Harris County Archives - Page 6 of 7

Flood Regs: What County Wants City to Do as Part of Woodridge Village Purchase Deal

Through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, ReduceFlooding.com has obtained details of Harris County’s request to the City of Houston to revise its flood regs. Complying with the request is one of two conditions the City must meet before the County will purchase Perry Homes’ Woodridge Village.

Background

Woodridge Village twice contributed to flooding in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest last year. Ever since, flood-weary residents have pled with Harris County and City of Houston officials to buy the property and build regional floodwater-detention facilities there that would protect them. The City initially declined. The County agreed, but with two conditions.

First, the County wanted the cash-poor City to pay for half the purchase through the donation of land that the County could then use to help offset costs for other HCFCD projects.
Second, the County wanted the City update to its stormwater and floodplain ordinances to make them consistent with the County’s.

Harmonizing the regulations would provide consistency between the three largest governmental agencies tasked with drainage projects in the our area: Harris County Engineering Department, Harris County Flood Control, and the City of Houston.

This is the first step in getting all municipalities and County governments that drain to Harris County to adopt similar standards to help reduce flooding risks and protect the billions of dollars of drainage infrastructure investments currently being made in the area.

A Houston Chronicle article (that didn’t even mention Elm Grove) said, that in the future, the county would not share flood bond money with any of 34 different municipalities within its jurisdiction that have not updated and harmonized their regulations with Harris County’s.

So what were the requested changes?

Below are revisions needed for the City of Houston to comply with Harris County Infrastructure Regulations (2019 version) and the HCFCD Policy, Criteria and Procedures Manual.

In all cases cited below, Harris County flood regulations exceed the City of Houston’s. The County does not ask the City to relax any guidelines.

Houston Chapter 9 (Stormwater Design Requirements – July 2019)

General Note – The City updated this Chapter in late 2019 to add Atlas 14 rainfall information for use in storm sewer design. The County also added Atlas 14 to its regulations.

However, the County requests that the City make additional changes as follows:

Section 9.2 Design Requirements:

9.2.01(B)(3)(a)(1) Table of Rational Method Runoff Coefficients – Must be updated for lots greater than ¼ acre to be consistent with Harris County requirements.
9.2.01(C)(7)(d) Table 9-2 – Revise inlet capacities for Type A, D, D-1, C-2, C-2A, D, D-1, and E inlets to be consistent with Harris County requirements.
9.2.01(D)(3)(c) Relationship of Structures to Street – Revise finished slab elevation criteria to be consistent with Harris County requirements of 18” above the 100-year floodplain, one foot above the maximum ponding depth within a 10’ radius of the structure or at or above the 500-year floodplain, whichever is higher.
9.2.01(H)(2)(d) Waiver of Detention Requirements – Remove this section; it would allow developments to be constructed without detention.
9.2.01(H)(3)(a-e) Calculation of Detention Volume – Revise to remove detention rates based on tract size, revise detention rates to be consistent with Harris County requirements of 0.75 acre-feet/acre for storm sewer outfalls and 1.0 acre-feet/acre for roadside ditch outfalls, or HCFCD requirements if outfalling to HCFCD facility.
9.2.01(H)(3)(a-e) Tracts >50 acres – Refer to HCFCD requirements if outfalling to HCFCD facility, otherwise refer to Harris County requirements if outfalling to storm sewer or roadside ditch.
9.2.01(H)(4) Calculation of Outlet Size – Revise to be consistent with Harris County requirements, remove minimum restrictor size, remove allowable discharge rates of 0.5 cfs and 2.0 cfs per acre and include calculated allowable rates.
9.2.01(H)(5)(a) Private Facilities – Include Harris County pumped detention information including detention rate, allowable drain times, and percentage that must be drained by gravity. Add minimum bottom slopes and pilot channel slopes from Harris County requirements.

Houston Code of Ordinances, Chapter 19 Floodplain (September 2018)

Under Article III: Standards for Flood Hazard Reduction:

19-33(a) Base Flood Elevation Requirements – Must also include a provision that no fill will be allowed to elevate structures proposed for the 100-year floodplain. These structures must be on open foundations designed by a structural engineer.
19-33(c) AO Zones – Revise to require finish floor elevation of three feet above the depth number noted in the specific zone, or 6 feet if no depth number is specified.
19-34(a)(4) – Remove this item that allows fill to be placed in the 0.2% floodplain without mitigating excavation.
19-34(d) Critical Facilities – Add requirement for these facilities to have the lowest floor elevated 24” above the crown of the adjacent street if that is higher than 3’ above the 0.2% elevation.
19-43 (c)&(d) Floodways – Require an engineering report for the foundation in addition to the “no-rise” analysis and mitigation requirements. Add Harris County requirements for foundation design.
19-43(e) Bridges – Add requirement that all bridge construction that modifies the base flood elevation or that modifies the geometry of the bridge or channel must submit a CLOMR and LOMR.
19-75 Manufactured home placement in a floodway or coastal high hazard area – Remove this section that allows for manufactured homes to be placed in these areas.

