Starting in October, all new developments built in League City must have a base built at least 24 inches above the 100-year flood elevation and 3 inches above the nearest 500-year flood elevation.
The current standard for base elevations is 18 inches above the 100-year flood elevation. City officials hope raising elevations for new developments 6 inches will help mitigate flooding after Hurricane Harvey.
"During that event, we saw nearly 25 percent of the homes in League City impacted by some level of high water," City Manager John Baumgartner said.
Officials want to make the area more sustainable and not experience thousands of flooded homes again. Raising base elevations is part of a multistep solution, he said.
"We felt it was a fairly measured approach to continue to make our community more resilient to flooding," Baumgartner said.
Staff clarified changing base elevation design standards will not affect existing properties. As part of the design process, developers will have to prove new developments will not make flooding worse for others.
Additional efforts
The League City City Council during its two June meetings approved several items to tackle other flooding issues.
The council approved applying for various grants to help fund flood mitigation efforts, such as citywide drainage projects. The council also voted in favor of spending more than $460,000 to buy new equipment for 16 public safety vehicles destroyed by Hurricane Harvey.
Dickinson officials recently completed a sonar sound study and found the 22-mile-long Dickinson Bayou needs to be dredged to improve water flow and reduce flooding. The council favored a resolution voicing its support and requesting the Army Corps of Engineers dredge the bayou.
The council also approved resolutions urging the Clear Creek and Dickinson Bayou watershed steering committees to research regional flooding solutions.
