ENVIRONMENT Lake Houston dam project secures $50M for nal design, construction
BY HANNAH BROL
government along with $30 million in local funds U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw also secured an $8 million earmark and $38 million in additional money for dredging in the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston. Local leaders were looking to the 88th Texas Legislature to fund the nal design and construction of the new gates. What happened: Per the release, the state has agreed to two funding requests that were made to the 88th Texas Legislature for the Lake Houston Spillway Dam Improvement Project, sediment capture projects, and both structural and nonstructural improvements for the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston. These requests were included in a rider to the 88th Texas Legislature’s appropriations bill and allocated
“THE LAKE HOUSTON AREA IS BLESSED WITH MANY ENGAGED RESIDENTS AND TOGETHER, THE ‘FIX’ FOR THE LAKE HOUSTON GATES IS FINALLY ON THE HORIZON.” DAVE MARTIN, HOUSTON CITY COUNCIL MAYOR PRO TEM
Six years after Hurricane Harvey, the long-awaited Lake Houston Spillway Dam Improvement Project will be able to proceed to nal design and construction after receiving $50 million in state funding, Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin announced in a May 25 news release. The backstory: Since 2017, the city of Houston, Harris County, and state and federal ocials have been working to address the shortcomings of the Lake Houston spillway dam that were highlighted during Harvey. These eorts include a roughly $200 million design for improvements to the dam that would add 11 gates to the existing four-gate structure, which was built in 1953. The breakdown: According to Martin, the city of Houston has: • Spent nearly $4.375 million on design for the project • Secured $48 million from the federal
appropriations made to the Water Development Board in the 2022-23 biennium to be used for: • Removing accumulated siltation and sediment deposits in the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston • Sediment capture pilot projects upstream of Lake Houston • Structural and nonstructural improvements for the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston According to Martin, the $50 million allotment will be used in the nal design and construction of 11 new
ood gates, which will be added on the east embankment of the Lake Houston spillway dam. A construction timeline had not been announced as of press time. Going forward: The District E oce will host a community meeting in Kingwood to present the design concept and details related to the dam improvement project and future dredging and sediment capture. A meeting date had not been announced as of press time.
$50 million for structural improvements to the Lake
Houston Dam Spillway as well as any unexpected balances from
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LAKE HOUSTON HUMBLE KINGWOOD EDITION • JULY 2023
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