ENVIRONMENT Flood Control District pushes forward with Cypress Creek flood mitigation eorts
BY DANICA LLOYD
design process. St. Romain noted HCFCD has obtained $8.25 million in federal funding for this project. Property acquisition is underway for Spring’s Mercer stormwater detention basin, and construction is slated to begin later this summer. St. Romain said this project has received $15.4 million in grant funding through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program. In terms of upcoming projects, St. Romain said Harris County owns prop- erty in Spring for the Senger stormwa- ter detention basin and is exploring a partnership with Harris County Water Control and Improvement District No. 110. The $55.2 million project would reduce ooding risk for 98 structures. Major maintenance As part of the Cypress Creek major maintenance project, more than 81,000 cubic yards of sediment has been removed from 20 miles of
STORING STORMWATER
Several stormwater detention basins are under construction or proposed for the Cypress Creek watershed in the Spring and Klein area.
Several ood mitigation projects are underway in the Cypress Creek watershed, according to an April 19 presentation by Jonathan St. Romain, who manages the Capital Projects South Department of the Harris County Flood Control District. Since November 2021, St. Romain said 98,000 cubic yards of soil has been removed for a basin on the west side of T.C. Jester Boulevard in Spring. On the east side, the project is in the nal design stage, and con- struction on two basins is expected to begin late this year. About $9.9 mil- lion in grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is available for this project, and HCFCD continues to seek funding for a fourth basin—$17.87 million of which is included in the 88th Texas Legisla- ture’s House Bill 1. Meanwhile, construction on the Westador stormwater detention basin in Spring will likely begin in early 2024 following a yearlong
2 Water is stored: Stormwater detention basins temporarily store the excess stormwater until it can make its way safely back into the channel.
1 Water overows: When a channel overows, excess storm- water ows into the detention basin via a weir structure, which relies on gravity to operate.
Channel
Detention basin
channel, and more than 150,000 tons of rock has been placed for erosion repairs. St. Romain said the rst two sets of projects were completed in late 2022, while the third is under construction and set to wrap up 3 Water recedes: As the water levels in the channel recede, gravity allows the stormwater from the basin to ow through the outfall pipe back into the channel and then ultimately to Galveston Bay.
SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICTCOMMUNITY IMPACT
by summer 2024. The fourth set of projects will move forward with con- struction bids this summer. Project funding is partially covered by the 2018 bond program, and another $7.06 million is included in HB 1.
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SPRING KLEIN EDITION • MAY 2023
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