The County also recommends that the Harris County Floodplain Administrator should review Chapter 19 for additional changes to ensure consistency with Harris County floodplain regulations.

Negotiations Still Reportedly Ongoing

City of Houston did not discuss conditions of the Perry purchase in last week’s City Council session. Neither are County Commissioners scheduled to discuss them this week. However, negotiations with Perry are reportedly continuing despite the passage of Perry’s extended deadline.

Meanwhile, with hurricane season less than two weeks away, Perry Homes’ new contractors continue to put the full-court press on construction of detention ponds. They have made more progress in two months than the previous contractors did in two years.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/19/2020 with keyframe from Jim Zura, Zura Productions

994 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 243 after Imelda

Commissioners Will Vote Tuesday On Measure That Could Improve Drain/Ditch Maintenance

On Tuesday, Harris County Commissioners will vote on an asset-swap proposal that could improve drain and ditch maintenance county wide. It’s item 2A1 on the Commissioners Court Agenda. But it may take a while to implement. Here’s the background.

Untangling Overlapping Responsibilities

During recent storms, many blamed local flooding on lack of drain and ditch maintenance. The 80,000 cubic yards of silt clogging the lower portion of Ben’s Branch is just one example. Hundreds of others exist throughout the City of Houston and Harris County.

As the City and County Flood Control District tried to determine who was responsible for what, they became mired in legal tangles. Often, they discovered, both entities had responsibility for different portions of the same ditch.

But determining where one’s responsibilities stopped and the other’s started delayed mitigation and ran up legal fees. And even where responsibilities were clear cut, they wound up mobilizing two different crews, when one would have sufficed. This duplication of efforts ran up mitigation costs needlessly. It also often resulted in a patchwork quilt of repairs where one part of a ditch was maintained and another was not. And that reduced effectiveness.

Dividing Responsibilities by Core Competency

Luckily, common sense prevailed. The City and County reached an agreement in principle after Harvey to exchange responsibilities. Now each will focus on its core competency to maximize efficiency.

The goal: to get to a point where the City takes over responsibility for underground drainage and the County takes responsibility for above ground inside City limits.

One of the Flood Control District’s core competencies resides in ditch maintenance and improvements. Likewise, the City Public Works Department specializes in storm drains and sewers.

Any business school grad can tell you that companies maximize efficiency when focusing on their core competencies. The key: outsourcing parts of businesses where others offer greater efficiency.

Gradual Changeover In Series of Asset Swaps

However, the changeover won’t be like flipping a universal switch. It will happen gradually over several years with a series of asset swaps. Why? To ensure that neither side becomes saddled with deferred maintenance costs of the other.

Accordingly, each asset must be brought up to standards before swapping responsibilities.

See the explanation for Agenda Item 2A1 – The Houston City Council approved the interlocal agreement on February 27, 2020. Harris County Commissioners will vote on it on Tuesday, 4/28/2020.

Along with the agreement, the parties have identified the first batch of properties for exchange. However, they have not yet publicized those.

Only One Potential Problem

I only see one problem with this program. Some ditches that desperately need maintenance may not qualify for exchange before people flood.

Kings Forest, for example, has a ditch that parallels Valley Manor, west of Kingwood High School. Like Ben’s Branch, the City never maintained it. Now, water backs up dangerously close to homes on Kingsway Court and Twin Grove during heavy rains.

Rick Beaubien, a resident who lives near the ditch, took the pictures below.

*Downed trees in ditch between Valley Manor and Twin Grove.*

*North side of Kingwood Drive looking south. Trees and silt block channel and culverts.* *You can tell by the size of the trees that no one has maintained this ditch in a long time.*

*Same culverts, but in center of Kingwood Drive.*

*Exit of same culvert south of Kingwood Drive*

Dustin Hodges, District E North Sector Manager for Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin indicates that Public Works is working on a plan to maintain this and other ditches. However, he also admits that “Currently, there are no available funds to address this ditch and there is no timeline on when any funds would be available for this ditch.”

