{"id":10823,"date":"2022-05-10T15:34:29","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T20:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?p=10823"},"modified":"2022-05-10T17:43:34","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T22:43:34","slug":"bayou-city-sitrep-whats-been-happening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?p=10823","title":{"rendered":"Bayou City Sitrep: What\u2019s Been Happening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s All About Flooding<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open House public meetings, May 24, 26, and 31<\/a>. Tell your flood stories to the San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

List of committees, groups, studies, projects<\/a>, etc., focused on regional flooding<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 10, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, a lot has been happening in the past few months. And we\u2019re talking about here in Houston. Though we haven\u2019t been posting much, we have been attending numerous meetings, following developments, taking notes, and making comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big topic is flooding, of course, and what to do about it. From the federal government on down through the state, region, county, and city, as well as local community and business groups, at every level there are projects, task forces, committees, and meetings about flooding in the Houston region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View of Buffalo Bayou below Shepherd Bridge looking towards downtown Houston on August 28, 2017, during Harvey flooding.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The main issues are figuring out where flooding occurs (so far little focus on why), what to do about it, and how to spend public money to protect people (or structures?) in a fair and equitable way. Who needs flood protection the most? How to protect the most people? And what about critical structures like hospitals, fire stations or even grocery stores?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past the benefit\/cost calculation for projects has been based on dollar values. In recent years there has been a general recognition that that\u2019s not fair. A home is a home, no matter the appraised value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far the focus remains vaguely centered on \u201cprojects,\u201d which would imply \u201cengineering.\u201d However, state (pp. 87-88<\/a>) and county guidelines<\/a> mandate the use of non-structural (including  buyouts) and nature-based solutions. A recent federal flood assessment of the region<\/a> also urged a greater reliance on green, nature-based, and small-scale solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nature-based methods are prioritized not only because they are the most beneficial and cost-effective. But also because nature moves. Storms change. Hard structures don\u2019t. So spending billions on building and maintaining massive engineering projects like flood tunnels, ripping out trees and widening, deepening streams and bayous may not be the best investment. In fact, recent studies have shown that green infrastructure, which includes trees, parks, and green space<\/a>, wetlands and prairies, adds value to property. (See here<\/a> and here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dams and Flood Tunnels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some two years ago the Galveston District of the US Army Corps of Engineers released its Interim Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries Resiliency Study<\/a>. This was in response to the massive flooding that occurred during Harvey in 2017 upstream and downstream of the federal dams on Buffalo Bayou in west Houston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost a year later the Corps released its draft study of the entire regional watershed.<\/a> Known as the Metropolitan Houston Regional Watershed Assessment<\/a>, its main finding was that the metropolitan region needs a coordinating body \u201cacross all levels of government,\u201d including highway, railroad, and utility agencies, to \u201cset priorities\u201d and plan for flood protection. (pp. 75-76)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not the first call for an overall coordinating body. And with the plethora of active committees and studies, it\u2019s perhaps too soon to tell how much duplication of effort might be going on, what sort of coordination might occur, or how effective their plans might be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a list, current as of May 2022,<\/a> of committees, groups, studies, projects, etc., focused on regional flooding and what to do about it. (See also our page of Rainfall, River Flow Gauges, Flood Maps, Tree Benefits, and Other Useful Links<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shocked Into Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial Buffalo Bayou draft report shocked community groups<\/a> into action. That first study rejected as too costly a massive flood tunnel to carry stormwater from the (normally dry) federal flood control reservoirs in the upper Buffalo Bayou watershed out towards the bay. The study also rejected, among other things, nature-based approaches to slowing and absorbing stormwater runoff before it enters our pipes and streams, as other cities are doing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, the Corps\u2019 subsequent regional watershed assessment recommended holding rain where it falls, which is modern stormwater management. (See here<\/a>,  here<\/a>, and here pp. 32-33<\/a> and here<\/a>. And also here.<\/a>) It also recommended a greater reliance on green and nature-based features, including pervious surfaces, and small-scale individual and neighborhood efforts to \u201creduce risk to downstream communities and broaden awareness of shared responsibility.\u201d (p. 77)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far we have seen little focus on these enlightened, cost-effective, and generally beneficial approaches during the many meetings we continue to attend and monitor. We\u2019ve not yet even seen much focus on why <\/em>different areas flood or whether current methods are working, though there are numerous ongoing attempts to figure out where <\/em>flooding occurs, including efforts to reach out to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changing Course<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the rest of this post.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n