Environment
BY HANNAH BROL
During an Oct. 25 town hall, o cials with the Cypress Creek Drainage Improvement District said they hope to have a comprehensive ood mitigation and funding plan created in 2024 or 2025. In June, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 5334, which created a special- purpose district to address ooding in the Cypress Creek watershed. The district: • Is governed by a temporary board of ive directors and will require an election to select ive permanent directors prior to Sept. 1, 2027 • Does not have the powers of eminent domain, to impose a tax or issue bonds under current law New district to create master drainage plan
Next steps
Current situation
Following the conclusion of the town halls, CCDID o cials said their next steps would be to host a series of public workshops to gather input from local stakeholders with the hopes of creating a comprehensive ood mitigation and funding plan in 2024 or 2025. The district then plans to hold its election for a permanent board of directors no later than May 2027. District milestones June 2023: Gov. Greg Abbott signs House Bill 5334 into law, creating the CCDID. October 2023: CCDID hosts three town halls. Late 2023-early 2024: CCDID hosts public workshops throughout the watershed 2024-25: CCDID completes its comprehensive ood mitigation and funding plan May 2027: CCDID voters elect a permanent board of directors, conrming the creation of the district.
After establishing a temporary board of directors last summer, district o cials said they are completing the rst of three phases toward their goal of creating a comprehensive ood mitigation and funding plan for the Cypress Creek watershed. The plan includes: • Phase 1: Review prior studies and identify potential projects • Phase 2: Evaluate potential projects for ood benets and cost • Phase 3: Prepare nal report with master drainage plan The district held three town halls in October to provide an overview of previous watershed studies and ongoing ood mitigation projects. According to district o cials, the Cypress Creek watershed has been the subject of at least 15 studies dating back to the 1980s. “We’ve had so many plans and what good is all this planning if the plans are not actually implemented?” CCDID Secretary/Treasurer Clara Lewis said. “Our vision is to tackle these challenges more eectively through a unied voice for the Cypress Creek watershed.” Additionally, while Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey noted there are roughly $150 mil- lion in ood mitigation projects planned and funded to be completed in the Cypress Creek watershed over the next three years, district o cials said that only scratches the surface of the watershed’s complex ooding issues. “Our watershed has not had su cient funds to alleviate ooding and that’s one of our chores—to be there as that squeaky wheel to try to get funding for you,” CCDID board member Barbara Schlattman said.
SOURCE: CYPRESS CREEK DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY IMPACT
District boundaries More than 500,000 people reside within the CCDID’s boundaries—a vast portion of unincorporated northwest Harris County.
Get involved
CCDID ocials encourage Cypress Creek watershed residents to attend the upcoming workshops and to help advocate for funding at the local, state and federal level. To provide input or submit questions to the district, email cypresscreekdid@gmail.com or visit www.cypresscreekdid.org.
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SOURCE: CYPRESS CREEK DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY IMPACT
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CY FAIR EDITION
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