Harris County commissioners authorized the county to accept grant funding for a $2.7 million regional study that will examine more than 500 miles of streams that flow into the San Jacinto River in February.

The two-year study—which will be led by the Harris County Flood Control District—will examine 13 different major channels and tributaries that flow into the river between I-10 in Houston and Hwy. 30 near Huntsville.

In an interview with Community Impact Newspaper in August, Dena Green, HCFCD feasibility studies department manager, said one of the goals of the study—the Upper San Jacinto River Regional Watershed Flood Mitigation Plan—is to develop projects that could be implemented to reduce flooding in the study area.

Green said it is important to take a broad, regional approach to this study because of the amount of water these channels carry into the river.

The study has numerous objectives, one of which is to develop a comprehensive list of future flood prevention projects, such as improving channel conveyance or building a regional detention basin, Green said.

Projects identified in the study will be funded by Harris County’s $2.5 billion bond program, which voters approved Aug. 25.