Neighborhoods saw flood waters rise to about a foot, according to city drainage study documents.
Since then, officials have pursued several drainage projects to prevent future flooding.
One ongoing $5 million effort—the Lower Clear Creek and Dickinson Bayou Watershed study—aims to make “transformative improvements” to reduce flood elevations, said Christopher Sims, the city’s executive director of planning and development.
Rooted in a 2023 drainage study, construction is also underway in League City’s Historic District to install 24- and 36-inch pipes and storm boxes beneath roadside ditches on Wisconsin Avenue, Third Street and Fourth Street. The $66,000 project is expected to be completed by spring 2026.
“You can’t fix all the issues instantly ... but from where we were during Harvey to where we are today, we are pretty proud of the changes we’ve made,” League City City Manager John Baumgartner said.
The funding source
League City relies on a mix of local, state, federal and voter-approved bond funding to support its drainage projects.
Baumgartner noted that one of the city’s “biggest challenges” has been rising costs, with expenses increasing by about 50% since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite those hurdles, the city continues to seek additional funding for drainage improvements,particularly through grants, Baumgartner said.
A grant was awarded to the city after Hurricane Harvey, allowing them to run a study that analyzes the city’s creeks, drainage channels and their capacity, Baumgartner said.
Over the coming years, League City will spend over $50 million on drainage projects, including $31 million in fiscal year 2025-26, according to budget documents.
Some residents throughout the city have experienced flooding as a result of the recent storms.
League City resident William Drake, who lives in Bay Ridge, said his home flooded during Hurricane Harvey. He described the storm as a "turned-on faucet."
The Bay Ridge neighborhood borders State Hwy. 96 and Bay Ridge Drive, where the city installed water lines and is now raising the road. Drake said he is concerned about flood waters coming into homes as the city raises the road.
"I think it's all the building [they did] around here too quick," he said. "When they built [schools in the area], they didn't have enough adequate drainage."
The impact
Other projects
The Lower Clear Creek & Dickinson Bayou Watershed study will consist of two phases.
The first phase of the study, completed in 2022, identified a variety of smaller and larger projects that collectively would reduce water levels during a flood event by several feet, Community Impact previously reported.
The second phase is slated to kick off in 2026, pending funding commitments from multiple cities, as well as the Harris County Flood Control District, among other sources, Sims said.
Outside of the watershed study, other projects the city is taking on with construction slated to begin in 2026 include:
- Hughes Lane to Deats Road for drainage improvements, $3 million
- Interurban neighborhood for drainage improvements, $7.9 million
- Westside master drainage plan for development, $175,000
As plans progress, officials highlighted two decades of work to improve flood protection.
“All the neighborhoods that were built pre-1990 that had the most impact from the flooding ... had major projects completed, and you see a noticeable difference,” Baumgartner said.
In the coming years, League City plans a series of drainage upgrades citywide.
- Hughes Lane-Deats Road drainage improvements
- Cost: $3M
- Time: construction in 2026
- Westside master drainage plan
- Cost: $175K
- Time: construction in 2026
- Magnolia Creek and Cedar Gully, phase 2
- Cost: $9.5M (estimated)
- Time: bid in 2026
- Borden’s Gully/Hughes & West Deats culvert modifications
- Cost: N/A
- Time: bid in 2026
- Bay Ridge, phase 4
- Cost: N/A
- Time: final design in 2026
- Benson Bayou Regional Pond
- Cost: $12M
- Time: construction in 2028
- FM 518 and Wesley Drive
- Cost: N/A
- Time: awaiting FEMA, GLO funding
