ENVIRONMENT Scope of LakeHouston dam improvement project scaled back
Seizing SEDIMENT
The $222 million dredging project has removed 2.7 million cubic yards of sediment from the San Jacinto River since September 2018, and ocials estimate the project will remove at least 1 million more cubic yards of sediment.
East Fork of the San Jacinto River
Completed projects Planned projects
BY WESLEY GARDNER
at a rate of 10,000 cubic feet per second. Martin said the initial plan to add roughly 1,000 feet of modern oodgates to the existing structure would have quadrupled the amount of water Lake Houston could release. Stephen Costello, chief recovery ocer for the city of Houston, said the newly proposed design would instead add 500 feet of gates to the spillway, although he noted the nal design of the project will not be submitted until September. Costello said ocials anticipate the Federal Emergency Management Agency will approve the project by Jan. 1, 2023, with construction beginning in either late spring or early summer and taking 18 months to complete. The dam spillway improvement project is being funded through a FEMA hazard mitigation grant, the city of Houston and the Harris County Flood Control District,
West Fork of the San Jacinto River
The Lake Houston dam spillway improvement project will be scaled back in scope after ocials deter- mined the estimated cost of the project exceeded its approximately $48 million budget, city of Houston ocials said Jan. 20. The city has been working to add gates to the Lake Houston dam since Hurricane Harvey hit in August 2017. According to Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin, the shortcomings of the Lake Houston dam were highlighted during Harvey as it was overwhelmed with water being discharged at a rate of 425,000 cubic feet per second. “It’s a structure that was never really meant to do what we want it to do, so with that comes some chal- lenges,” Martin said. Built in 1953, the dam consists of a spillway structure with four small gates, which can release water
Mouth bar
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LAKE HOUSTON
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Lake Houston
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Lake Houston dam
Roger's Gully
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SOURCE: CITY OF HOUSTONCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
though ocials did not specify the cost of the new proposal. Additionally, Martin provided updates on roughly $222 million worth of dredging projects aimed at clearing out sediment and debris in the San Jacinto River and Lake Hous- ton. The projects are being funded through FEMA, grant dollars from the Texas Water Development Board, the
city of Houston and Harris County. Since 2018, 2.7 million cubic yards of debris have been removed from the West Fork of the San Jacinto River as well as the mouth bar—a gathering of sediment at the conuence of the West Fork and Lake Houston. Martin said the next project would focus on the river’s East Fork followed by Roger’s Gulley and Lake Houston.
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LAKE HOUSTON HUMBLE KINGWOOD EDITION • FEBRUARY 2022
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