(Update 1.23.18: The meeting of the Redevelopment and Drainage Task Force has been rescheduled for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24,\u00a0 at 601 Sawyer, First Floor Conference Room, Houston 77007.)<\/em><\/p>\n (Update 1.17.18: The meeting of the Redevelopment and Drainage Task Force scheduled for today, Jan. 17, has been cancelled due to weather. The meeting of the Houston-Galveston Area Council Regional Flood Management Council also scheduled for today also has been cancelled.)<\/em><\/p>\n (Update 1.2.18: Link to 2017 roster of the members of the Harris County Flood Control District Task Force has been fixed.)<\/em><\/p>\n The flood czar for the City of Houston now has someone to answer his phone<\/a>. \u201cThis is Sallie,\u201d she says. He also has a committee. This committee has met six times already.<\/p>\n Who is on this committee and what are they doing?<\/em><\/p>\n There are 48 members of the committee, including the flood czar himself, Steve Costello, whose technical title is chief resilience officer. The committee members were selected by Costello. Costello, a civil engineer, former city council member, and former mayoral candidate, was appointed to his position by Mayor Sylvester Turner after the Tax Day flood of 2016.<\/p>\n Most recently Costello was in the news when the Chronicle reported on Dec. 20<\/a> that his engineering firm, Costello Inc., engineered the development of residential subdivisions in the flood pools behind Barker and Addicks dams \u2013 even after finding, in a report commissioned by Harris County<\/a>, that thousands of those homes were at risk of flooding from the reservoirs.<\/p>\n A representative of another engineering firm involved in the development of homes in the Barker reservoir flood pool is also on Costello\u2019s task force. Lee Lennard is president and chief executive officer of that firm, Brown and Gay, now BGE.<\/p>\n The official name of Costello\u2019s committee is the Redevelopment and Drainage Task Force. Its task, according to an email from Sallie Alcorn, who now answers the flood czar\u2019s phone in his office at city hall, is:<\/p>\n \u201cTo ensure the City of Houston\u2019s design standards are conducive to responsible development which does not negatively impact drainage, and<\/p>\n \u201cTo empower the City of Houston to effectively and consistently apply and enforce drainage-related development rules.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking downstream at downtown Houston from the Shepherd footbridge over Buffalo Bayou. Photo on Aug. 28, 2017 by Jim Olive<\/p><\/div>\n Task force discussions have focused on three topics: detention, fill, and drainage right-of-way, according to a member of the task force, which is weighted towards developers and real estate interests. (See below.) The results of these discussions are to be forwarded as recommendations to the City administration and to the city Legal Department.<\/p>\n Detention<\/strong><\/p>\n Detention is the slowing down or temporary holding of rainwater running off the land into a drainage system, either natural or built. The faster the runoff, the higher the peak flow and greater the flooding. Removal of trees and vegetation greatly increases the speed of runoff. Covering the land with impervious surface increases runoff speed even more.<\/p>\n Currently the City of Houston requires new development to have .5 cubic feet of detention per square foot of new impervious surface, though there are exceptions. Points of discussion have been whether the detention requirement should be higher, as in 1 cubic foot per square foot of impervious surface, whether there should be any exceptions, and whether new detention should be required when redeveloping land that has previously been paved.<\/p>\n Fill<\/strong><\/p>\n Fill is when dirt or some other material is brought onto a piece of property to elevate a structure. Elevating structures with fill is frowned upon as it causes runoff to drain onto neighboring properties.<\/p>\n According to Residents Against Flooding<\/a>:<\/p>\n “Houston regulations on fill don\u2019t take into account that: 1) detention should be added either on-site or nearby to compensate for\u00a0the effects of\u00a0fill dirt;\u00a02) the water surface elevations for all the surrounding properties are elevated because water that used to be on the elevated property now runs off. \u00a0There is no requirement for mitigating fill except in a floodplain where it is required to be mitigated one-for-one; e.g., for every acre-foot elevation an acre-foot of detention must be added. \u00a0Unfortunately, even in a floodplain, fill can be mitigated by buying compensating detention from a mitigation bank, which may be located where it doesn\u2019t really help like in a different watershed.”<\/p>\n Drainage Right of Way<\/strong><\/p>\n The City would like to remove obstacles that have been placed in drainage ditches or other right-of-ways. That seems reasonable. It should be noted that there is a movement globally to \u201cdaylight\u201d or open up urban streams<\/a>. Rivers and creeks will continue to seek their historic paths, and sometimes will cause surprising flooding if filled or obstructed<\/a>. Houston, which is not so flat as it seems, has covered up, filled, and even built streets, homes, and subdivisions on top of streams and ravines.<\/p>\n Note that open drainage ditches absorb as well as convey and cleanse stormwater more effectively than closed pipes<\/a>. When filled with useful plants, they are also more scenic and beneficial. Frequently maligned as backwards or medieval, open drainage ditches run throughout many of Houston\u2019s older neighborhoods. In others they have been replaced with closed pipes that are often too small and can serve as breeding grounds for mosquitos. (See discussion of ditches and pipes<\/a>.)<\/p>\n The members of the committee <\/a>are not secret, though Costello, who is very busy, didn\u2019t respond to an initial request on Dec. 1 for the names of the members. Alcorn, after asking for another request in writing and checking with the City Legal Department, sent Save Buffalo Bayou the names of the task force members.<\/p>\n So of the 48 members of the task force:<\/p>\n Of those who have some discernible personal connection to a part of the city:<\/p>\n Though the meetings are not public meetings, they are open to the public. The task force will meet again on January 17, 2018, at 3:30 p.m. in the first-floor conference room at 601 Sawyer in Houston.<\/p>\n Here are the members of the Redevelopment and Drainage Task Force.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Houston-Galveston Regional Flood Management Council<\/strong><\/p>\n Also meeting on the same day and nearly the same time is the Regional Flood Management Council<\/a> of the Houston Galveston Area Council. This group includes government representatives from the Houston region and surrounding counties<\/a>.<\/p>\n The flood management council meeting is at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018, at H-GAC offices in Conference Rooms B and C located at 3555 Timmons Lane in Houston.<\/p>\n Harris County Flood Control District Task Force<\/strong><\/p>\n The Harris County Flood Control District also has a citizens\u2019 advisory task force that meets every three months on the fourth Monday of the month. The next meeting of that task force is January 22, 2018, at 2 p.m. at flood control district offices, 9900 Northwest Freeway. Here is the most recent roster of the members of this task force<\/a> as well as the minutes of the last available meeting<\/a>. Note that eight positions out of thirty-one are vacant.<\/p>\n Among the citizen-led community flood groups are:<\/p>\n Cypress Creek Flood Control Coalition<\/a><\/p>\n Residents Against Flooding<\/a><\/p>\n Citizens Solutions to Houston Flooding<\/a><\/p>\n Houston Consortium<\/a><\/p>\n Bayou City Initiative<\/a><\/p>\n American Rivers<\/a><\/p>\n National Wildlife Federation<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Downtown-BB-Shepherd-Bridge-8.28.17-1.jpg\")
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But What They Are Really Talking About?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Members of the Task Force<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\u00a0Next Meeting is January 17 at 3:30 p.m.<\/h2>\n
Other Governmental Flood Committees<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Community Flood Groups<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Local Initiatives<\/strong><\/h4>\n
National Groups Addressing Flooding<\/strong><\/h4>\n