A project to design and construct detention basins along Cypress Creek could begin as early as September, based on recently adopted "worst-first" guidelines. On Aug. 27, Harris County commissioners approved the new set of guidelines for prioritizing the final projects waiting to get underway out of the 239 originally authorized in the county’s $2.5 billion flood bond passed by voters in 2018. The bond allocated $25 million towards the design and construction of stormwater detention basins in large buyout areas along Cypress Creek, and the project ranks as No. 18 out of the 80 remaining bond projects—meaning it could begin anytime between September 2019 and April 2020. Projects that are already underway or completed in Cypress Creek include updating a 2003 Texas Water Development Board study to provide better recommendations for how to reduce flooding in the Cypress Creek watershed and making channel improvement to improve water flow. "We've got around $500 million worth of action in progress right now on Cypress Creek, including ... one $60 million line item for major maintenance and capacity restoration for the main stem of Cypress Creek as well as the tributaries," said Russ Poppe, Harris County Flood Control District's executive director, during an Aug. 28 North Houston Association meeting. "Let's put that into perspective. That's a $60 million line item in our bond program, that represents what was a year ago my entire capital program for an entire year." However, residents and officials in Spring and Klein have voiced concern over the lack of projects directly targeting channel improvements in middle and lower Cypress Creek. "We’ve got to make some improvements to middle Cypress Creek, and we need ... some community support to move commissioners court to make the improvements that are needed in order to avert more flooding," said Glen Wilkerson, president of the Cypress Creek Cultural District, in an interview with Community Impact Newspaper in May. During Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, several structures in the cultural district flooded, including the Barbara Bush Branch Library and The Centrum. A May study by the Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium analyzing Cypress Creek watershed flooding and storage options concluded there are few viable locations for major detention basins in the middle and lower portions of the watershed. According to the study, "As a result, other alternatives may need to be pursued, such as buyouts and/or channel improvements in the lower/ middle watershed (tunnels may be possible), with appropriate mitigation as needed."