February 2022: The city announces its plan to add roughly 1,000 feet of oodgates to the existing dam structure would need to be scaled back due to budgetary constraints.
December 2020: The city of Houston announces the Lake Houston Spillway Dam Improvement Project will be delayed at least one year due to environmental impact studies.
between $70 million-$150 million. Costello said the estimated timeline for the project remains unclear due to the funding uncertainty, but the next step will be hiring an engineering rm to create a nal design for the project, which could take up to 18 months once a rm is under contract. Once construction begins, he estimated the project would take about three years. Additional e orts Despite continued delays to the dam improvement project, Costello said the city has made progress to remove sediment buildup—also known as dredging— in Lake Houston and the west and east forks of the San Jacinto River resulting from Harvey. Since Harvey, the city has spent roughly $226 million funded through state and federal grants to remove roughly 4 million cubic yards of sediment from the lake and the waterways feeding into it. Cunningham noted he requested $50 million in the state’s budget for future dredging operations. Additionally, Costello said the city is working with the San Jacinto River Authority and the HCFCD on a pair of pilot projects aimed at capturing sediment as it ows into the lake to decrease the need for future dredging operations. At the county level, Harris County commissioners in 2020 approved the creation of the Community Flood Resilience Task Force, a 17-member task force aimed at assisting the county in its long-term ood mitigation eorts. Rehak, who was appointed to represent Harris County Precinct 3 on the task force, created ReduceFlooding.com in 2018 to publish his ndings and aerial photographs of Lake Houston and the San Jacinto River. While Rehak cited a historical unwillingness to fund meaningful ood mitigation eorts as a large contributing factor to major ooding events, he said he hopes the city can move forward with the dam project quickly. “When they started the project, FEMA gave them three years,” Rehak said. “That was ve years ago. Obviously, they got an extension, but at what point does FEMA say, ‘OK, this is taking too long. We’ve got to take the money back’?”
2000
2010
2020
August 2019: The Federal Emergency Management Agency approves a $47.1 million grant to add additional gates to the existing dam structure.
December 2022: The city moves forward with a new design to add 11 gates outside the existing dam structure after learning the old design is untenable.
SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT COMMUNITY IMPACT
COURTESY CITY OF HUMBLE
$2.5 billion bond approved by voters in 2018. He noted an additional $7.5 million in federal funds has been earmarked for the project by the U.S. Congress. Martin said the city is asking the state for an additional $150 million for the project, noting he is condent o cials will be able to divert some of the state’s record $32.7 billion budget surplus toward the project during this year’s state legislative session. “We’re talking to the right people,” Martin said. “It really depends on how the state is going to handle all these excess funds they have.”
On March 5, Rep. Charles Cunningham, R¦Humble, submitted a budget request for an additional $150 million for the dam improvement project. “My constituents remember all too well the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, and we must work to prevent such occurrences from ever happening again,” Cunningham said, noting the funding will be essential in achieving that goal. If the city cannot secure additional funding from the state, Costello said the current 11-gate design could be scaled down to ve gates, which would cost
SEIZING SEDIMENT
Completed dredging Current and future dredging
The city of Houston has spent roughly $226 million in federal, state and local grants on dredging operations to remove around 4 million cubic yards of sediment that had built up in Lake Houston and the west and east forks of the San Jacinto River. Dredging consists of the clearing out of the bed of a lake, river or other area of water by scooping out sand, sediment and debris with a dredge.
W. LAKE HOUSTON PKWY.
1960
LAKE HOUSTON
Sign up for email newsletters at communityimpact.com for daily local updates.
SOURCES: HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT, CITY OF HOUSTONCOMMUNITY IMPACT
N
One Application. Multiple Lenders. There’s A Way with A & K!
akmortgage.net
ktbradleycpa.com
You Earned It. We’ll Help You Keep it!
Kristen T. Bradley CPA, MBA, MLO
Call Today NMLS# 1958373 NMLS# 1739090
25404 Hwy. 59, Ste 204 Porter, TX 77365 | (833) 425-6678 Dedicated to the success of our clients!
19
LAKE HOUSTON HUMBLE KINGWOOD EDITION • MARCH 2023
Powered by FlippingBook