Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin Archives

The next phase of San Jacinto West Fork mouth-bar dredging should start December 1, according to Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin. This will start Phase 2 of a Texas Water Development Board grant announced in January of this year (although the phases were numbered differently at that time).

Small Strip of Bar Will Remain for Now

Contractors have already removed all but a few square feet of the above-water portion of the mouth bar. Only a tiny strip remains that will be used for safety purposes during the next phase.

“The dredge operator is using this land mass temporarily for safety reasons. The next phase will be mechanical dredging working off of floating barges. In the event that during the dredging process, a barge is damaged, the equipment can be readily offloaded onto the Mouth Bar land mass, preventing water damage to this equipment. We anticipate moving into the new location beginning December 1st,” said Martin.

Next Phase Includes Another 260,000 CY

Martin says the next phase includes dredging north of the area just completed (the above-water portion of the mouth bar) to a depth of six feet. See the black cross-hatched area below.

For a higher resolution, printable PDF, click here. *The next phase will dredge an approximate 60-acre area to a uniform depth of 6 feet from a current depth ranging from 2-4 feet.*

The numbers in the map above represent current depth in feet plus tenths of a foot.

Purple numbers mean greater than six feet.
Dark blue means five feet.
Light blue means four.
Green means three.
And yellow means 2 or less.

More Mechanical Dredging For Next Phase

Martin says the next phase will consist of more mechanical dredging. That means more excavators working from pontoons. See pictures below.

Yesterday, two worked the edges of the area of interest.

A veteran dredger suggested they may be excavating test holes. Why? They could be looking to see how dense the silt is; that could affect the horsepower needed for hydraulic dredges in later phases.

They also could be looking for submerged trees. In a previous phase of dredging between West Lake Houston Parkway and the D1 marker below, dredgers ran into trees along the north side of the river, so they had to make up extra volume on the south side to meet objectives.

Photos Taken November 17, 2020

The Google Earth image below from last year shows where I photographed two dredges (D1, D2) yesterday in relation to where the mouth bar used to be.

Below: actual images of the dredging and dredge area.

*Looking west (upstream) toward Kings Harbor and the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge past D1.*

*Looking north past first dredge (D1) toward the Deerwood Golf Course.* *Note the depth of water on the arm (approximately 10-15 feet).*

*Looking south toward FM1960 over what’s left of the above-water portion of the mouth bar. Note the second dredge in the distant background.*

*This image shows how shallow the water is in the area to be dredged. The birds are STANDING*!

*Looking northwest. D2 in foreground. Note D1 barely visible in front of long peninsula at top of picture. Also note remainder of mouth bar at right.*

In the picture immediately above, dredging in the next phase will take place in an arc around and behind that sliver of sand on the upper right.

Another Million Cubic Yards

Earlier in the year, the City announced that FEMA had agreed to dredge another million cubic yards. We do not know at this time where FEMA’s million cubic yards will come from. That might be yet another phase that dredges a channel between the dredges you see in the photo above.

Stephen Costello, the City’s flood czar, said in Octobe r that he was hiring an engineering consultant to determine the optimal course of action.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/18/2020

1177 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin issued a press release today that provided additional details about the potential Harris County/City purchase of Woodridge Village.

Unanimous County Vote For Earnest Money Contract

As reported Tuesday evening, Harris County Commissioner’s Court voted unanimously to authorize the Harris County Real Property Division to negotiate an earnest money contract with Figure Four Partners, LTD. The purchase includes two tracts of land containing 267.35 acres located in Montgomery County, which could become the Woodridge Village Stormwater Basin.

The purchase price of $14,019,316.00 is about $5 million below the appraised value of the land. Martin thanks Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack, and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle for their support.

TWDB Loan Application

Said Martin, “This is the first crucial step in completing an inter-local agreement between the City of Houston and Harris County to purchase Woodridge Village.” This vote, coupled with the upcoming announcement from the Texas Water Development Board of the City’s eligibility to apply for a 0% interest loan to help develop the Woodridge Village project, will help reduce future flooding in Kingwood and the Lake Houston region.”

During May of 2019, as well as Tropical Storm Imelda almost exactly a year ago, Woodridge Village contributed to flooding and heavy sediment deposited in much of northern Kingwood. Mayor Pro Tem Martin called for the immediate stoppage of the planned development and sale of this site.

End-of-Year Deadline

Martin says he is happy to see the execution of the earnest money contract. It will lock in the purchase price for 120 days. The purchase of the property is contingent upon Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) entering in to an interlocal agreement with the City of Houston within 120 days of signing the earnest money contract.

Last week, the City of Houston Public Works Director, Carol Haddock, submitted a letter of intent to the HCFCD Executive Director, Russ Poppe. It acknowledges the commitment by both parties, City and County, to execute a binding inter-local agreement no later than December 31, 2020.

“A binding agreement for the proposed transaction can only be evidenced by HCFCD executing a finalized inter-local agreement which will need the approval of Houston City Council” said Martin. Martin also said he “is committed to working with every council office to gain their support of this interlocal agreement, as mutual support of projects to reduce future flooding citywide are key to a successful resiliency plan.”

The location of the Figure Four Property is suitable for a sub-regional stormwater detention facility, which will help protect affected residents from future intense rainfall events.
Dave Martin, Houston Mayor Pro tem

Consolidation of Three Wastewater Treatment Plants on Woodridge Property

“Additionally, the City has identified a need for approximately 73 acres of the total site to serve as the location for a regional wastewater treatment plant,” says Martin. “This would facilitate consolidation of three wastewater treatment plants in the Kingwood Area.”

Two of these three plants were significantly impacted by flooding during Hurricane Harvey.

The City would contribute cash for the portion of the site that would house the new wastewater treatment facility.

Land in Lieu of Cash for Floodwater Detention Portion of Property

For the floodwater-detention portion of the property, the City would contribute land in lieu of cash for Harris County Flood Control District flood-risk-reduction projects.

Construction Funding Details Still to Be Worked Out

Once purchased, the City and District will work together to find additional funding to construct additional stormwater detention on the site to maximize downstream benefits. The Perry Homes/Figure Four Partners property only contains enough detention capacity at the moment to handle about 60% of Atlas 14 requirements. Atlas 14 is NOAA’s attempt to update rainfall precipitation frequency statistics. The need for the update became apparent after four so-called 500-year rains in five years (Tax Day, Memorial Day, Harvey, Imelda).

Despite the recent completion of three additional detention ponds, the Woodridge Village site currently only has about 60% of the detention capacity needed to handle a true 100-year rain (according to Atlas-14 requirements). *Photo 9/11/2020.*

The City has recently submitted an abridged application to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) for a $30 million grant/loan to fund a flood-damage-reduction project on Taylor Gully.

TWDB manages the capital Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF) created by the 86th legislature in 2019, thanks to Texas State Senator Brandon Creighton and Texas State Representative Dan Huberty. The legislature mutually seeded the FIF program with approximately $790 M, the state has received applications requesting over $2.3 billion to date. Staff recommendations for applications to advance to the formal comprehensive application submittal phase are pending.

“Ultimately, approval of this earnest money contract is a huge win for the City of Houston and Kingwood residents,” said Martin. “We hope to have more good news once the city has completed its application to the Texas Water Development Board for improvements to Taylor Gully, which will happen later this year.”

Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/17/2020

1115 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 364 since Imelda

Tag Archive for: Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin

Next Phase of Mouth-Bar Dredging Starting