By Nick Powell, Houston Chronicle, May 10, 2019
A long-discussed idea for a third reservoir to prevent extreme Hurricane Harvey-level flooding in beleaguered neighborhoods along Cypress Creek might not be the flood mitigation panacea it was conceived as, according to a Rice University study.
After tens of thousands of homes flooded in the watersheds of Cypress Creek and the Addicks and Barker reservoirs during Harvey in 2017, regional planners revived an idea originally conceived nearly 80 years ago by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — a third reservoir to supplement the capacity of Addicks and Barker in the event of a major flood.
But the study by Rice University’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education, and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center revealed the difficulties in attempting to eliminate flooding in the Cypress Creek watershed, which covers over 300 square miles in northwest Harris County and features over 250 miles of open streams.
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The study also concluded that the remaining undeveloped land in the Cypress Creek area should be protected against development, specifically the Katy Prairie west of Houston, where vegetation and wetlands provide flood protection.
Harris County Commissioner Jack Cagle, whose northwest Harris County precinct includes areas likely to be affected by any future flood mitigation effort, believes that prairie land could be a significant component of a future reservoir.
Read the rest of this article in the Houston Chronicle.
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The Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium is holding a free public event, Tuesday, May 14, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at Rice University’s Bioscience Research Collaborative, 6500 Main Street, to present the findings from the Cypress Creek study as well as other recent research and reports.
