Just days after hundreds of homes nearly got flooded (again), Houston city leaders talked about the issue and needed dam improvements. Houston city council approved an ordinance to streamline funds for Lake Houston Dam Spillway improvements. This will hopefully help prevent future flooding in the Houston area.
Council Member District E Fred Flickinger brought up the near-flooding disaster from last week in the Kingwood area.
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“The flooding we had over by the San Jacinto River over the dam, the dam was built in 1953 we desperately need this money to do improvements to the dam. At the time I think we had about 600,000 [people]. This water serves about two million residences and businesses today.”
Flickinger said this doesn’t just impact people living on the north side of Houston.
“I think a lot of people think this is a Kingwood problem. It’s really not. This is the water for the city. This is a big deal for all of us.”
“We came perilously close to having a lot of homes flooded last week. The river crested two feet below what it was forecasted at which was pretty surprising. With the water levels in the river when they recede. They pretty well nailed it,” he said. “I think the biggest difference in the two feet was the large amount of dredging that has been done since Harvey.”
He thanked former council member Dave Martin and U.S. Rep Dan Crenshaw, in part, for securing the funds to pay for dredging and other improvements after Hurricane Harvey.
“I just want to make sure everybody realizes how important this is. Not just for people in Kingwood but for the entire city because again this is our drinking water.”
“When the Lake Houston dam was built Kingwood wasn’t in existence. So, it’s time to step that up and get it up to speed not just for Kingwood but for Houston and Harris County,” said Twila Carter, Council Member at Large, Position 3.
Ordinance creates account to streamline process of paying for dam improvements
Council members passed Agenda item 41, an ordinance for “creation of Segregated Account ‘Texas Water Development Board Grant 21819 - Lake Houston Dam Spillway Improvements’”
This calls for the creation of a “segregated Account to receive and disperse proceeds received from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) under a grant awarded to the City of Houston.”
The official agenda item states:
RECOMMENDATION: The Houston Public Works Director recommends approval of an ordinance that authorizes the creation of a new “TWDB GRANT 21819 - LAKE HOUSTON DAM SPILLWAY IMPROVEMENTS” fund (Fund 4053); and authorizes the execution of segregated trust account agreement between the City and TWDB.
SPECIFIC EXPLANATION: The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is serving as administrator for funds appropriated by the 88th Texas Legislature for structural improvements of the Lake Houston Dam Spillway.
The conditions of award require the City to place awarded grant proceeds into segregated trust accounts to be held separate from the general funds of the City. The creation of segregated accounts by local governments is authorized under Chapter 101.004, Texas Local Government Code. This practice is consistent with previous fiduciary arrangements between the City and TWDB for administration of loan proceeds and reduces the cost to the City by eliminating the need to hire a third-party escrow agent.
During today’s meeting, Council Member Carter also thanked Houston Firefighters for all the work they did last week.
“In an emergency situation like we just saw, they step up, they show up and they never stop. So, thank you,” she said.
Many other areas in the Conroe, Cleveland and Porter areas did flood last week. Cleanup is ongoing there.