Theory Good, Time Will Tell

I wholeheartedly support the asset-exchange program outlined in agenda item 2A1. Voting against it will not immediately accelerate the maintenance of ditches such as the one above. However, in principle and in the long run, it should help if the City and County treat neighborhoods equitably and partisan politics don’t intervene.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/26/2020 with thanks to Rick Beaubien

971 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Detention Pond Construction: Montgomery vs. Harris County

Below are aerial images from two new developments under construction. They show two detention ponds in two different counties. Can you tell which is in Montgomery County and which is in Harris County? I took both photos on the same day, 2/13/2020.

Clue

Look where the grass has established itself:

In A, the land was cleared before the detention pond was completed.
In B, the detention pond was completed before the land was cleared.

And the Answer Is…

If you guessed that Pond A is in Montgomery County, you guessed correctly. Pond A is in Woodridge Village, just north of Sherwood Trails and Elm Grove. It is their S1 detention pond (first southern).

Pond B is in Harris County just north of Bush Intercontinental Airport and Mercer Botanic Gardens.

How You Can Tell

Montgomery County does not require developers to install detention ponds before they clearcut the whole development. So they sometimes come long AFTER clearcutting.

Also, even though Page 44 of Montgomery County’s Drainage Criteria Manual says that “slopes must be revegetated immediately after construction to minimize erosion,” no one apparently enforces the regulation. The sides of Pond A have gone without grass for about a year. See close up below.

*Erosion on the sides of Pond A shown above, the Woodridge Village S1 detention pond.*

All 268 acres of Woodridge Village have been clearcut for the better part of a year. Meanwhile Perry Homes and its engineering firm LJA are just now taking bids on additional detention ponds for the northern section. And the sides of Pond A still have yet to sprout grass.

Harris County Regs Differ

Note in the Pond B photo how the sides of the channel have been stabilized with grass before the developer has even finished clearing the land.

Harris County employs low-impact development procedures (LID). Harris County Stormwater Quality Management regulations discourage clearcutting giant sites like Woodridge Village all at once. See section 4.2.3.1, Stormwater Pollution Prevention (SWPPP) During Construction.

The text states, “The clearing, grubbing and scalping (mass clearing or grading) of excessively large areas of land at one time promotes erosion and sedimentation problems. On the areas where disturbance takes place the site designer should consider staging construction [emphasis added], temporary seeding and/or temporary mulching as a technique to reduce erosion. Staging construction involves stabilizing one part of the site before disturbing another [emphasis added].”

Two Different Approaches

You would think that preventing erosion would be cheaper than cleaning it up. Why do a job once when you can do it twice? Right?

*Close up of remediation work in Pond A, from a slightly different angle.* *Photo taken 2/13/2020.*

Evidently, Perry Homes prefers it that way. Last Thursday, I spotted men digging out the pilot channel of Pond A and restoring slopes…again. This was at least the third or fourth time. No wonder those Perry Homes are so expensive.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/16/2020

901 Days After Hurricane Harvey and 150 after Imelda

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.

Mouth Bar Dredging: First Pictures of Next Phase

Earlier this month, the State, Harris County and City of Houston announced the next phase of West Fork mouth bar dredging. Late last week, it got underway in earnest.

*West Fork mouth bar on Monday 1.20.2020 before mechanical dredging started.*

How Mechanical Dredging Works

Rachel Taylor took the ground-level pictures below earlier today from her back yard in Atascocita Point. They show mechanical excavators eating away at the mouth bar and loading the spoils on barges.

*Sunday afternoon, 1.26.2020, two mechanical excavators worked the western end of the mouth bar. They loaded the spoils on waiting barges (right). Photo courtesy of Rachel Lavin Taylor.*

*Service boats then pushed the barges upriver. Photo courtesy of Rachel Lavin Taylor.*

*Barge loaded with spoils passes the Deerwood Country Club.* *Photo courtesy of Rachel Lavin Taylor.*

*Barges then anchor at Berry Madden’s property on the south side of the West Fork opposite River Grove Park.* *That black object jutting into the photo from the lower left is the skid of the helicopter.* *Photo taken 1.20.2020.*

*From there, other trucks move the spoils inland.* *For orientation, that water tower in the upper left is south of Kings Lake Estates.* *Photo taken 1.20.2020.*

Mechanical dredging is slower and more labor intensive than hydraulic dredging, but can mobilize faster. In hydraulic dredging, dredgers pump the spoils to a placement area via pipelines. That is faster, but has higher overhead. It also creates more noise.

Hydraulic Dredging Options

The hydraulic pipelines can stretch miles. In the case of the first phase of West Fork mouth bar dredging, they stretched 10 miles upstream. It took five booster pumps to get the material all that way to a sand mine on Sorters just south of Kingwood Drive.

