impacted areas The populated areas around the Barker and Addicks reservoirs rank as “very-high” risk of ooding, per the Army Corps of Engineers assessments and as demonstrated by the nearly 8,000 homes which ooded during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
inches of water during Harvey. If all eligible homeowners impacted by ooding apply for and receive the average award from the October judgement, the government could be liable for over $1 billion in damages. “When those dams were con- structed, they were constructed out of dirt. Reinforced dirt, but just simply dirt,” Dach said. Preliminary research for the Bu alo Bayou and Tributaries Resil- iency Study released in 2020 found that high water events and a need to release more water from the Addicks and Barker dams “pose unacceptable risks to life safety, private property The Corps and the HCFCD have implemented several projects in the Addicks and Barker reservoir water- sheds, including the Corps’ $84 million project to replace the open outlet struc- tures with adjacent gated dams. The purpose of the dam project, which started in 2015 and nished in 2020, was to reduce the risk of dam fail- ure, Mackintosh said. He con rmed the new gate’s intention is not to reduce ooding outcomes in a Harvey event. “What they’ve done is they’ve taken and public infrastructure.” Flood mitigation projects What is a flowage easement? The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the right to lawfully ood privately owned land to properly operate the Addicks and Barker dams. An easement also limits the construction or maintenance of any private property within its boundaries. In the litigation, this easement is acknowledged as nonstandard or atypical , because landowners of the burdened properties upstream of the reservoir also retain the right to live on their property and maintain the property’s existing structures. 45
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access to ood properties within the reservoirs up to the pool elevation met during Harvey, per the litigation docket. Residents cannot sue if ooding occurs again, though the Corps’ pol- icies for operating the dams remain unchanged, said Bear Creek Village resident Bill Cook, whose home sus- tained 12 inches of water in the storm. “An easement that’s based upon reservoir elevation is very di cult for individual property owners to deter- mine whether or not it covers them,” Cook said. “Most people do not know the elevation of their property, and so they may not even be aware that there’s a measurement or that it’s signi cant.” The Corps appealed this decision in December, and a nal ruling is not expected to come until 2024. The U.S. Department of Justice, which represents the Corps and other gov- ernment entities in court, declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation. Meanwhile, the Corps and the HCFCD announced a new path for- ward for the Bu alo Bayou and Trib- utaries Resiliency study Feb. 17. The $11.2 million study aims to nd solu- tions that better mitigate ood risks to properties within Bu alo Bayou and the Addicks and Barker reservoirs. Continued litigation To protect downtown Houston during Hurricane Harvey, the Corps had to store water within the Barker and Addicks watersheds. The Corps released water from the reservoirs to avoid an uncontrolled release over the dams, which caused homes both upstream and down- stream to be inundated by the over- ow, according to the HCFCD analysis. A class action lawsuit, which was divided into homeowners upstream and downstream of the reservoirs, was
45
Flooded during Harvey Reservoirs
290
Addicks Reservoir
8
610
10
6
Barker Reservoir
69
N
SOURCES: ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U.S. COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS COMMUNITY IMPACT
Historical risks The original intention of the Addicks and Barker reservoirs—which are owned by the federal government and operated by the Corps—was to reduce the risk of downstream ooding in the Houston area and the Houston Ship Channel, said David Mackintosh, chief of the Corps’ Houston Project O ce. This mission has not changed, he said. The reservoirs provide approxi- mately 26,000 acres of ood storage to help reduce ooding downstream. When the Addicks and Barker res- ervoirs were constructed in the 1940s, the area west of Houston was sparsely populated. However, the areas are now heavily urbanized with a population of 440,000 within its drainage area, according to initial analysis from the resiliency study. Mike Dach, a homeowner with two rental properties on the perimeter of Barker Reservoir, has applied for compensation in the ongoing lawsuit. Each of his properties received 18-24
led against the Corps, Community Impact previously reported. The October ruling determined the Corps may ood these areas. Local advocates and residents said they worry what protections they have if a similar event occurs. Cook, who purchased his home in 1979, said he was told his neighbor- hood’s proximity to the reservoir at Hwy. 6 and Clay Road added to the marketability of his home. “Because it would collect any ood water [and] rainwater, it had a park [and] recreational, open green space,” Cook said. “So it was presented to us as a bene t rather than a possible detriment.” To Cook, the concept of a owage easement is signi cant in determining future risks to property and people who live near the reservoirs. “The people who are purchasing those homes have no familiarity at all with what any of this means or even if it’s going on,” he said.
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