Posted on August 30, 2018
Dams, Reservoirs and Levees: The Houston area Still hasn’t Decided How to Fix its Flood Infrastructure
After Hurricane Harvey, everyone agreed: something needed to be done to bolster the dams and levees that protect Houston and its suburbs. Harvey overwhelmed them. The question is what is needed and how much it will cost.
One year later, the areas’s flood infrastructure is being cleaned up and upgraded in small ways, but systemic overhaul remains years away, as comprehensive studies and hundreds of lawsuits progress.
In west Harris County, crews in July were installing new gates at the Addicks and Barker reservoirs. Homes flooded upstream during Harvey as the reservoirs filled and downstream when engineers began emergency releases, yet officials plan to spend at least three years looking at ways to strengthen the system, such as digging the reservoirs deeper or building a third one.
Photos show how Harvey flooded Houston neighborhoods
Across town, upstream of Lake Houston, workers prepared to dredge a portion of the west fork of the San Jacinto River, returning it to pre-storm conditions. Experts believe the sand buildup there contributed to flooding in Kingwood and Humble. But a pending, joint study of the river basin was expected to take up to a year.
And in Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston, 20 neighborhood levee systems were deciding individually what — if anything — to upgrade. At least half considered increasing the amount of rainfall they could handle. A few looked at lengthening the levees. Potential direction from the county was at least a year off, as it reviews how water flows across the entire jurisdiction.
Which means that, while some progress has been made, a year after the worst flooding in the area’s history, the region is still largely evaluating what needs to be done to prevent and mitigate future events.
“The one word that is evil these days is study,” said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, while maintaining that more research, at least when it comes to a third reservoir, needs to be done.
Bob Hebert, Emmett’s counterpart in Fort Bend County, sounded a similar note.
“We want to look at our watersheds and see our flow patterns, look at what Harvey told us,” Hebert said. “We’re moving as quickly as we can.”
Reservoir recommendations
Officials decided before Harvey to replace the 70-year-old gates on the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, which is owned and maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers. After Harvey, the Harris County Flood Control District started a $13 million project to dredge silt from waterways leading into Addicks. It intends to do the same with Barker.
Whether to build a third reservoir in northwest Harris County remains the biggest decision. The county’s $2.5 billion flood bond proposal included funding to study that idea, as well as how best to manage Addicks and Barker in the future. Congress is also contributing funds.
A recent Baker Institute study described the dams as “vulnerable to structural integrity issues” and said fixing them “should be the No. 1 priority.” Other projects on the table include adding new channels to release water from the dams. The Army Corps plans to make recommendations when the study is complete.
“We can’t just dream up some combination of things that say we’re just going to go do this without knowing how they will perform,” said Dr. Edmond Rousseau, an Army Corps deputy district engineer.
In the meantime, lawsuits from those whose homes flooded in Harvey pile up, meaning litigation about who was responsible and what should be done, could continue for years. The chief judge for the federal claims court continues to hold packed proceedings in an oversized courtroom in downtown Houston, addressing the so-called takings claims by home and business owners who say the Army Corps deliberately flooded their properties.
As of July, 42 law firms have filed 220 cases on behalf of more than 1,600 individuals, collectively seeking roughly a billion dollars. There were so many Addicks and Barker lawsuits that officials created a unique categorization for them within the federal docket. Fort Bend County also sued the Corps in state District Court, seeking a judgment that says the Corps cannot swamp private property again.
Lawyers anticipate thousands more cases might be filed before the six-year statute of limitations expires. How many will hinge in part on how the trials go for the select test cases the U.S. Court of Federal Claims plans to try in Houston next spring involving upstream and downstream properties. Settlement is unlikely at this point, said Rand Nolen, of Fleming, Nolen & Jez, a lead attorney for the downstream cases.
“There has been tremendous progress moving these cases forward on an accelerated basis,” said Nolen. “It is our sincere hope that these cases fully inform stakeholders and the public regarding the consequences of the Corps’ operational policies for these reservoirs, and that governmental agencies will take appropriate action to reduce the risk of these reservoirs causing future devastating floods.”
The Justice Department declined to comment.
Levees and lakes
On Sept. 1, dredges will start work in the first major project to result from Harvey: cleaning out a 2-mile stretch of the west fork of the San Jacinto River, which connects lakes Houston and Conroe.
As that takes place, the lakes’ stakeholders have agreed to lower the water levels during August, September, April and May for Lake Conroe, and ahead of big rains for Lake Houston. They sought funding for a long-term study, and the city is looking into dredging the rest of the river fork. The city has also applied for grant funds to add gates to the Lake Houston dam.
The Coastal Water Authority, which operates Lake Houston, cleared debris, replaced fencing and started fixing the access road. The San Jacinto River Authority, which operates Lake Conroe, planned to purchase rain sensors to help better predict flooding.
“There is an unusual level of cooperation,” said Lloyd Tisdale, the river authority’s board president. “All of these things contribute to some degree to helping in the overall result.”
Many property owners sued the San Jacinto River Authority over flooding. The agency appealed after lower court judges declined to dismiss the cases, according to Caj Boatright, whose firm represents hundreds of flood victims.
In Fort Bend, decisions over the levee systems fell to boards of either three appointed residents or — for a few that petitioned after the storm — five elected ones. Some asked engineers and operators who routinely contract with them to review what happened. A handful looked to outside companies for recommendations.
Among the districts, at least three considered extending their levees for better protection against a rising river. Most focused on handling higher rates of rainfall with new pump stations or added detention.
They largely did not worry about levee height, the big issue in Brazoria County, where water flowed over one levee in Columbia Lakes. Residents there approved a $3.5 million bond in part to build portions higher, among other changes, said Allan Sassin, president of the Varner Creek Utility District, which is responsible for the levee.
In Riverstone, which saw the worst of the Fort Bend levee flooding, board members in the two levee districts purchased extra pumps and new water gauges while they consider larger changes. A district there, too, was among those sued in the aftermath of the storm.
“Let’s do it right, instead of do it fast,” said board member John Arndt, though he understood the lingering unease.
Residents want to see their neighborhood Harvey-proof as fast as possible, he said — himself included.
But it has been a year since the deluge, and they aren’t there yet.
Source: Houston Chronicle