Luckily for us, the pipe from the first phase of mouth bar dredging is still at the Army Corps dock opposite Forest Cove.

*Pipe from the first phase of mouth bar dredging still sits at the former Army Corps command post and could be rewelded into longer sections if needed.*

*The Great Lakes Dredge also remains at the dock. Here you see the pieces below and behind the crane.*

At some point in this project, dredging may switch from mechanical to hydraulic. The fact that the Great Lakes dredge remained here bodes well. It chewed through 500,000 cubic yards of debris at the West Fork mouth bar in less than three months. Officials expect mechanical dredging of 400,000 cubic yards to take 8 -12 months.

Additional Dredging Targets and Financing

Other targets reportedly include the East Fork Mouth Bar and several mouth bars that have formed at the mouths of ditches or streams leading into the lake.

State Representative Dan Huberty helped bring $30 million to this phase of dredging via an amendment to SB500 in the last legislature. That money will funnel through Harris County via the Texas Water Development Board. The County also included $10 million in the 2018 flood bond. And the City is applying $6 million left over from a FEMA/TDEM grant for debris removal from Harvey.

For more details on this next phase of dredging, see the previous post on this project.

Two Phase Project Outlined In Grant

Harris County’s proposal for the grant from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) calls for splitting the project into two phases.

Phase One will focus on the West Fork Mouth Bar using the City’s $6 million and $10 million from the TWDB grant.
Phase Two will focus on the East Fork Mouth Bar using the remaining $20 million from the grant.
The $10 million from the County flood bond will fund surveys, formulation of specs, bidding, project management and more.

Progress Result of Pulling Together

All this is great news for the Lake Houston Area. The entire community worked since Harvey to make this happen through all levels of government.

As we look at other flooding problems in the area, it’s important not to get discouraged and to remember that we can make progress if we all pull together.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/26/2020 with photos from Rachel Lavin Taylor

880 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Harris County Approves TWDB $30 Million Grant Application for Dredging at Confluence of San Jacinto and Lake Houston

In the last legislative session, State Representative Dan Huberty sponsored an amendment to Senate Bill 500. The amendment earmarked a $30 million grant for additional dredging at the confluence of the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston. Last week, Harris County approved the grant application to the Texas Water Development Board. That will actually transfer the money so that it can be put to work.

How $30 Million Grant Would Be Spent

County Engineer John Blount explains how the money would be spent in his cover letter that accompanied the request to Commissioners.

“The approach to completing work under the grant,” says Blount, “would be for the County to receive the grant funds, make the City of Houston a subrecipient to start immediate dredging, and to develop a long-term plan for keeping the region’s raw water supply viable with adequate reservoir capacity. The County would be reimbursed from the grant for administrative and other related expenses incurred.”

County Plays Central Role In Coordinating Effort

Blount concludes, “If authorized, the County will work with the Flood Control District, Budget Office, County Attorney, City of Houston, and the State of Texas, to advance all necessary applications and agreements needed to initiate the dredging activities funded in the 2019 legislative session. Grant awards, if made, will be presented to Commissioners Court for consideration at a future date.”

Commissioners Court approved the motion unanimously in its Tuesday, December 17th meeting. And by Friday, the actual grant application had been sent to the TWDB, according to Matt Zeve, Deputy Executive Director of Harris County Flood Control. The TWDB board should consider the request at its first board meeting in January, tentatively scheduled for the 10th. Huberty expects quick approval because the Legislature earmarked the money specifically for this purpose.

Water Supply, Not Just Flood Mitigation, An Issue

Dredging affects more than flood mitigation. It also affects water capacity for Lake Houston. The lake supplies drinking water for 2 million people. The Interbasin Transfer Project will soon bring 500,000 gallons per day from the Trinity River. But a growing East Fork mouth bar could soon block Luce Bayou. That’s where the water will enter the lake to be used by the Northeast Water Purification Plant.

As a result of sediment deposited during Harvey and Imelda, the East Fork Mouth Bar grew southward 4000 feet and now has almost reached the point where Luce Bayou and water from the Trinity River will enter Lake Houston. *Photo taken 12/3/2019. Water flows from left to right.*

West Fork Also Plays Role in Water Transfer

That’s also why the West Fork must remain clear. It brings water, when needed, from Lake Conroe.

