Lake Houston - Humble - Kingwood Edition | February 2023

ENVIRONMENT New $200M Lake Houston dam project design needs additional funding feet per second. In January 2022, Houston ocials said a previous design for the dam improvement project BY WESLEY GARDNER

ENVIRONMENT

Flood Control District recommends $28.2M drainage project for Taylor Gully

BY WESLEY GARDNER

Forest subdivisions,” HCFCD’s Engineering Division Manager Melissa Meyer said. According to Meyer, the recommended improvements would include a concrete-lined, low-•ow channel within the existing channel to expand conveyance from 350 feet downstream of Creek Manor Drive to 1,500 feet downstream of Mills Branch Drive. Additionally, the project would include an estimated 413-acre-foot detention basin on the northern portion of the site, which Meyer said would be necessary to complete the improvements to Taylor Gully. Meyer noted the project is estimated to remove approximately 116 acres—including 276 structures and 8 miles of roadways—from the 100-year •ood plain. HCFCD ocials noted once preliminary engineering is completed on the project, ocials will begin the process of acquiring the necessary right of way.

FLOWING DOWNSTREAM Lake Houston receives runo from rivers and streams in Walker, San Jacinto, Grimes, Montgomery, Waller, Liberty and Harris counties, which can quickly overwhelm the lake’s current dam structure, according to Houston ocials.

DIRECTING DRAINAGE Harris County Flood Control District’s recommended $28.2 million Taylor Gully drainage project includes 2 miles of improvements to the existing channel as well as the addition of a new 413-acre-foot detention basin.

A new design for the Lake Houston Spillway Dam Improvement Project has been determined to have a favorable benet-to-cost ratio, removing a barrier that had kept previous design options from moving forward, city of Houston ocials announced in a Dec. 7 news release. According to Houston Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin, the roughly $200 million new design would entail 11 gates being built into the existing embankment on the east side of the Lake Houston Spillway Dam. “Building the new gate structure in the east embankment removes the high-construction risk of modifying the existing gate structure, allows continued use of the existing gate structure during construction and eliminates the need for a coˆerdam in the lake,” Martin said in a statement. As of Feb. 3, ocials said the city is still awaiting approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the new design. Ocials said the city has been working to add gates to the Lake Houston dam since Hurricane Harvey hit in August 2017, noting the dam was overwhelmed with water being discharged at a rate of 425,000 cubic feet per second. The dam’s current structure can release water at a rate of 10,000 cubic

Harris County Flood Control District ocials are recommending an approximately $28.2 million drainage project aimed at reducing •ooding around Taylor Gully—a channel in northeast Kingwood credited with exacerbating area •ooding twice in 2019. Ocials noted the project is being funded through the district’s $2.5 billion •ood bond, which was approved by Harris County voters one year after Hurricane Harvey in August 2018. HCFCD ocials outlined the aˆected area during a Dec. 14 public input meeting, noting the channel •ows from west to east, bordering Montgomery County to the northwest and running east toward Mills Branch and Caney Creek in Harris County. “This area is mostly developed and primarily comprised of single-family residences within the Elm Grove, Mills Branch and North Kingwood

that would have added 1,000 feet of modern •oodgates to the existing structure was put on hold because the projected cost signicantly exceeded the approximately $48 million FEMA grant awarded for the project. Ocials noted the previous design was given a benet-to-cost ratio of 0.48, well below the range of 0.75-1 needed to justify the project. The current design, however, received a benet-to-cost ratio of 2.88, ocials said. While the current design’s cost of roughly $200 million also exceeds the funds allocated in the FEMA grant, Martin said city ocials are working with state and federal legislators to secure the additional funding needed to move forward. He noted his oce was committed to ensuring the cost of the Lake Houston Spillway Dam Improvement Project is fully funded before he leaves oce in December. “The city of Houston [is] feeling very comfortable with this new [design], working with federal, state and local partners toward nalizing this integral project to fortify the Lake Houston area,” Martin said in a statement.

Existing channels

Caney Creek 1

Luce Bayou 5 San Jacinto River 6 Peach Creek 4

LAKE HOUSTON STATE PARK

Recommended channel improvements Recommended detention basin

Spring Creek 2

WHITE OAK CREEK

West Fork of San Jacinto River

3

MILLS BRANCH

2

3

5

4

1960

1

TAYLOR GULLY

6

W. LAKE HOUSTON PKWY.

N O R T H P A

Lake Houston Dam

BEN'S BRANCH

59

GREEN TREE DITCH

N

N

SOURCE: CITY OF HOUSTONCOMMUNITY IMPACT

SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICTCOMMUNITY IMPACT

PORTER 23611 HWY 59 (281) 354-0733 HUMBLE 19322 US-59 (281) 540-7202

KINGWOOD 1420 Kingwood Dr (281) 359-7115 ATASCOCITA 7034 FM 1960 E (281) 812-3100

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