Corps of Engineers Will Present Their Plan for Deepening, Widening Bayou from Dams to Downtown
Nov. 10, 2020
Congressmember Lizzie Fletcher will host a telephone town hall with the public and representatives of the Galveston District of the Corps of Engineers on Sunday, Nov. 15, starting at 7 p.m.
The Corps will explain their tentative proposal to deepen and widen some 22 miles of Buffalo Bayou from the dams in west Houston to downtown. The idea is to combine the deepening and widening with a dam and reservoir on Cypress Creek in order to deal with increasing stormwater flowing into and potentially overwhelming the 70-year-old earthen dams, Addicks and Barker in west Houston.
The Galveston District recently extended until Nov. 20 the deadline to comment on their lengthy and complicated solutions, which also include possibly buying out properties behind and below the normally-empty reservoirs.
Fletcher represents the 7th Congressional District, which includes Barker Dam and Reservoir and much of Buffalo Bayou and its surrounding neighborhoods through Houston to Shepherd Drive. Congress will ultimately make the final decision whether to approve and fund the Corps’ plans.
Here is how to sign up for the town hall.
Here is a link to the Corps of Engineers’ Interim Report on their Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries Resiliency Study. Here is how to comment on the Corps’ tentative proposals contained in that interim report.
The Corps plans to have a final draft report and environmental impact statement by the late spring of next year. The public will also have an opportunity to comment then.