*Looking south across the mouth bar of the San Jacinto West Fork toward Lake Houston. Photo taken 12/3/2019.*

*Reverse angle. Looking northwest toward the San Jacinto River and the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge. Note the submerged sand about to break through the water surface around the mouth bar.* *Photo taken 12/3/2019.*

*Kayaker RD Kissling standing in less-than-knee-deep water 700 yards south of the West Fork Mouth Bar.* *Photo taken November, 2019.*

Like icebergs, sand bars mostly exist below the surface. What you see above water is a small percentage of what exists below water.

These photos illustrate why more dredging is essential. The mouth bars form dams behind the dam that block the free flow of water and decrease reservoir capacity.

Exploring Most Cost-Effective Options for Future

Between June when the Legislature approved the money and now, the City, County and State have explored ways to work together to ensure they spend the money cost-effectively. The county hired a consultant to explore the merits of do-it-yourself dredging vs. hiring a contractor. At the moment, the partners lean toward the contractor approach. It offers long-term flexibility as they explore future needs around the lake.

In addition to the $30 million from the State, the City of Houston allocated $6 million from money left over from Harvey disaster recovery funds. The County also allocated $10 million in its flood bond for dredging.

Initial Disposal Site Already Approved

The Army Corps approved Barry Madden’s property as a disposal site for the spoils. Madden’s property is opposite River Grove Park. That puts it miles closer to the Mouth Bar than previous placement areas used by the Corps. That should reduce costs by reducing the need for booster pumps and fuel.

The pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/23/2019

846 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 95 since Imelda

Three Ways to Find Out If You Are In a Floodplain

Here are three quick and easy ways to find out if you are in a mapped floodplain of any kind.

FEMA – National Scope

The first site is FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer Viewer. Using this site, you can check any piece of property in the country…including Pike’s Peak or Walden Pond…just in case you want to do a Thoreau.

Another benefit of the FEMA site is that it spans county boundaries, i.e., if you live on the Harris/Montgomery County Line.

FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer Viewer can track creeks, etc. across county lines. Please note the big green space in the center of the frame. This is the new Perry Homes development, Woodridge Forest. Neither the FEMA map, nor the MoCo map below contain flood zone information for this area although much of it was wetlands before Perry clear cut it.

Harris County

Harris County operates a site called “Flood Education Mapping Tool.” The Harris County site superimposes drainage ditches, streams, creeks, bayous and rivers and even gives you their names and numbers. Very helpful if you want to report a problem some day, or track up or downstream to see where drainage issues may be originating.

Montgomery County

Montgomery County operates a site called “Am I in a Floodplain?” It includes some very helpful interactive tools, topographic maps and more.

*People on Killerbee Lane will be pleased to know that they are not in any mapped floodplain.*

Benefits of County Sites

According to Diane Cooper, a hydrologist with more than 20 years of experience in forecasting floods, both of the County sites have better imagery and more layers than the FEMA site.

Layers comprise one of the key features of both county sites. Experiment with them. I’m especially fond of the background layers.

They let you see the flood zones superimposed over simple maps, satellite images, historical satellite images, and more. The Montgomery County site even lets you click on streets and information about them pops up. I learned, for instance, that one subdivision in MoCo has a street named Paper Wasp Lane. You really don’t want to mess with the people on that street! It’s not far from Killerbee Lane. Let’s get up a football game between those two streets! I’d pay to see that.

Posted by Bob Rehak on October 10, 2019, with help from Diane Cooper

771 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 20 since Imelda

Harris County Declared Federal Disaster Area in Wake of Imelda; State Taking Control of Disaster Mitigation Funding

On October 1st, Governor Greg Abbott sent a disaster-request letter to President Trump in response to the damage caused by Tropical Storm Imelda. The 31-page letter to President Trump lays out the case for Federal aid. It also includes an impressive catalog of storm-related damages.

The thirteen counties impacted by Tropical Storm Imelda (Imelda) are still recovering from previous disasters, including Hurricane Harvey. The population of the counties affected by Imelda exceeds 7.59 million people. That represents more than a quarter of the state’s population.

Six Counties Declared Disaster Area

Abbott requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration for the six counties in the Gulf Coast region that sustained severe flooding. Today, the President granted Governor Abbott’s request.

That means Individual Assistance for those in Chambers, Harris, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery, and Orange counties will now become available. The Governor’s press release states that “Individual Assistance includes up to $35,500 per household for damages sustained during the severe weather.”

“This means that even if people did not have flood insurance, they may receive financial aid and low-cost SBA loans,” said Kaaren Cambio, staff assistant for Congressman Dan Crenshaw.

