ENVIRONMENT
Task force sets sights on Cypress Creek drainage district
ONE STEP AT A TIME The Cypress Creek Flooding Task Force hopes to get help from legislators to create a drainage district for the Cypress Creek watershed between Hwy. 290 in Cypress and the Hardy Toll Road in Spring.
BY EMILY LINCKE
Wilkerson estimated the tax rate would be about $0.10 per $100 valuation. The new drainage district would span from Hwy. 290 in Cypress to the Hardy Toll Road in Spring, covering most of the Cypress Creek ood plain, Task Force Project Chair Calvin Cobb said. “This is the area mainly aected by Hurricane Harvey, the Tax Day Flood and the Memorial Day Flood,” reads a May 31 news release. “The Task Force will be concentrating on the communities in this area to garner advocates for the plan.” Task force ocials are set to present their plan at a community meeting in late August. Previously, the Cypress Creek Flooding Task Force was focused on gaining support from local municipal utility districts to help fund the con- struction of two stormwater detention basins in the Cypress Creek ood plain. However, Cobb said in recent months, members decided to switch their focus to the creation of a drainage district. As the Cypress Creek watershed is largely unin- corporated, Cobb said the creation of a drainage district would give the ood-prone community a voice in advocating for ood control. “The district would allow us to take control of our own destiny without waiting for the county,” Wilkerson said.
A Spring-area community task force hopes to ght ooding in the Cypress Creek watershed by creating a new drainage district for the area. The Cypress Creek Flooding Task Force has been working with local elected ocials—including Har- ris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey and state Rep. Sam Harless, R Spring—to create a Cypress Creek Drainage District. Task Force Presi- dent Glenn Wilkerson said he hopes the district will be submitted as legislation in the upcoming 88th Texas Legislature, which will begin Jan. 10. If passed, Wilkerson said the new drainage dis- trict would need to be approved by voters as it will levy a tax on property owners within the district’s boundaries. Task force leaders hope the drainage district will be on the ballot in November 2023. Should the drainage district be created, taxes col- lected by the entity could be used to help fund the 22 stormwater detention basins recommended for the Cypress Creek watershed in the Cypress Creek Program Implementation Plan released earlier this year. In total, the 22 basins are estimated to cost $597.1 million and would hold about 4.17 billion gallons of additional stormwater. “This could have a tremendous impact on [the] quality of life in our community,” Wilkerson said.
Cypress Creek watershed
99 TOLL
45
249
1960
290
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JANUARY 2022: The Cypress Creek Program Implementation Plan recommends the addition of 22 stormwater detention basins in the watershed. MARCH 2022: The Cypress Creek Flooding Task Force unveils its plan to target two plots of land along Cypress Creek to build stormwater detention basins. JUNE 2022: The task force announces it will be changing tactics for preventing ooding along Cypress Creek to creating a drainage district. JANUARY 2023: The Texas legislature’s next session begins. NOVEMBER 2023: The Cypress Creek area’s new drainage district could be on the ballot for voters as soon as this time. SOURCES: CYPRESS CREEK FLOODING TASK FORCE, HARRIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT, LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE LIBRARY OF TEXASCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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