The Woodlands Edition | May 2025

Government

BY JESSICA SHORTEN

$6.2M needed for Bear Branch dam

Next steps

The Woodlands Township and Woodlands Water Agency o cials both sent letters of support with the new $5 million federal funding request to the o ce of U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Kingwood. “There’s water intrusion underneath the facilities to also be rehabbed,” the township’s Intergovernmental Aairs Director Todd Stephens said on April 17. “So, they’re asking again for federal appropriations for Crenshaw to handle the additional cost associated with that spillway repair.” The matching $1.2 million in local funding for the project will be provided by Montgomery County municipal utility districts 7, 46, 47, 60, and 67; however, it will take several months to determine if the federal funding will be allocated to the project, Stephens said.

The San Jacinto River Authority has identi ed just over $6 million in new emergency repair needs at the Bear Branch Dam and spillway following a rehabilitation eort which began in 2024. Originally funded through a $3.6 million federal appropriation request and $1.4 million from local municipal utility districts, the projects aimed to repair the dam, Community Impact previously reported. “During the preliminary engineering study of the Bear Branch Dam Modi cation Project, it was determined that the dam’s emergency spillway was de cient in thickness to serve as secure detention and that water was accumulating under the spillway slab,” SJRA Communications Director Heather Ramsey said. “It was determined that an additional request for $5 million, accompanied by a $1.2 million local match, was necessary for Bear Branch Dam emergency spillway replacement and stabilization.”

Bear Branch Reservoir Bear Branch river system Bear Branch dam and spillway

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SOURCE: SAN JACINTO RIVER AUTHORITYCOMMUNITY IMPACT

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