Bay Oaks resident John Watson described receiving an email this week from the Harris County Flood Control District announcing the cancellation of a flood mitigation project that he and his neighbors had contested for years as a win-win.
“They (district officials) listened to our concerns. They did this third-party study that they didn’t have to do as far as I know,” Watson said. “They took the results and made a course correction after spending a lot of money. I’m completely grateful to them.”
Watson and others who live along Horsepen Bayou and the surrounding areas in Clear Lake took issue with the channel conveyance – bayou widening – project the district pursued due to the extent of construction amid the minimal benefits the work would bring.
Residents were opposed to the project in part due to what they referred to as the lack of transparency surrounding the actual construction plans, saying they were not told that the construction would reach up to their property lines and gut the trees and other vegetation in the way.
They also questioned the necessity of the work altogether as Exploration Green, another flood mitigation project by Clear Lake City Water Authority, was completed earlier this year in September. This project started in 2016 and is roughly two to three miles from Horsepen Bayou. It provides more than 1,500 acre-feet of storm water detention compared to the 68 acre-feet the work along the bayou would have.
Those with the district initially challenged the residents’ claims, arguing that the proposed project would reduce flood water by 1.4 to 4.6 inches and asserted that Exploration Green did not bring flood control to areas further upstream like the work on Horsepen would.
However, when the district did the first analysis on the bayou project, the data that displayed the full benefit of Exploration Green was not included as only Phases 1-3 of the five were complete. Once the district received the data from the latter stages, Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia requested a second analysis of the work proposed for Horsepen.
This study found that the previous benefit was “greatly reduced” as Exploration Green removed or decreased the risk of flooding for many of the homes along the bayou.
“With the inclusion of those last three phases it really didn’t make it prudent to spend taxpayers money in that way,” Jeremy Ratcliff, the Harris County Flood Control District coordinator for Precinct 2, said. “That was the center of making a pivot on this project.”
In a letter from the district to nearby residents, officials described it as a unique situation and a learning experience. They added that it was uncommon for a third party to develop such a project while the district’s work was ongoing.
In a written statement to the Houston Press, Commissioner Garcia said that despite the bayou project not progressing to construction, those with the district and precinct are investigating local area drainage projects to determine if or by how much they may contribute to local flood damage reduction in the area.
“The latest data will always impact our decisions of which projects to pursue,” Garcia said. “As the science and technology improves, it will continue to guide Harris County in how to improve the safety of the people we serve.”
Like most residents, Dan and Margo Timmins were thrilled about the cancellation. Dan, an avid canoe racer trains with his partner on Horsepen and nearby Armand Bayou, and Margo often spends her days playing with her grandson down on its banks.
They said they were devastated when they heard about the construction but pleasantly surprised when they received word that those involved decided not to proceed with the project further.
Although most of their neighbors share their sentiment, several remain wary of what comes next. Others wonder why it took so long for those involved in the project to re-evaluate the benefits it would bring as they addressed their concerns regarding the out-of-date data much earlier in the year.
“I am glad this project is over, but I’m disappointed,” Jennifer Kearns, a Bay Oaks resident, said. “It took this long to get here when I specifically brought this up to them (district and Harris County Precinct 2 officials) back in March, and they ignored me.”
Kearns added that she believes if it were not for the community speaking out to challenge the plans, the call for a second analysis of the bayou project would not have occurred.
“It’s a wonderful early Christmas present,” Carol Calhoun Michalik, Brook Forest resident, said. “We are pleased with this point and just hoping it stays now.”
According to Carol and her husband, Philip Michalik, they are questioning whether future construction along the bayou could be possible. Philip said he is keeping an eye on one of the previously proposed alternatives from preliminary conversations regarding the project, which included property acquisition of the houses along the bayou.
Officials with the district and Precinct 2 said it is unlikely that another flood mitigation project would be proposed in the same area as the second analysis’s findings determined that work on the three-mile stretch would not provide the adequate level of flood control needed.
“I think by canceling this, we’re showing that this area has no improvements,” Ratcliff said. “I don’t want to say definitely because you have to rely on engineering studies, and none of that has been done yet in this area. But I would feel confident that this particular portion of the bayou has probably been ruled out.”
The additional report also rendered several of the other flood mitigation alternatives proposed by residents that focused on storm water detention upstream as unviable. District officials maintained that basins near Ellington Airfield remained problematic due to what they refer to as the risk of bird strikes to airplanes, despite there already being an unmaintained retention area that was cleaned out after Hurricane Harvey nearby.
They added that excavation costs and associated property acquisition of the land between Highway 3 and I-45, another alternative, are outside the available budget. The district has roughly $11 million of the $12.5 million to redistribute from the Horsepen Bayou project to the next.
“I am concerned that they’re still not looking at alternatives that will not be destructive to any neighborhood and would provide the greatest amount of flood mitigation to the entire area,” Kearns said.
Watson echoed Kearns’s concerns as he said through his work looking at the bayou project that he thought the best alternative was any upstream detention option.
“If you look around the country, in-line detention has been banned in some municipalities because of unintended consequences – just like I was afraid of here,” Watson said. “You bring the water in without a way to get it out. I would be wary of anything like this.”
“If it’s effective flood mitigation, I’ll support it. It’s important in the Clear Lake area and Southeast Harris County,” he added. “Climate change is real. Our home was very close to flooding during Harvey. We’re blessed that the water didn’t come inside, and I’m just glad they (district and precinct officials) looked into this in total.”
Ratcliff said a possible replacement project could include a subdivision drain project or channel widening in another area. However, he confirmed that further study and analysis of the region is needed to determine the best option.
The Horsepen Bayou project will be brought forth at a future Harris County Commissioners Court meeting to approve the project’s cancellation officially.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
