Montgomery County Precinct 4 officials held an open house-style meeting Dec. 11 to allow residents to learn more about the precinct's Flood Mitigation Grant Plan. As previously reported by Community Impact, the plan will establish a long-term strategy for flood mitigation in Precinct 4, identify specific project areas for future grant funding and implement as part of Precinct 4's 20-year Drainage Plan.

The overview

According to information on Precinct 4's website, the Flood Mitigation Grant Plan is supported by a project scoping grant under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program, which provides funding to help communities reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to structures insured by the National Flood Insurance Program. The funds are administered by the Texas Water Development Board.

Precinct 4 officials began working on the project in September 2024 and have since completed several project stages:
  • September 2024-December 2024: data collection and flood risk assessment
  • December 2024-September 2025: project identification and modeling analysis
  • September 2025-December 2025: plan development and reporting
The last phase, public outreach and benefit-cost evaluation, began in November and is expected to wrap up by the end of this year.

Zooming in


Precinct 4's plan evaluates 15 neighborhoods where drainage issues and historical flood losses have been documented, including 10 in the New Caney and Porter area. Precinct 4 officials noted they are aware of drainage issues and flooding that have occurred in other areas.



The proposed projects were selected based on their eligibility for funding through the FEMA grant program, which requires that projects demonstrate a clear benefit-cost ratio and potential for future federal funding. Per the Precinct 4 website, only projects with a benefit-cost ratio greater than 1.0 were selected, ensuring that each proposed improvement is cost-effective, fundable and capable of providing measurable flood-risk reduction.

Proposed projects include channel and ditch improvements, storm sewer and trunkline improvements, and new channel or detention features.
Next steps


Precinct 4 officials noted public feedback will be reviewed and incorporated into the Flood Mitigation Grant Plan. Precinct 4 will then finalize the plan and submit projects to FEMA's Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program for funding consideration. As funding becomes available, projects would be constructed in phases over approximately 20 years.