GLO Designated to Lead Disaster Mitigation Efforts

In a separate statement, the Governor announced that Commissioner George P. Bush and the Texas General Land Office will lead the State’s comprehensive disaster mitigation program. Bush will direct more than $4 billion in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant for Mitigation (CDBG-MIT).

The program will prioritize large-scale, regional projects that increase the state’s resilience to disasters statewide, protect lives and mitigate against future hurricanes and other natural disasters. Bush says he will focus on projects that benefit the most Texans. That means “prioritizing regional partnerships to protect Texans from future storms.”

On August 23, 2019, HUD released mandatory rules for the use of more than $4.3 billion in funding for mitigation projects. They covered money appropriated by Congress on February 9, 2018. Before the GLO could begin drafting a state action plan, those rules had to be published in the Federal Register. The GLO has already begun drafting the plan. It should take approximately nine months or more to complete, at which time, the GLO can send it to HUD for approval.

In total, HUD allocated $4,383,085,000 in CDBG-MIT funds to Texas. Altogether, 140 Texas counties are eligible for some part of this allocation of funding for 2015, 2016, and 2017 (Hurricane Harvey) disasters.

ABC13 Says Choice of GLO Was Response to Slow Pace of Recovery

Ted Oberg of ABC13 News reported today that Abbott tapped the GLO because the City of Houston and Harris County were not moving fast enough with their flood mitigation efforts. The article’s headline says, “Slow pace costs Houston, Harris County control of flood money.” It begins, “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has taken notice of Houston’s slow-moving progress with its Harvey recovery program.”

“Houston and Harris County’s lack of movement on Harvey housing recovery is the reason the city and county will not get a direct allocation. Victims need this money. That’s why this will go through GLO,” Abbott spokesman John Wittman told 13 Investigates’ Ted Oberg.

In the Mayoral Debate on Wednesday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said that the city had received $1.3 billion for home repair and recovery.

Oberg reported in June, 2019, that only four people received housing aid as of that date, despite private companies being paid millions to operate the program. Oberg says that the City’s latest figures show that since then, only an additional 11 people have received financial assistance, despite more than 16,400 homeowners expressing interest in it.

As of August 1, of the 4,900 people that the City invited to apply for its federally-funded Homeowner Assistance Programs, less than half submitted an application.

Reaction from Local Officials

According to Oberg, Mayor Sylvester Turner said, “It’s on them now.”

Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement to 13 Investigates. “While we’re disappointed in Governor Abbott’s decision to run this program out of Austin instead of providing us local control, we’ll continue to work as a team to make sure we apply every single federal dollar available towards building a stronger, safer Harris County.”

Questions Still Remain

It’s still unclear to me at this hour how the GLO’s focus on large scale mitigation projects affects individual homeowners seeking financial assistance. They seem to tap two different pots of money. But they also seem to have been conflated by the reporting on this issue. Let’s hope that the state can speed things up on both fronts. Flooded homeowners need help immediately, not three years after the disaster.

*More than a dozen homes on Dunnam Road near Tailor Gulley flooded for the second time in four months during Imelda.* *The owner of the home on the left told me he did not apply for federal assistance.*

Need to Re-engineer Disaster Mitigation is NOT in Question

As I’ve stated before, we need to re-engineer the whole disaster mitigation business. Sometimes fewer people, not more, can get results faster.

Harris County’s Final Harvey report stated: “Based on house flooding assessments, the estimated total number of homes flooded within Harris County is 154,170.” That only 15 homeowners have received HUD financial assistance more than two years after Harvey is an indictment of the whole crazy system that has evolved.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/3/2019

766 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 15 since Imelda

Harris County Commissioners Approve $700,000 Kingwood Area Drainage Study

Great news! Tuesday, Harris County Commissioners Court approved a $700,000 contract with Neel-Schaffer, Inc. for a Kingwood Area drainage study. The engineering firm will identify flooding sources in the Kingwood area and develop potential solutions.

Data shows that portions of Kingwood have potential for significant offsite flows from Montgomery County as well as ponding locations due to inadequate overland flow conveyance. Said another way, new upstream development is taxing Kingwood’s drainage infrastructure. This project will help ensure that a 100-year flood plain remains a 100-year flood plain, and doesn’t turn into a 10-, 20- or 50-year flood plain.

*Area of investigation outlined in red.*

Drainage Study Details Outlined in Contract

The contract for the work indicates its scope and details. Discussion of those begins in Appendix A on page 14. The goal of the study is to identify mitigation strategies that will return 12.4 miles of existing drainage ditches and streams within Kingwood to their originally designed 100-year service levels.

