Harris County Commissioners unanimously approved an update Sept. 18 to the $2.5 billion Harris County Flood Control District bond approved by voters in 2018. The move follows several years of delays, rising costs due to inflation and concerns regarding the ability to complete flood mitigation projects countywide.
“Everybody’s got their own opinion of priorities, but at the end of the day, we really need to define what we’re going to do and simply do it,” Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said at a Sept. 22 stakeholder meeting at the West Houston Institute. “What happened [Sept. 18] is $2.5 billion worth of projects were blessed, approved, christened and we’re moving forward.”
The big picture
At the Sept. 18 court meeting, HCFCD Executive Director Christina Petersen addressed commissioners regarding a restructuring of priority projects on the 2018 bond list after a $1 billion shortfall in funding for projects was identified.
Under the restructure, the shortfall was reduced to $400 million, a number commissioners believe they will be able to acquire through local, state and federal partnerships and grants.
“We’ve taken the 2018 bond program, which started out really with a lot of concepts, and with the work that we have done together, with [Commissioners Court] teams, with all of you, with the direction that we’ve received and we’ve been able to ground this work in reality,” Petersen said.
Petersen also debuted a new flood bond dashboard displaying flood project schedules, funding sources, completion dates, prioritization scores, locations and lifecycles. The dashboard will be updated quarterly, according to Petersen.
During a Sept. 22 meeting hosted by Houston Stronger, a nonprofit that advocates for flood resiliency projects, Ramsey said over $1.78 billion in private, local, state and federal partnership funding has been committed to projects on the bond list. Ramsey also commended the work done already by the county and HCFCD to identify high-priority projects that would provide the most immediate flood relief.
“We made a really good executive decision,” Ramsey said. “Let’s not budget now on something we know so little about. Let’s take that money, go spend it on something we do know [will provide flood mitigation/prevention].”
The 2018 bond issue followed Hurricane Harvey, which caused $125 billion in damages to the Greater Houston region, according to the HCFCD.
ACTIVE PROJECTS
Little Cypress Creek Frontier Project
Project stage: Planning/property acquisition
Cost: $53,121,389
Estimated construction start: N/A
Mueschke East Stormwater Detention Basin Improvements
Project stage: Planning
Cost: $15,900,000
Estimated construction start: 2033
Kluge Stormwater Detention Basin
Project stage: Engineering
Cost: $37,250,000
Estimated construction start: 2026
Kolbe Road Drainage Improvements
Project stage: Engineering
Cost: $16,376,962
Estimated construction start: 2026
PAUSED PROJECTS
Schiel Stormwater Detention Basin Improvements
Project stage: Planning
Original bond allocation: $16,000,000
Remaining bond allocation: $6,115,213
Hegar Stormwater Detention Basin Improvements
Project stage: Planning
Original bond allocation: $11,800,000
Remaining bond allocation: $8,841,262
Mason Stormwater Detention Basin Improvements
Project stage: Engineering
Original bond allocation: $13,000,000
Remaining bond allocation: $10,284,959
Mueschke West Stormwater Detention Basin Improvements
Project stage: Planning
Original bond allocation: $10,600,000
Remaining bond allocation: $8,599,919
Telge Road Stormwater Detention Basin
Project stage: Planning
Original bond allocation: $1,000,000
Remaining bond allocation: $1,000,000
How we got here
In 2018, Harris County voters approved $2.5 billion in bonds to finance flood damage reduction projects after Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 left widespread flooding, property damage and displacement along the Texas coast. The bond was designed to complete flood control and mitigation projects over approximately 10 years, Petersen said, although the original timeline was shortened from 15 years.
The cost
Rising costs, inflation and pandemic construction issues were factors that flood district officials said have challenged how they’re moving forward with certain projects. However, both Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones and Ramsey said the projects paused due to a lack of funding will not be forgotten.
HCFCD external affairs officer Emily Woodell told Community Impact the funding gap has been significantly reduced from more than $1 billion to $400 million through local, state and federal partnerships, and she sees future partnerships helping the flood district meet its funding needs.
“Nationally, folks are seeing more like 25%-30% increases [in infrastructure projects],” Woodell said. “The fact that Harris County has been able to manage this massive program that was really, frankly, unprecedented to such a close percentage of overages, when you think about COVID-19 and inflation and all those different things, is pretty astounding.”
Despite having to place a pause on projects, Briones said during the Sept. 22 town hall that commissioners were actively working with the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as state and federal legislators, to facilitate additional funding.
“We hope to continue that federal interest so that we can get the appropriation we need to continue making progress,” Briones said.
Houston Stronger Chair Alan Steinberg said the organization is looking forward to helping foster continued input from public and private partners.
“We’re glad to see that the investments are still moving forward,” Steinberg said. “Things have gotten more expensive. We have to work with that ... we’re glad to see what [HCFCD] has put together, an idea of moving forward, a prioritization of, ‘How do we make that next step?’”
