The Woodlands Edition | September 2019

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ENVIRONMENT

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WATERSHED

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Spring Creek

Spring Creek P R O J E C T S Various entities in Harris and Montgom- ery counties are coordinating to reduce flooding in the Spring Creek watershed. Senate Bill 7 helps with future projects and investigations. Harris County flood bonds cover more immediate studies.

San Jacinto River Willow Creek

SENATE BILL 7: establishes a project fund with $1.6 billion from state Rainy Day Fund

LAKE WOODLANDS

allows state to acquire federal matching funds

TIMARRON

is administered by Texas Water Development Board

Floodmitigation projects may include:

Widen Bear Branch Creek floodway

Developing retention areas and right of way acquisition in Spring Creek watershed

249

99 TOLL

Spring Creek reservoir feasibility study

SOURCES:MUNICIPALUTILITYDISTRICTNO.386,HARRISCOUNTYFLOODCONTROLDISTRICT,THEWOODLANDSDRAINAGETASKFORCE/COMMUNITY IMPACTNEWSPAPER

Bill signed into law in June is first of its kind in state history BY ANDREWCHRISTMAN Senate Bill 7 anticipated to benefit The Woodlands flood prevention efforts

reservoir and detention areas within the watershed to reduce ooding in The Woodlands as well as down- stream to where Spring Creek and the San Jacinto River meet. Rieser said the task force would lend support to areas outside of The Woodlands if it meant those areas would be able to receive state funding that has been made available through SB . “For example, Greeneld Forest [is] adjacent to The Woodlands and has a failing retention pond that’s creat- ing some ooding issues,” he said. “I would support [the use of] state money to get that xed.” Work on SB began shortly aer Hurricane Harvey. Creighton said the severity of the storm made him push to get the bill passed. “We had seen plenty of hurricanes before, but nothing to the scale of Harvey,” Creighton said. “It was important for me to make sure I was doing the best I could with what I had seen and heard during a year and a half. We weren’t in session. … We were learning what obstacles we faced.”

Robert Lazaro said alongside possible SB funding, Harris County voters approved a . billion bond in August for ood prevention eorts. In the Spring Creek area, million of the bond will be used to cover seven watershed projects, including subdi- vision drainage improvements, land acquisition, home buyouts and inves- tigations for future projects. “That’s the perfect stage for future dollars to come in,” Lazaro said. “With the bonds identifying where the prob- lem areas are … those will identify specic projects where legislative funding can come into the county.” Local entities are also getting involved. The Drainage Task Force is working on nalizing plans for a , detention feasibility study, and Rieser said the task force would also like to propose widening the Bear Branch Creek oodway and upsizing the culverts in the Grogan’s Mill area. Howard Cohen, attorney for Har- ris-Montgomery Counties Municipal Utility District , said the district is coordinating with HCFCD and four other MUDs to evaluate and develop

for a full-blown Spring Creek study, plus anything else in the area that has the potential of improving the drain- age,” Rieser said. Creighton said state legislators set aside . billion from the state Rainy Day Fund to establish project funds, but million in state funds can bring more than billion of autho- rized federal matching funds. While Rieser said The Woodlands was not signicantly aected as a whole during those storms, the area around Timarron Lakes in south Montgomery County is still struggling due to the extent of ooding aer Hur- ricane Harvey. Information from the Harris County Flood Control District states ooding in that area was caused by - inches of rainfall in the Spring Creek watershed. HCFCD Communications Ocer

Aer more than homes in The Woodlands area were aected by Tax Day oods and Hurricane Harvey in and , respectively, measures at state and local levels such as the recently passed Senate Bill could reduce the eect of another future storm on the Spring Creek watershed. Authored by state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-The Woodlands, and signed into law this year, SB is meant to aid local entities in receiving federal funding the state of Texas has already been approved to receive. According to Bruce Rieser, The Woodlands Drainage Task Force chairman and a member of the township board of directors, funding made available through the bill will benet The Woodlands and the surrounding area. “We would be making applications

The JohnCooper School C oope r

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The Woodlands edition • September 2019