The overview
Adam Eaton, a senior project manager with Ardurra, the engineering consultant company currently managing the city’s drainage improvement program, said the third work order will bring multiple projects to the final design phase and allow contracts to start bidding for construction, as well as pursuing funding opportunities necessary to support the projects.
Eaton said the $3 million work order will include 10 tasks for Ardurra to complete, including:
- Regional detention south pond: The final design will further optimize the potential volume that’s available under the current flood control design standards.
- Cypress Ditch improvements: The final design will improve the ditch’s channel conveyance, the volume of water a river channel can hold, and create improvements to adjacent storm sewer systems.
- Regional detention north pond: The final design will further optimize the potential volume that’s available under the current flood control design standards.
The background
Bellaire’s regional drainage improvement program is a project to improve the city’s drainage and mitigate flood risk by enhancing the city’s drainage system network and detention ponds, as well as making improvements to Cypress Ditch.
During the meeting, Mayor Gus Pappas addressed concerns he has heard, such as why the city is funding projects that are outside the city. He said the improvements to Cypress Ditch and the detention ponds, which are areas that store stormwater runoff, are necessary if the city wants to improve the city’s overall drainage system.
“Ultimately, all of the city’s water drains to Cypress Ditch and then to Brays Bayou,” Eaton said. “If we don’t have the capacity in Cypress Ditch to carry that water, you can’t do any of the upstream improvements.”
What else?
Eaton also updated City Council on grant applications for the project.
Out of the five applications the city submitted, only one from the Texas General Land Office Resilient Communities Program was approved. The maximum award amount is $300,000, according to the program’s website.
Eaton also said the application with the Texas Water Development Board’s Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Program is being reviewed, while the Chimney Rock Area and Newcastle/Kilmarnock drainage improvements studies are in the prioritization list for Texas Water Development Board’s Flood Infrastructure Funds.
Council member Ross Gordon said during the meeting that the city shouldn’t just wait on the grant application decisions, but be proactive and improve future grant applications.
“What we have to be doing is continually improving our applications, which means we get better data, better information, so that if we don’t get the flood mitigations assistance grant in 2025, we come back in 2026 with better info [and] more valuable stuff—we try again,” Gordon said.
What’s next?
According to the presentation, the south pond detention is expected to finish its final design and bidding April 9, 2026. The Cypress Ditch final design and bidding will finish Sept. 11, 2026 while the north pond detention’s final design and bidding will finish Feb. 18, 2027; however, Eaton said these dates are subject to change depending on when Ardurra starts on them. He also said a community open house is planned for Aug. 26.
