DRAINAGE DEVELOPMENTS The city of League City will break ground this year on seven projects from Proposition A of its 2019 bond. The $73 million bond will fund a total of 21 drainage projects in the city.
WatershedStudy. The study,whichwas released in March 2021, proposed more than $1.6 billion in regional drainage solutions, including detention ponds and an underground ood tunnel. The city is seeking funding for Phase 2 of the study, which would determine a cost/bene t analysis for the projects, Baumgartner said. To fund the phase, League City applied in August for the Water Resources Development Act grant through the Army Corps, city sta said. The $1.5 million WRDA grant is part of a bill requiring congressional approval, which Baumgartner said city o cials hope to hear about this spring. If approved, the city could receive funding this fall to beginPhase 2, which could take up to two years to complete, city sta said. The results would help guide stakeholders toward projects to implement rst, but it would not pro- vide funding. “We’re optimistic we’re going to nd a path forward that we can a ord as a region and that will provide last- ing bene t within the watersheds,” Aside from ood mitigation projects targeting Clear Creek, League City will begin construction on seven drainage projects from its 2019 bond to improve drainage in neighborhoods. The neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dove Meadows, Countryside, Rustic Oaks, Oaks of Clear Creek, Brittany Bay and Bay Colony will see much of the construction this year, city o cials said. Projects vary from adding deten- tion ponds and improving storm sew- ers to adding out ow areas to internal drainage channels. Baumgartner said these neighbor- hoods were prioritized by the bond because they ooded during Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. Bay Ridge residentMarika Fuller said the neighborhood’s streets often ood during heavy rain, but the detention pond backed up during Harvey, ood- ing about 90% of the community’s more than 400 homes. Baumgartner said. Local bond plans While work on Phase 3—the rst por- tion—of the Bay Ridge project started in March 2021, construction is set to begin in late summer and June on phases 1 and 2, respectively, Director of Engi- neering Chris Sims said. Phase 1 includes raising Bay Ridge Drive to act as a levee for the com- munity and push water into nearby ditches; Phase 2 will expand the deten- tion pond’s capacity and build a pump station, Sims said.
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“All of these projects really came out of the necessity that the frequency of these storms is ramping up and we need to better protect our coastline,” Braden said. Meanwhile, seven drainage and detention projects in League City will break ground in 2022. The projects are part of League City’s 2019 bond program, which included 21 ood pro- tection and drainage improvement projects, which were brought forth under the $73 million Proposition A. “The drainage projects are neigh- borhood speci c; they’re construc- tion intensive,” City Manager John Baumgartner said. “Since they’re so widespread, they bene t the neighbor- hoods one by one.” City sta is also focusing on advanc- ing watershed studies related to Hurri- In September, the Army Corps released a $29 billion proposal outlin- ing projects that aim to reduce dam- age if a storm such as Hurricane Ike were to hit the Texas coast again. The Army Corps then sent the pro- posal to Congresswith the goal for Con- gress to approve the project and cover 65% of the project cost. If approved, the design process could begin as early as the fall with funding becoming avail- able in 2023. If the Army Corps receives federal funds, it would still need a 35% local match from a nonfederal spon- sor—in this case, the GCPD. The GCPDwas created to function as a nonfederal sponsor to help fund the Coastal Texas Study, according to Fran- cisco Hamm, deputy chief of public a airs for the Army Corps. The GCPD approved a letter of intent in mid-2021 in collaboration with the Army Corps for the Coastal Texas Study. To help fund its 35% match, the district plans to use state funding or resilience bonds, in which companies reimburse the cost, instead of propos- ing a tax rate on the district’s residents. The GCPD can pay as the project moves forward or repay it over 30 years after the project nishes, GCPD Executive Director Nicole Sunstrum said. cane Harvey in 2022, sta said. Regional mitigation projects The Coastal Texas Study projects could take between 15 to 20 years to complete and would serve as a tem- plate for future projects across the country, according to Braden. Meanwhile, League City partnered with multiple cities and agencies in late 2019 to fund the $1.5 million Lower Clear Creek and Dickinson Bayou
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Fuller said Bay Ridge’s drainage has improved as Phase 3 moves forward. Phase 3, which will nish in late sum- mer, includes increasing the capacity of drainage channels and storm sewers in the neighborhood. “The water drains faster out of the streets. … It takes more rain to get the streets to ood,” she said. “We can see that it’s a di erence, that things are changing for the better.” Designs on Phase 4, which will include widening Gum Bayou, are 4 Bay Ridge (Phases 1 & 2) Raise Bay Ridge Drive to act as a levee for the community in Phase 2 and expand the detention pond’s capacity and build a pump station in Phase 2 Timeline: June 2022-spring 2023 Cost: $7.7 million DETENTION BASINS 1 Bay Colony Widen existing basins and drainage channels to add storage capacity Timeline: late spring 2022-spring 2023 Cost: $2.8 million 2 Dove Meadows Construct a 115 acre-foot detention pond east of Blue Wing Drive and west of Borden’s Gully Timeline: late fall 2022-late 2023 Cost: $5.8 million 3 Oaks of Clear Creek Construct detention ponds on the southeastern side of the subdivision and along Bradshaw Ditch; work on the northern detention pond set to begin 2024 and end 2025. Timeline: summer 2022-spring 2023 Cost: $4.25 million
DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS 5 Countryside
Enhance capacity and e ciency of existing drainage easements for unrestricted ow paths to Magnolia Creek Timeline: summer 2022-late fall 2022 Cost: $350,000 6 Rustic Oaks Enhance capacity and e ciency of existing drainage easements for unrestricted ow paths to Magnolia Creek and Cedar Gully Timeline: late 2022-summer 2023 Cost: $400,000 7 Brittany Bay Increase capacity and e ciency of existing drainage easements for unrestricted ow paths to Landing Ditch Timeline: late 2022-spring 2023 Cost: $500,000 NOTE: ALL CONSTRUCTION TIMES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE TO WEATHER, PERMITTING, RIGHT OF WAY ACQUISITION, UTILITY RELOCATION AND GRANT FUNDING.
SOURCE: CITY OF LEAGUE CITY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
ongoing. Resident Dave Bowman, who has lived in Bay Ridge for more than 40 years, said he believes the Gum Bayou project will work together with the other phases to provide signi cant relief to the neighborhood. “[The work has] actually been extremely helpful, so far, but it’s only a piece of the picture,” he said.
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
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BAY AREA EDITION • FEBRUARY 2022
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