Agreement with TIRZ 10

TIRZ 10 is a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone established in Kingwood at the time of annexation. The TIRZ provided a replacement financing mechanism for water, sewer, drainage costs for the development of residential subdivisions once the MUDs were dissolved.

Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) entered into an interlocal agreement with TIRZ 10 (Kingwood) to perform a drainage study of five main Kingwood streams to their confluence with the West and East Forks of the San Jacinto River. The five include:

G103-33-00 Bens Branch – From Rocky Woods Drive to WFSR (Length= 3.1 miles)
G103-33-01 – From North park Drive to the confluence with Bens Branch (Length= 1.3 miles)
G103-38-00 (Kingwood Diversion Ditch)- From Harris County Boundary to WFSR (Length = 4.0 miles)
G103-80-01 (Green Tree Ditch) – From Woodland View Dr to the EFSR (Length= 1.5 miles)
G103-80-03.1B (Taylor Gully)- From Harris County Boundary to Whiteoak Creek (Length= 2.5 miles)

Flood Control Will Fund Remainder of Streams/Ditches

In addition to the interlocal agreement, Harris County Flood Control District will also study all remaining streams and ditches within the Kingwood Area. Those include another 19.9 miles:

G103-33-00 Bens Branch – From Harris County Boundary to Rocky Woods Drive (Length = 2.2 miles)
G103-33-02 – From North park Drive to the confluence with Bens Branch (Length= 0.2 miles)
G103-33-03 – From Hidden Pines Dr. to the confluence with Bens Branch (Length= 0.1 miles)
G103-33-04 – From W Lake Houston Pkway to the confluence with Bens Branch (Length= 1.2 miles)
G103-36-00 (Bear Branch)- From Woodland Hills Dr. to WFSR (Length= 2.7 miles)
G103-36-01 – From Woods Estates Dr. to the confluence with Bear Branch (Length= 0.8 miles)
G103-36-02 – From Woodland Hills Dr. to the confluence with Bear Branch (Length = 0.9 miles)
G103-36-02.1- From Kingwood Dr. to the confluence with Bear Branch (Length= 0.4 miles)\
G103-36-03- From Royal Circle Dr. to the confluence with Bear Branch (Length= 0.4 miles)
G103-38-01- From Laurel Springs Ln. to the confluence with Kingwood Diversion Ditch (Length= 1.3 miles)
G103-38-01.1- From Red Oak Terrace Ct. to the confluence with Kingwood Diversion Ditch (Length = 0.4 miles)
G103-38-02- From Harris County Line to the confluence with Kingwood Diversion Ditch (Length= 0.7 miles)
G103-39-00- From Palmetto Ln. to the WFSR (Length= 1.3 miles)
G103-41-00 (Sand Branch) – From Sycamore Creek Dr. to the WFSR (Length= 2.0 miles)
G103-41-01- From Elk Creek Dr. to the confluence with Sand Branch (Length= 0.8 miles)
G103-45-00- From Trail Tree Ln. to the WFSR (Length= 0.4 miles)
G103-46-00- From Forest Cove Dr. to the WFSR (Length = 1.0 miles)
G103-46-01- From Sweet Gum Ln. to the confluence with G103-46-00 (Length= 0.7 miles)
G103-80-01.1- From Autumn Sage Ln. to the confluence with Green Tree Ditch (Length= 0.3 miles)
G103-80-03.1A (Mills Branch) – From Same Way to Whiteoak Creek (Length = 1.5 miles)
G103-80-04 (Blackland Gully) – From Maple Knob Ct. to the EFSR (Length = 0.6 miles)

For a map showing the location of these numbered ditches/streams, click here.

Stakeholder Meetings Part of Plan

The scope of work includes several stakeholder meetings with TIRZ 10, homeowner associations, and the community at large. Their purpose: to increase public awareness and understanding of the magnitude of the watershed problems, their complexities and the cost of solutions.

Drainage Study Data Acquisition Phase

The contractor will start by collecting all available information and data including:

Construction plans
Previous drainage studies
HCFCD historical flooding data
High Water Marks
Watershed Masterplan data
FEMA Repetitive Loss properties
Flooding reports
LiDAR DEM data
Aerial maps
HCFCD watershed maps
Hydrologic and hydraulic models
City of Houston GIMS data
Any other pertinent technical data in the development of this scope of services.

Field Reconnaissance Phase

Neel-Schaffer engineers will then conduct field reconnaissance of the existing drainage systems, outfalls, and drainage patterns within the project area. That will include field measurements of 27 bridge crossings, 32 culvert crossings, 16 pedestrian bridge crossings and 6 drop structures to be incorporated in the development of hydraulic models.

