ENVIRONMENT
Tunnel back in consideration as study of Bu aloBayou extended
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Addicks Reservoir
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ
Bu alo Bayou
reconsidered, expressing concerns over how widening the bayou would be damaging to wildlife and the bayou’s natural features. As president of the Bu alo Bayou Partnership, Anne Olson has been following the work closely. She said she is glad to hear the tunnel appears to be getting a closer evaluation, though she acknowledged it would come with a higher price tag. “We’re rather optimistic because it seems like they really listened and have gone back out and come back with this idea of the tunnels,” Olson said. “It appears they are taking it rather seriously.” Before endorsing the tunnel completely, Olson said there are questions that need to be answered, such as where the outfall would be. Bu alo Bayou Partnership is a part of Houston Stronger, a broader coalition of civic groups, business associations and residents formed after Hurricane Harvey to ght for ood mitigation in Houston. Houston Stronger’s recommen- dations include building a 40-foot ood tunnel from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs to the Houston Ship Channel, excavating the reservoirs to add more storage and constructing more storage in the upper Addicks Reservoir to expand the prairie’s natural ability to absorb, slow down and store ood waters. In a September letter to the Army Corps, U.S. reps. Lizzie Fletcher and Troy Nehls also pushed for o cials studying Bu alo Bayou to take a
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The Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District announced in December a schedule extension and funding boost for an ongoing Bu alo Bayou ood study. The announcement came just over a year after the Corps released its interim report to the public, garner- ing a wave of feedback. The schedule extension will allow for the “further study of alternatives, particularly development of a tunnel alternative for consideration in the study,” Corps o cials said in a statement. “We are very committed to this important, monumental project and we have heard the public’s feedback,” Galveston District Commander Col. Tim Vail said in a statement. The study looks into ways to improve the Katy area’s Addicks and Barker reservoirs while also identifying measures to address ooding along Bu alo Bayou and its tributaries. The interim report, released in October 2020, considered nine approaches, but its cost-bene t analysis favored three—constructing a reservoir in the Cypress Creek watershed, deepening and widening Bu alo Bayou, and acquiring more properties around the Barker and Addicks reservoirs. The interim report pushed away from an underground tunnel as a possible measure. After its release, groups including the Bu alo Bayou Partnership and Save Bu alo Bayou called for the tunnel to be
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Barker Reservoir
Back to the drawing board
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The Army Corps of Engineers is revisiting plans for how to mitigate ooding along the Addicks and Barker reservoirs and along Bu alo Bayou.
May 2019: Army Corps announces plans to study ood mitigation options for Bu alo Bayou and tributaries.
November 2020: A public comment period brings a wave of negative feedback about the proposed plans.
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December 2021: The Army Corps announces it will revisit plans, including the tunnel, and extend the timeline of the study.
October 2020: An interim report is released. Top considerations include deepening and widening the bayou, with an underground tunnel getting less consideration.
December 2023: A nal study will be released.
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Fall 2022: A new interim report will be released.
SOURCE: ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
closer look at tunnels. “Our community has shown overwhelming support for the study of underground tunnels as a way to alleviate the potential for ooding around the Addicks and Barker reser- voirs along Bu alo Bayou,” Fletcher said in a Jan. 19 statement. “I am glad the Army Corps of Engineers worked with our o ce and approved additional funds ... which will enable the Corps to continue studying underground tunnels as a potential
water conveyance solution.” The Army Corps’ study extension was funded by an additional $1.8 million in federal funds from the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, bringing the total federal cost to $7.8 million, according to the Army Corps statement. Another $3.4 million in local funds will come from Harris County precincts 3 and 4. A draft report will be released this fall, according to the Army Corps. The study will be nished in late 2023.
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