ENVIRONMENT Cypress Creek Drainage Improvement District OK’d by Texas Legislature
STARTING FROM SCRATCH The temporary board of directors plans to meet with community members about ood mitigation eorts and will be in charge of holding an election before Sept. 1, 2027 to conrm the creation of the district and elect a permanent board of directors.
BY EMILY LINCKE
The speci cs: According to HB 5334, the drainage improvement district will cover the area of the Cypress Creek watershed, except for areas falling within the cities of Waller and Prairie View. The district will: • work on developing a master plan • acquire funding for ood mitigation projects Those named to the proposed district’s temporary board of directors are also members of the Cypress Creek Flooding Task Force, and include Joe Myers, Mark Adam, Barbara Schlatt- man, Calvin Cobb and Clara Lewis. “For the rst time, we have an entity to represent the residents in the Cypress Creek watershed,” Cobb said. “To me, that’s the accomplishment.” How we got here: The watershed— which largely covers unincorporated communities, such as Spring, Klein and Cypress—has a history of ooding. During Hurricane Harvey in
A bill proposing the creation of the Cypress Creek Drainage Improvement District has been approved by the Texas Legislature and was sent to Gov. Greg Abbott on May 30. The background: State Rep. Sam Harless, RSpring, led House Bill 5334 on March 30. The bill creates a temporary board, and requires an election to select permanent board directors and conrm the district’s creation prior to Sept. 1, 2027. “Responding to an interest in creating a voice for the community in ood mitigation projects along the Cypress Creek watershed, we led HB 5334 after working for months to craft language that ensured community- level input and the opportunity to seek out other funding, without increasing the tax burden felt by our seniors and property owners,” Harless said in a May 26 news release.
From left, the district’s temporary board of directors includes Joe Myers, Clara Lewis, Barbara Schlattman, Calvin Cobb and Mark Adam (not pictured).
EMILY LINCKECOMMUNITY IMPACT
2017, 9,450 homes ooded within the watershed, according to the Harris County Flood Control District. The Cypress Creek Flooding Task Force initially proposed the creation of a drainage improvement district in May 2022 to help mitigate area ooding. What’s next?: As of June 1, the temporary board of directors said they do not yet have a timeline for when the election will be held to select ve permanent directors and conrm the creation of the district.
• To hold an election for a permanent board, the temporary directors must rst get the approval of the city of Houston. • The temporary board members also said they plan on holding community meetings in the near future for public input on the district and ood mitigation eorts. O¢cials noted, the district would not have the powers of eminent domain, to impose a tax or to issue bonds without getting voter approval during an election.
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SPRING KLEIN EDITION • JUNE 2023
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