Spring - Klein Edition | March 2023

An aquifer is an underground rock structure containing water. Original land surface elevation 1 2

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as the center’s Gulf Coast studies chief—said subsidence worsens ooding in watersheds by “altering the base ood elevations.” “[Subsidence] is an important phenomenon to document and study … it can result in permanent loss of land, increased risk of ooding and damage to infrastructure,” Ellis said. Subsidence is chiey caused by pumping water from underground reserves, which compacts sublayers of clay and silt in aquifers beneath the Earth’s surface, according to a Uni- versity of Houston geological study released in August. The resulting sinking is a problem experienced all over the Greater Houston area. Shuhab Khan, a UH geology professor and one of the August report’s authors, said he believes there is a balance to using groundwater sustainably. “Groundwater is the cleanest water all over the world,” Khan said. “It is a means for drinking, for agriculture, for industry, and when we start pumping more water than the amount of water that is replenishing [aquifers], that balance is gone.” The UH study states its ndings also

Subsidence, or the sinking of land due to movement beneath the Earth’s surface, has been recorded over several decades in the Cypress Creek watershed.

Long-term subsidence eects • Damage to buildings and infrastructure • Increased ooding risk • Elevation changes • Compacting of aquifers

Silt & clay

Gravel & sand

After long-term groundwater withdrawals, clay and silt layers compact.

Prior to excessive groundwater use, clay and silt layers are loosely packed.

SOURCES: HARRISGALVESTON SUBSIDENCE DISTRICT, SHUHAB KHAN, ROBERT MACE COMMUNITY IMPACT

growing suburbs was tracked for the UH study from 2016-21. The results show areas in north Spring— especially near I-45 and the Grand Parkway—saw “rapid, signicant subsidence.” According to Khan, any area with more than 2 centimeters of displacement from 2016-20 received this designation. The UH report also found that the Spring area and northern and northwestern Harris County are experiencing “substantial negative displacement” due to population

imply subsidence may be responsible for fault movement in the Greater Houston area based on analysis of land displacement. Over time, subsidence can cause damage to property, pipes and roads, Khan said. To prevent subsidence from worsening, regional organizations are working to decrease groundwater use. Eorts include a $1.4 billion expansion of the North Harris County Regional Water Authority’s Northeast Water Purication Plant in Humble.

This plant treats Lake Houston water and turns it into drinking water for parts of Harris County and surrounding areas, including Spring. Upon completion in 2024, he said the plant will increase treated water capacity from 80 million gallons per day to 400 million gallons per day. NHCRWA leaders were not available for comment as of press time on March 8. Subsidence in Spring Land deformation in Houston’s

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