{"id":11983,"date":"2024-10-31T16:59:56","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T21:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?p=11983"},"modified":"2024-10-31T16:59:56","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T21:59:56","slug":"no-more-money-for-incompetent-flood-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?p=11983","title":{"rendered":"No More Money for Incompetent Flood Control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vote No on Proposition A<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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

Oct. 31, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Harris County Flood Control District is asking county voters for a property tax increase<\/a> to raise an extra $100 million a year for maintenance operations. The increase would nearly double Flood Control\u2019s annual budget (p. 80<\/a>), not including the money from the $2.5 billion bond program approved by voters in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve been monitoring the agency for ten years. Here\u2019s why the vote on Flood Control\u2019s Proposition A<\/a> should be NO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Unique Agency. Little Authority. Destructive Maintenance Practices. Private Profit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First of all, it\u2019s important to note that Flood Control, the only agency of its kind in the state, has very limited responsibility. It does not manage flooding throughout the county and has no regulatory powers. Flood Control only has authority over our local bayous and creeks. And with little else to do, they have gouged out, straightened and stripped most of our streams of natural vegetation, turning them into ditches and concrete channels. Unfortunately this only increases flooding and erosion, as many experts point out. (p. 155<\/a>) The agency, which bizarrely misrepresents the causes of Houston\u2019s flooding<\/a> and dismisses effective non-engineering solutions<\/a>, is not responsible for storm sewers, street or neighborhood flooding. And these new funds are not for useful new projects, like a stormwater detention basin. This money is exclusively for \u201cmaintenance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Flood Control\u2019s so-called \u201cmaintenance\u201d of our streams and channels is not only outdated and backwards: it\u2019s also damaging, destructive, ineffective, pointless, and possibly corrupt. The main benefit is to the private engineering contractors (rarely if ever hydrologists or scientists) who do the (beneficial) analysis and then the work and reap millions in profits. Over and over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to mention that these private engineering reports have been filled with errors that happen to justify their contracts: exaggerating the amount of sediment deposited in streams and misrepresenting the causes of local flooding (see below), among other major mistakes, including the bizarre claim in the past that there\u2019s no sandstone and no vertical bank collapse, i.e. slumping<\/a>, in Buffalo Bayou, which is actually what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clearing Debris<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, contractors are paid by the pound to collect woody debris in and along the stream after storms. Thus motivated they cut down healthy trees, scrape the banks and bottom with backhoes, grab fallen trees that should be left against the bank to provide habitat and defend against erosion. All of this destabilizes the banks and bottom, leading to more maintenance contracts<\/a>. It is hugely damaging to the ecosystem, killing creatures and vital habitat and ruining the natural system that slows and absorbs stormwater, cleanses the water and air, and keeps life flowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Contractor digging into sandy bank and bottom of Buffalo Bayou in search of woody debris. Photo May 19, 2018 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Clear-cutting a pine forest for a Harris County Flood Control stormwater detention basin on Clear Creek in Friendswood. Photo March 19, 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

Dredging or Mining Sand?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dredging streams can make flooding worse and cause more siltation<\/a>. (See also here<\/a> and here<\/a> and here<\/a>.) Left alone, streams naturally flush out sand and sediment, distributing it along the bank where it needs to go. But Flood Control\u2019s stream dredging operations are not only counterproductive. They appear to be basically an undercover sand mining operation \u2013 in a world where valuable sand is in short supply<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vote No on Proposition A Oct. 31, 2024 The Harris County Flood Control District is asking county voters for a property tax increase to raise an extra $100 million a year for maintenance operations. The increase would nearly double Flood Control\u2019s annual budget (p. 80), not including the money from…<\/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-11983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11983","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=11983"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11987,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11983\/revisions\/11987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}