9/19/24 – On Tuesday 9/17/24, the North Houston Association held a reception for members and the press to promote 27 strategic flood-reduction priorities in the new state flood plan.

The state flood plan contains thousands of recommendations from 15 different river basins around the state. However, the boundaries of the North Houston Association (NHA) fall entirely within the San Jacinto River Basin (Region 6). And NHA represents interests only in the northern part of the basin.

The Association represents business interests primarily in northern Harris and southern Montgomery Counties.

The 27 priorities extend from northern Montgomery County to central Harris County. They also spread from Waller and Grimes Counties on the west to Liberty County on the East. See map below.

Summary of Each Recommendation

Below is a high level summary of each NHA recommendation. For maps and additional details including benefits, funding potential partnerships, and costs, click on the embedded links.

1. Garret’s Creek Stormwater Detention Basin will provide approximately 16,850 acre-feet of storage capacity to reduce flood risk along Lake Creek and the San Jacinto West Fork.
2. Caney Creek Stormwater Detention Basin at FM 1097 will provide approximately 13,900 acre-feet of storage capacity to reduce damage downstream. Steep terrain at this site allowed for necessary volume within a smaller footprint which minimizes land acquisition costs.
3. East Fork San Jacinto Winters Bayou Dam and Stormwater Detention Basin will provide 45,055 acre-feet of storage capacity north of Cleveland.
4. Little Caney Creek Stormwater Detention will provide approximately 17,500 acre-feet of storage capacity and will reduce flooding along both Lake Creek and the West Fork.
5. Joint Reservoir Operations Study for Lake Conroe and Lake Houston will determine the most efficient and safe way to operate the two reservoirs in series. The study will include:
   • Evaluation of synced operations protocols
   • Joint notification protocols
   • Public communication strategies
   • Pre-release procedures
   • Related impacts on water supply
   • Development of a forecasting tool for Lake Houston.
6. Caney Creek Stormwater Detention Basin at SH105 will provide approximately 28,090 acre-feet of storage capacity to reduce downstream damage. Again, the steep terrain minimizes land acquisition costs.
7. Another Caney Creek Stormwater Detention Basin in Lake Creek Watershed will provide approximately 19,750 acre- feet of storage capacity.
8. Peach Creek Stormwater Detention Basin at SH105 will provide approximately 36,197 acre-feet of storage capacity.
9. Walnut and Birch Creek Stormwater Detention Basins in the Spring Creek Watershed will provide approximately 12,159 acre-feet of storage capacity and 7,731 acre-feet respectively.
10. River Plantation Channel will widen a 9.3- mile-long stretch of the West Fork to increase conveyance capacity and lower the water surface elevation.
11. Peach Creek Channelization at I-69 would widen a 4.3-mile-long stretch of the creek to increase conveyance capacity and also provide approximately 800 ac-ft of detention volume.
12. Spring Creek Woodlands Channel improvements include a 9.7-mile long, 500-feet-wide “benching plan.” It would accommodate increased flow by excavating a series of steps in the floodplain and reduce flood elevations by 3.5 to 8 feet. The project would also provide 12,500 ac-ft of detention volume to mitigate adverse impacts downstream.
13. West Fork San Jacinto Sediment Removal and Sand Trap Development would try to intercept sand and sediment before it reaches the Lake Houston Area. Miners would remove sand from the river in select locations.
14. Caney Creek Channelization at I-69 would “bench” a 7.8-miles of the creek to increase conveyance capacity. To offset adverse downstream impacts, the program would require approximately 530 ac-ft of detention volume upstream.
15. Willow Creek Detention Basins include nine areas along Willow Creek totaling 900 acres. Another 450 acres would be acquired for floodplain preservation.
16. Spring Creek at I-45 channelization would provide a 300-foot-wide benched improvement stretching 6.9 miles. The project would also include approximately 8,000 ac-ft of detention volume upstream of offset potentially adverse impacts downstream.
17. Little Cypress Creek Frontier Program acquires land for future, regional stormwater mitigation projects such as stormwater detention and conveyance.
18. Cypress Creek Implementation Plan outlines a comprehensive, watershed-wide approach to flood mitigation including stormwater detention basins, channel improvements, and right-of-way acquisition for floodplain preservation.
19. Cypress and Little Cypress Creek Storm Tunnels would convey some stormwater underground to reduce surface flooding.
20. Kingwood Benching would widen the West Fork to 3,500 feet starting at the elevation of 42 feet. It will require over 30.5 million cubic yards of excavation over a surface area of 3,527 acres. Mitigating potential downstream impacts will also require approximately 923 ac-ft of detention volume upstream.
21. Greens Bayou Mid-Reach Program will make numerous channel improvements to provide at least a 10-year level of service within the project area.
22. West Fork San Jacinto Lake Houston Dam Project will add 11 tainter gates to the dam to provide more controlled releases during floods and reduce flood risk.
23. Greens Bayou Flood Tunnel will reduce surfaces flooding by conveying stormwater underground.
24. Halls Bayou Flood Tunnel. Ditto.
25. Halls Bayou Vision Plan and Federal Study would provide a comprehensive flood-reduction plan involving more than 30 separate projects within the watershed.
26. Luce Bayou Interagency Coordination. The Luce watershed covers about 227 square miles, of which only 23 square miles are within Harris County. Solving flooding problems here will require cooperation with other counties.
27. Jackson Bayou. A recently completed comprehensive planning effort included a combination of channel conveyance and stormwater detention improvements. Now the challenge is to make them real.

Cooperative Effort

Any effort as large as this involves many community groups, companies and governmental organizations working together. US Representative Dan Crenshaw, Harris County Commissioners Leslie Briones and Tom Ramsey, Freese Nichols, Halff, Quiddity Engineering, and the SJRA all sponsored Tuesday’s event. But there were many other participants including the Greens Bayou Coalition, the Cypress Creek Flood Coalition, the East Aldine District, North Houston District and more.

Eligibility for Funding from State

Alan Black of Quiddity Engineering and a former Acting Director of the Harris County Flood Control District, explained how NHA compiled its list. In addition to the reasons listed in each link above, he emphasized the importance of funding and the state flood plan.

“Every single one of these projects in this plan are included in the recently completed state flood plan,” he said.

“The reason that’s important is that since 2019, the state legislature has appropriated more than $1 billion to the Flood Infrastructure Fund. And recently, in the 2023 legislature, they added criteria that said those funds can’t be spent on anything except projects in the state flood plan. So every one of these projects is eligible for funding through state appropriations,” said Black.

Call to Action

Black also acknowledged that a billion dollars is wholly inadequate to fund all the projects in the state plan. He estimated the $54 billion of projects currently included in the plan could easily double within the next five-year planning cycle.

“So my call to action,” said Black, “is to encourage each of you to talk with your state representatives, your state senators, and say, ‘Continue to provide meaningful investment into the flood infrastructure fund, so we can see these projects come to fruition.'”

Posted By Bob Rehak on 9/19/24

2578 Days since Hurricane Harvey