After years of sustaining constant damage by flooding from hurricanes and other extreme weather events, the city of Bellaire is working to mitigate future flooding through the $110 million Cypress Ditch Improvements Project. The project is in the design phase, with construction starting this year.
The details
City Engineer Beth Jones said Cypress Ditch serves as the primary storm drainage channel for all of Bellaire and portions of Gulfton.
Jones said the drainage project will expand the ditch’s overall stormwater capacity by 60% through making the side slopes steeper and reconstructing the lined portion of the channel—the physical depression or bed through which the body of water is situated—between South Rice Avenue and Brays Bayou. The city will also improve the natural channel section between Chimney Rock Road and South Rice Avenue, increasing the amount of water that can flow out to Brays Bayou.
The project will also include the construction of two stormwater detention ponds, with the south detention pond located on the 13-acre Beechnut Tract, which the city acquired from Houston through a land swap deal in July. The north detention pond is located by the city’s Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant, Jones said.
The two detention ponds will help slow down water flow as it travels toward Brays Bayou.
According to the Harris County Flood Control District’s website, stormwater detention is a way to store damaging floodwaters temporarily until the channels can safely carry the water away.
Why now?
Mayor Gus Pappas said the project has been years in the making after the city was devastated by multiple flooding incidents in the past two decades.
“I started living here in 1998, and within three years we had [Tropical Storm] Allison in 2001,” Pappas said. “There were houses that were affected, and they were flooded. Because we’re so close to Brays Bayou, when it backs up, it backs up right into us.”
Right after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which Pappas said affected nearly 2,000 Bellaire homes, city officials began brainstorming how to fight back against future flooding, leading to the creation of the Flood Hazard Mitigation Task Force to help develop and brainstorm ideas.
“I think that was the biggest challenge,” Pappas said. “What does Bellaire do to bring [the Texas Department of Transportation], Harris County Flood Control District, the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the surrounding cities to actually impact something that we desperately needed?”
Bellaire resident Elaine Schroller said she first moved to the city with her husband in 1988, living nearly 600 feet away from Cypress Ditch in a World War II-era bungalow that she loved.
However, Tropical Storm Allison left two feet of water inside her home, causing her and her husband to decide to tear the house down and build a new two-story home.
Sixteen years later, Hurricane Harvey hit, and her home flooded again, leading her to spend $20,000 to remodel the property. Schroller said she is excited for the Cypress Ditch project to finally begin, as it will alleviate flooding that has affected her and her neighbors.
“I really appreciate the efforts of Bellaire City Council to push this through and work with the surrounding areas. I really appreciate the efforts of all of the people and entities... to work together to get this thing done.”
What else?
Bellaire and Houston also agreed to a land swap deal in July to help improve flood mitigation.
Bellaire acquired the Beechnut Tract—used primarily for Bellaire’s Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant north of Brays Bayou—for •$6.46 million•, which City Manager Sharon Citino said the city will demolish to build a new detention area.
Houston acquired the Ruffino Tract, which is located along the southern bank of Keegans Bayou and served Bellaire as a municipal landfill in the ‘90s, to turn it into a flood detention zone.
As part of the deal, Houston will also start treating Bellaire’s wastewater.
Funding the project
Jones said the city received numerous funding sources for the $110 million project, including funding from a $40 million bond referendum approved by voters in November 2024.
“The citizens were willing to back [the project], and put money into leading it,” Citino said. “I don’t think we would have been able to be where we are now had we not said we’ll lead it, we’ll be the lead agency and we’ll take this on.”
Jones said the city is in the design and planning phase for the Cypress Ditch project. City officials are aiming to demolish the Beechnut Tract site in December and immediately start constructing the south detention pond by early next year.
The final step will include constructing the north detention pond, Jones said, as the city aims to decommission the wastewater treatment plant located north of Brays Bayou. The item, Pappas said, will be voted on at a future City Council meeting.
“We’re trying to be more resilient,” Jones said. “With very proactive building codes and the improvement of Cypress Ditch, these are big steps to living with the water and the storm events that we are just going to have these days.”