During this stage, Neel-Schaffer will also measure high water marks; update floodplains; and analyze stream performance and capacity to illustrate flooding issues to the County, TIRZ and community.

Identification of Structural and Non-Structural Mitigation Alternatives

The Engineer will determine structural and non-structural improvement alternatives to bring all streams back up to the 100-year level-of-service.

Neel-Schaffer will perform this analysis using full conveyance at peak flows. Engineers will identify the major constraints that affect the available solutions for each stream.

They will then consider both structural and non-structural alternatives for mitigation.

Structural Alternatives

Structural alternatives include:

Improved drainage channels including widening, deepening, and/or lining for increased conveyance capacity.
Watershed diversions using enclosed conduits (following existing roadway alignments or other public ROW).
New regional or sub-regional detention basins and modification of existing detention basins including inlet and/or outlet structures.
Enhanced conveyance using selectective clearing and re-shaping of natural channels.
Enhanced flood storage in natural and park areas using small-scale berms and grading.

Non-Structural Alternatives

Non-Structural Alternatives include:

Property buy-outs.
Coordinated ROW dedications for future improved channels and regional detention basins.
Regional detention fees for new development.

Drainage Study Will Consider Detention Ponds

This contract includes identifying detention needs, identifying potential locations, and developing schematic layouts of the detention ponds. It also includes:

Proposed Right of Way acquisition
Preliminary Cost Estimates
A project priority and implementation plan

It is not clear at this point how long this project will take.

This post is dedicated to Barbara Hillburn, the president of the Kingwood Lakes HOA, who fought long and hard to get a project like this started. Thank you, Barbara!

Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/14/2019 with thanks to Barbara Hillburn and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle

715 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Partners Outline Goals and Scope of San Jacinto Regional Watershed Master Drainage Plan

Earlier this year, I posted about FEMA funding approval of the San Jacinto River Basin Study. The four partners in the project, Harris County Flood Control, SJRA, Montgomery County and City of Houston, have released a fact sheet that outlines the objectives and scope of their study.

The study will cover 3000 square miles from the upper reaches of the San Jacinto River watershed in Walker, San Jacinto and Grimes Counties in the north to I-10 on the south.

Now called the “San Jacinto Regional Watershed Master Drainage Plan,” goals include:

Identifying the region’s vulnerabilities to ﬂood hazards using Atlas 14 rainfall totals
Developing approaches to enhance public information and ﬂood-level assessment capabilities during a ﬂood
Evaluating ﬂood mitigation strategies to improve community resilience
Providing a comprehensive Flood Mitigation Plan that supports the needs and objectives of each regional partner.

Download the PDF to learn more. This is not a detailed discussion, just a two-page, high-level overview. To read the entire detailed document that FEMA approved, click here.

Consultants should complete the plan/study by about April of next year. For more information about the project, see the Harris County Flood Control District Web Site.

Flood control also has a useful page dedicated to updating Kingwood residents on the status of projects affecting the Lake Houston area.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/29/2019

638 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Harris County Opens Temporary Disaster Recovery Center In Kingwood to Help Recent Flood Victims

*Home on Shady Maple in Elm Grove destroyed by flood on May 7.* *So where do you find help?*

Harris County has opened a temporary Disaster Recovery Center in Kingwood at the United Methodist Church, 1799 Woodland Hills Drive, Room K105. Hours will be from 9 to 6 weekdays and 9 to 1 this coming Saturday. The Center will close for Memorial Day on May 27.

*Flyer prepared by Harris County* *Community Services Department*

“Resource Navigators” Will Help Flood Victims Find Help They Need

Early May flooding, while tragic, was not widespread enough to meet the requirements for a disaster declaration. So in the absence of a federal declaration, Harris County Community Services Department is referring individuals to multiple local resources – primarily churches and non-profits – that can provide assistance.

Harris County’s Community Services Department will use their Resource Navigators who handle similar requests on a daily basis.

Save Time While Seeking Help

Red Cross still remains the primary responder in the absence of a federal declaration. Community Services is only trying to assemble and refer to local providers who have capacity to assist. The county will hook you up with the people they’ve found through this Disaster Recovery Center.

Eligibility will depend on individual providers for specific requirements. But the Resource Navigators should be able to help you with those. Think of them as a way to save time while seeking help.

For More Information about Disaster Recovery Center

Call Harris County Community Services Department at 832-927-4955. Or email hrc@csd.hctx.net.

Posted by Bob Rehak on May 21, 2019

631 Days since Hurricane Harvey

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