Posted on January 17, 2025
The City of Houston’s latest West Fork Dredging Program appears to be off to a fast start. Dredging began about a month ago and has already filled up approximately 10 percent of the placement area. The program was originally estimated to last two years.
Before it’s all over, Callan Marine, the contractor, will dredge 876,672 cubic yards of West Fork sediment from 181 acres near the mouth of the West Fork in Lake Houston.
Pictures Taken 1/14/25
Yesterday morning, the Callan dredge was anchored off Atascocita Point. Just three weeks ago, it began across the river in Kingwood. The pictures below tell the story.
Callan will pump slurry to the placement area through that winding 18″ pipe in the photo above. It goes approximately four miles to an area near the Luce Bayou Interbasin Transfer Canal. See pictures below.
The Amazing Maze
There, Callan separates the water from sand and silt with an ingenious maze. The twists and turns in the maze slow the water down, so sediment drops out of suspension.
The 35-acre pond currently in use is surrounded by berms approximately 6-8 feet tall that contain the slurry. Callan has room at this same site to build another pond of approximately the same size. The two together will total 70 acres.
Bulldozers spread the sediment out in layers that allow excess water to drain out or evaporate. One dredging expert told me that when dry, the sediment will be hard enough to support foundations and homes.
Water that Doesn’t Evaporate Returns to the Lake
The pictures below track the movement of water within the placement area.
Comparison with December
To see how much progress Callan has made, compare the pictures above with the one below taken, just three weeks ago.
Beneficial Use
I wonder if that return channel will become a ready-made detention basin when the landowner develops the site. This is an ingenious example of “beneficial use” – turning a problem into a solution.
Up the Down Escalator
Nevertheless, there is a cost associated with dredging. Funding for the program comes from FEMA via U.S. Congressman Dan Crenshaw. The City will use money left over from previous West Fork Mouth Bar dredging. Crenshaw secured $125 million in federal funding to cover dredging, including phases already completed.
Some of the sediment shown above comes from natural erosion. Some also comes from upstream sand mining.
With 20 square miles of sand mines in a 20-mile reach of the West Fork between I-45 and US59, the average width of exposed sediment during floods is one mile.
Sometimes I compare flooding issues to trying to walk up a down escalator.
In this case, we’ve failed to establish an effective regulatory regime based on a comprehensive set of best management practices for sand mines. And the public is paying the price in terms of increased flood risk and mitigation costs.
If you haven’t already written the TCEQ to register your concerns about their proposed (but inadequate) best management practices for sand mining, please do so. The public comment period ends on January 24. This post contains more about the problems with the TCEQ’s proposed BMPs. Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining has even bigger concerns which I posted about yesterday.
Please mail your concerns to Jess Robinson, MC 175, Office of Legal Services, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087. Or you may submit them electronically. Comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on January 24, 2025, and should reference “APO BMP List Proposal.”
So far, only a handful of people have registered public comments. So please help.
