THE WOODLANDS – Some residents in The Woodlands have been watching the ponds in their neighborhood recede for months. They say the Woodlands Township is dragging its feet and not addressing the issue head-on.
“Well, they’re not addressing the fact that the levels are continuing to look deplorable,” notes Wilde Creek resident, Larry Taylor. “It’s quite unnerving and disheartening.”
Taylor along with dozens of others who live in the Wilde subdivision are upset with the pond’s condition and believe it’s the Township’s responsibility to keep up its appearance.
“We’re blessed to live in The Woodlands,” explains Mike Humke. “It’s a beautiful area but The Woodlands has certain requirements. They will be all over us to maintain the quality they expect to have. The pond also has to affect the value of the home. They want us to maintain our properties so I would expect The Woodlands to do the same thing for us.”
Terri Atkinson says she paid a lot of extra money for the lot on the pond and says it should be maintained at the level it was when they moved in.
“I am just very disappointed that The Woodlands is not adhering to their own standards of the residents,” says Atkinson.
Dr. Chris Nunes has been the Director of Parks and Recreation for The Woodlands Township since 2006. He says he hears these concerns from the residents and so does the board.
“The ponds are monitored on a weekly basis. This is a program that has been ongoing for the 16 years I’ve been in the community, and we get signified when ponds are low and when critical health factors are not where they should be like dissolved oxygen and PH,” Nunes said.
Other residents argue that it’s not just appearance that is a concern.
Tony Myhra says, “if it stays low, we will have a lot more vegetation that will grow up on that shallow area.”
Myhra is concerned that if they wait until the pond water is too far gone, it will have some negative repercussions.
“If we do get into heavy rain, we will get a lot of washing in from the banks. I think sediment could be a problem later on,” noted Myhra.
“We’re getting so low now that if we ever had a bad rain, the runoff could be so bad, you’ll see irrigation concerns, erosion concerns that come into this,” says Humke.
Although the residents also worry about wildlife and fish, Nune argues their natural resources consultant does not see any impact on the wildlife at the current stage.
“Wildlife is very adaptive in where they go for water and food,” said Nune. “This is the challenge the board is working through. We have to manage water appearance as well as resource management.”
Nune wants to remind residents this problem is not just at Kayak Pond.
“We would have to correspond to any action being taken at this pond across 68 ponds throughout the system,” explained Nune. He says until the water PH and Oxygen reach a certain level, they won’t fill the pond.
There was a study done by Bleyl Engineering that showcases the history of the pond and its water levels over the last five years. They presented three options but only one is viable and has to go through a lengthy approval process. It would cost about $90,000 and increase water levels by a foot and a half over a five-year period. This option is something Nune says they are reviewing but is not a likely contender.
Although there are no plans in the works, Nune says they will be continuing to have discussions about possible solutions over the next 90 days.
He also notes that they are factoring in cost and subsidence which can also lead to flooding for some homeowners. He says they want to avoid pumping water from the aquifers and see if they can come up with alternative solutions.
“This is a long process because these are big decisions,” said Dr. Nune.