{"id":11740,"date":"2024-03-03T10:37:45","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T16:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?p=11740"},"modified":"2024-03-03T10:41:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T16:41:43","slug":"why-houston-floods-according-to-flood-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?p=11740","title":{"rendered":"Why Houston Floods, According to Flood Control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It Rains a Lot! What Can Flood Control Do<\/em>?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

March 3, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years the Harris County Flood Control District<\/a> has been giving public presentations that include a slide<\/a> purporting to explain \u201cWhy is Harris County Flood Prone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Flood Control, the reasons Harris County floods are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. It rains a lot.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. The landscape is flat.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Soil doesn\u2019t soak up the rain fast enough.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Strangely missing from this list is arguably the number one cause of flooding in our city: it\u2019s covered in concrete, asphalt, and roofs, otherwise known as impervious surface. (p. 182-183<\/a>) That means artificial hard stuff that doesn\u2019t allow the rain to soak into the ground but instead increases runoff, sending stormwater really fast into our streets and overwhelming our drainage systems, natural and built. The built city also absorbs a lot of heat, influencing rain patterns<\/a>, among other problems. (See \u201cCities Depaving for a Cooler Future<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here are a few further references for the role of impervious surface in Houston\u2019s flooding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Buildings Partly to Blame<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    More Pavement, More Problems<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Houston’s Urban Sprawl Increased Rainfall, Flooding During Hurricane Harvey<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Houston\u2019s Flood is a Design Problem<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What Causes Floods<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Rapid Urbanization of Houston: How It Happened and Why It Matters<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why Not Mention Impervious Surface?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We asked Flood Control why their explanation doesn\u2019t include impervious surface. A representative graciously responded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cYou are correct that impervious surfaces are a cause of flooding in our area. However, in our \u2018Why is Harris County Flood Prone\u2019 slide we are focusing primarily on the sources of flooding that our capital and maintenance projects can directly address. As you know the Flood Control District does not have regulatory authority over development and the amount of impervious surface added each year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Well, true. But the slide is about the reasons Harris County floods, not what Flood Control can do about it. And the flood control district doesn\u2019t have authority over rainfall or the topography or soil type either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But what about Flood Control\u2019s claim that the landscape is flat and covered in \u201cclay soils that do not soak up excess rainfall quickly\u201d? Actually since most of it is covered in impervious surface, these points would almost seem irrelevant. But they are also not exactly true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Is the Houston Region Really Flat? Not So Much<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A 2022 study from the University of Texas<\/a> confirmed what anyone who grew up around here already knows: the seemingly flat landscape is in fact sculpted with numerous sloping hills carved out by the many branching channels, otherwise known as gullies or creeks, that feed into our major streams, such as Buffalo Bayou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

    \n
    \"\"<\/a>
    A creek flowing towards Buffalo Bayou through a deep, wide gully in Houston’s Memorial Park. Photo Feb. 19, 2024, by SC<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It Rains a Lot! What Can Flood Control Do? March 3, 2024 For years the Harris County Flood Control District has been giving public presentations that include a slide purporting to explain \u201cWhy is Harris County Flood Prone.\u201d According to Flood Control, the reasons Harris County floods are: Strangely missing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11740"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11752,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740\/revisions\/11752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}