The Harris County Flood Control District takes much offense to a June, 2006 story titled, “Houston as a Model City: Meeting the challenges of an environmental crisis -- Storms and flooding: Houston’s natural hazards,” by Vicki Wolf.
This article makes several erroneous claims: that the floodplain maps by which District engineers design projects to reduce flood risks are incorrect; that the goal of the District supports developers’ pocketbooks more than the safety of the public; and that no comprehensive plan exists to reduce flood damages in Harris County.
The District finds it ironic that a group such as CLEAN, which claims to “educate and encourage a knowledgeable public,” would base an article about flooding on the unfounded opinions of a source (Jim Blackburn) who has no background in either engineering or hydrology. This story is a disgrace to years of successful efforts of District engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and to objective reporting.
The District and FEMA are experts in the field of floodplain mapping. The NASA-developed technology used to delineate floodplain boundaries on the new floodplain maps to be released early next year is the best technology in the field. The laser-based technology produces the best topographic and floodplain maps that have ever been available for Harris County.
Since the District was established in 1937 by the Texas Legislature, its No. 1 client has been the residents of Harris County, not developers. An extensive stream gage network throughout Harris County measures stormwater runoff rates. This network confirms that guidelines, which require developers to be responsible for any additional stormwater runoff they create, have been effective in not allowing increased flooding with development. These guidelines have been in place for more than a quarter of a century.
A comprehensive flood plan for Harris County has existed since the 1960s and continues to evolve. A partnership with the City of Houston decades ago yielded watershed studies that documented policies, design criteria and other mandates that guided new development and public projects in ways that did not create additional flooding. The District also partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct major projects on Brays, White Oak, Vince and Little Vince bayous and on Clear Creek, as well as the Addicks and Barker flood control reservoirs. A joint federal project on Sims Bayou is nearly complete, and several more projects are underway. By itself, the District also implemented many projects on other bayous and tributaries county-wide.
Several master watershed studies were published in the 1980s and have been used for the past 20 years, along with floodplain management regulations, ordinances and strict criteria to guide development in a coordinated fashion with on-going flood damage reduction projects. The District also has conducted and published a comprehensive Flood Hazard Study for Harris County. This study was the precursor to the first flood insurance study published in 1985. In the 1980s, the District adopted its first detailed criteria manual that regulated regional projects, both private and public, and detention basin requirements. Strong management continued through the 1990s with the implementation of new technologies for computing flood risks. An updated policy criteria manual was adopted in 2004. Today, the District is preparing brand new watershed master studies that reach beyond the main stems of our bayou drainage system to include smaller tributaries. There also is an ongoing technical and public review of policies, regulations, and criteria called the Urban Stormwater Management Study, sponsored by the District, City of Houston, Harris County and the Texas Department of Transportation.
Comprehensive flood management is an evolving process. Because of millions spent on projects to deepen and widen bayous, excavate stormwater detention basins and purchase homes deep in the floodplain to help move residents to higher ground, the District can tout its success of sparing thousands of homes and businesses from flooding today and in years past. In the never-ending struggle between nature and man, the District is fairing very well as it continues to carry out its mission.
