2022

1786 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Since 1998, the Brays Bayou watershed has received approximately a half billion dollars in flood-mitigation funding. To compile that estimate, I consulted Harris County Flood Control District’s (HCFCD) 2019 Federal Briefing (see page 45) and HCFCD’s “active construction projects” page for May 2021.

Map of Improvements

*From page 57 of HCFCD 2019 Federal Briefing*. *Note all of the projects recently funded, completed or under construction.*

Nature of Improvements

The 2019 Federal Briefing (page 56) separates Brays improvements into two areas:

Upstream (west of Sam Houston Tollway)
- 3 detention basins: 595 surface acres; 9,623 acre-feet of storage – enough to hold a foot of water falling over 15 square miles (13% of entire watershed)
- 3.7 miles of channel conveyance improvements, including control structures, from Old Westheimer Rd. to SH 6
Downstream (east of Sam Houston Tollway)
- 17.5 miles of channel conveyance improvements from the mouth to Fondren Rd.
- 1 detention basin: 252 surface acres; 1,865 acre-feet of storage – enough to hold a foot of water falling over 3 square miles
- 30 bridge replacements/modifications, and/or channel conveyance improvements under bridges (16 due for completion this year)

Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) manages, designs, and builds the projects; buys land, easements, rights-of-way; relocates utilities; adjusts bridges (except for railroads); and operates and maintains the channel after construction.

Benefits and Costs

After completion, upstream improvements should give residents a 100-yr. level of flood protection (1% annual chance).

Likewise, downstream improvements should reduce the number of structures:

In the 4% or 25-year flood plain from 3,520 to 50.
In the 100-year flood plain from 16,800 to 1,800.

Total Cost Estimate: $480M though 2019 (Source: 2019 HCFCD Federal Briefing, Page 45)

Benefit-Cost Ratio: 7.0 (Source: 2019 HCFCD Federal Briefing, Page 56)

The size of the cost in conjunction with the benefit-cost ratio makes these numbers impressive. The primary requirement for the ratio is that it exceeds 1.0, i.e., that the benefits exceed the costs.

Brays’ watershed includes 114 square miles. That makes the cost per square mile a whopping $4.4 million throughout the watershed. However, one must also consider that the population of Brays is the largest of any watershed in Harris County – more than 700,000 of which (57.5%) qualifies as low-to-moderate income.

The map below, taken from a 2020 HCFCD grant application to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), shows the distribution of income throughout the watershed. Areas such as West University and the Medical Center in the middle (blue) rank higher in income than areas east and west (tan/red).

*LMI quartiles within Brays Bayou Watershed* *as of 2020.* *Source: HCFCD HUD grant application.*

Possible Reasons for Large Investment

You could justify this extraordinary level of investment any number of ways. By the:

Large population
High population density
High benefit/cost ratio
Protection of critical infrastructure, such as the Texas Medical Center
Number of homes and businesses flooded historically – also the largest in Harris County: 32,194 structures since Allison (Source: 2019 Federal Briefing: Pages 16-21)
Length of time projects have been in the pipeline (most before Harvey and some even before Allison)
Proximity to older, central part of county

Do not underestimate the last two points. Funding for many flood-mitigation projects can take decades.

Disproven Theories

Regardless of the reasons why Brays has received so much investment, one can also look at what this example does not show. It does not support the “equity” narrative propounded by some. That narrative asserts low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods receive less flood-mitigation funding because of lower home values compared to more affluent neighborhoods. Those affluent neighborhoods theoretically get more flood-mitigation funding because they allegedly support higher benefit-cost ratios (BCRs).

Home Value Alone Does Not Determine Benefit/Cost Ratio

The 7.0 BCR in Brays proves that low-to-moderate income neighborhoods are not automatically disadvantaged. Population density can offset lower property values. A whole apartment complex can sit on the same amount of land as one suburban home, yet the apartments would have higher value.

Experts also point out that many other elements affect calculation of BCRs. This study from the William & Mary Law School summarizes the approaches of HUD, FEMA, the Corps and others in determining BCRs. Table I.1 on page 11 shows many of the factors considered:

Resiliency benefits
- Direct Physical Damages to Buildings, Contents and Inventory
- Essential Facility and Critical Infrastructure Serivce Loss
- Human Impacts
- Economic Losses
Environmental Benefits
- Provisioning Services
- Regulating Services
- Supporting Services
- Cultural Services
Social Benefits
- Recreational Benefits
- Health Benefits
- Aesthetic Benefits
Economic Revitalization

Brays Watershed Investment Not Suffering From Discrimination

The Brays watershed cuts across racial, ethnic and socio-economic boundaries. Flooding has been recognized as a problem here for decades and HCFCD has successfully obtained many grants during that time. HCFCD has also invested more in Brays than any other watershed. Like Halls Bayou and Greens Bayou, the narrative re: Brays is far more complex than some acknowledge.

Photos of Improvements in Bray’s Bayou Watershed

On May 26, I flew from Beltway 8 West to the Ship Canal east of downtown along Brays Bayou. Out of more than 1100 images, here are 16 that represent what you see along the way. Lots of detention ponds, channel improvements, and new bridges. The bridges are higher and often wider, with wider supports to avoid constrictions and blockages. New bridges never have more than two supports in the water flow; some old ones had seven.

*Arthur Storey Park at Beltway 8 West and Bellaire Blvd. Looking N toward Westchase District.*

*Southern part of same park. Looking NE across BW8 West.*

*Looking NNE at Hilcroft and North Braeswood Blvd.*

*Looking WSW across same new bridge* *at Hillcroft.* *Note wide spans and wings designed to prevent erosion.*

*Looking north at new bridge over Brays at Chimney Rock*

*SW Corner of Loop 610 looking toward downtown in upper right.*

*Same intersection south of Galleria area. Note complexity where seven streams of traffic intersect.*

*Looking east toward downtown along Brays just inside of Loop 610 at detention pond. Note sewage treatment plant across bayou.*

*Looking north across new bridge over Brays along Buffalo Speedway toward Greenway Plaza in background.*

*Looking NE toward downtown in background along Main Street. Medical Center is in middle of frame.*

*Looking NE toward downtown where Fannin St. crosses Brays at UT Health Science Center.*

*Looking NE toward Med Center and downtown in background across another new bridge over Brays. Note the electrical infrastructure next to the bayou.*

*288 and Brays*. *Bridge construction on Almeda.*

*Looking NE across Brays at new railroad bridge near Tipps Street.*

*Downstream end of Brays near Buffalo Bayou. The ship canal and Port of Houston are in background.*

As these pictures show, flood mitigation funding isn’t all about home value. Brays traverses some of Houston’s most critical infrastructure, job centers, rail lines, diverse neighborhoods and employment centers.

HCFCD describes Project Brays as the largest it has ever managed. To learn more more and see before/after pictures of many improvements, visit Project Brays’ own website.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/3/2021

1374 Days since Hurricane Harvey

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White Oak Bayou: What A Half Billion Dollars Looks Like