Our purpose at Cypress Creek – Stop the Flooding is to educate and inform citizens and businesses owners along Cypress Creek in northwest Harris County, Texas. No words we offer can guild the black lily of flooding for the 10,000 home and business owners who lost their property during the Harvey flood. But before Harvey there was the Tax Day flood. Before the Tax Day flood there was the Memorial Day flood (1 & 2). Why? Why is there so much flooding on Cypress Creek? What can we do? Learn that here.
did you miss the Town Hall – Cypress Creek Flooding? Here’s your chance:
You can view the entire Town Hall on Youtube, click this link:
Can’t watch it all at once? Go to these timelines:
0-10:10 Introduction to the problem
10:10 – 34:40 Dr. Phil Bedient, Rice’s Severe Storm Center on Cy Creek
34:45-55:55 Matt Zeve Harris Co. Flood Control
55:56- 1:17 Q&A with speakers
What did we learn? Well, nothing optimistic. Dr. Bedient is not the least bit sanguine about flooding along Cypress Creek.
Matt Zeve seemed to promise us that, over the next 10 years, HCFCD would build about 14,000 acre/feet of detention along the creek. HCFCD’s Michael Baker study said we need 26,000 acre/feet. So, after a decade we would have about half of what we need.
_______________________________________________
Frighten easily? Stop reading here.
Since the inception of www.cycreekstoptheflooding.com after Harvey, we have tried to be fact based and straight forward about flooding. If you frighten easily – stop reading here.
Flooding of thousands of homes and businesses along Cypress Creek is going to continue for years. If you flooded during Memorial Day in 2015 or Tax Day in 2016, you will flood again when we get more 9-12” storms. It could be spring rain events or tropical storms. If you almost flooded during previous events, expect to flood this time. Your only real options are to muck out your houses and accept your business losses or move out of our community. Nothing is being done by any government to change this. There is no citizen group or business organization riding to your rescue. Time to face facts.
The funding for a detention facility in Westador has been denied by the state GLO. The GLO money was coming from federal HUD funds. GLO says our area is too wealthy for their funding. Previously, the Army Corps of Engineers said our homes along Cypress Creek were not valuable enough for flood remediation. Government is broken and we have no leaders.
Congressman Crenshaw has done nothing whatever to obtain funds for Cypress Creek, unlike his heroic efforts for Kingwood or Buffalo Bayou. He says Cy Creek is a county problem, but HCFCD counts on federal dollars to fund their projects. Our state representatives – Calanni, Oliverson, Harless, Swanson – have proven helpless to move state government, nor have they banded together to do so. Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle has no flooding plan, has never had a flooding plan. Harris County Flood Control, as of April 1, 2021, still has no plan to mitigate flooding on Cy Creek.
We in the Cy Creek community are not taken seriously by government. Harris County has been negotiating for two and a half years for the former Raveneaux Country Club on Cypresswood Drive and still can’t do a deal. HCFCD only requested from the GLO $10 million for the Westador site and $10 million for the TC Jester site. They requested $65 million for Little White Oak Bayou! The Westador/Jester sites are only 500 acre/feet each – we need 25,000 acre/feet to have an impact on flooding.
What’s gone wrong? Short answer: you.
Mysteriously, Commissioner Cagle found $14 million to buy out Perry Homes after their construction project flooded Kingwood twice in 2019. Yep, two years after Harvey he found money for Kingwood but he hasn’t found a dime for Cypress Creek. Why? Kingwood citizens are well organized, well led and supported by the Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce. We have nothing like that in the Cypress Creek community. No HOA, no MUD, no chamber of commerce speaks up for us. Result: nothing happens. We get talk, we get expensive studies, we get no action and no funding.
HCFCD says they are confused by the Cypress Creek community. They don’t understand why so many groups have formed out here and the groups want different things. Answer: groups formed because government has failed. Groups want different things because nothing has been done since Harvey/Tax Day/Memorial Day floods and there is so much to do. HCFCD says they must also give equal consideration to those demanding esthetics along our creek and to mountain bike groups which are trespassing on HCFCD land. Clearly the values of HCFCD employees are also broken: your family’s life/home/business is equal to trees or to mountain bikes? The first duty of government is ensuring the safety and security of its citizens. If they can’t do that, why do we need government? If you feel HCFCD’s values are out of step with your community, call Matt Zeve at 346-286-4055 and tell him so.
Why do we have no plan for Cypress Creek flood mitigation? Why was no money dedicated in the $2.5 billion county flood bond for detention along Cy Creek? Ask Commissioner Cagle – he, along with the other county commissioners, approve all HCFCD project budgets. He has found $4.8 million to rebuild Mercer Park but can’t find a dime to build detention along Cy Creek to save your home or business. If you wonder why – call Jack Cagle and ask him: 713-755-6444. But be aware: when the phone is answered expect the clerk to be confused as to where to route your call as they get so few calls about flooding on Cypress Creek. Truly.
And there is the problem. We have bad government because we are bad citizens. Elected officials like Cagle are hired hands, they work for you. Government works for you. But only when and if you demand it. Too many elected officials become imperial after time in office and forget they are servants. They feel bullet proof that no matter what they do, the masses will vote for them anyway. It’s time you tell your employees what you want and what they must deliver. Like any other employee they must be accountable; if they can’t do the job then someone else must be brought in. This is not a political issue – we are not influencing policy with Iran or trying to fix the Texas electric grid. We only want some holes in the ground. How hard is that? The solution is up to YOU!
Oh, you’re busy? Or you’re timid? Or you don’t want to get involved – don’t have time to dial 713-755-6444? Then at the next flood, which is inevitable, muck out your house and don’t complain. Watch more businesses leave the area and don’t complain.
Because one thing is sure: the over development in the Cypress Creek area continues unabated. In the general Cy Creek and Willow Creek area, since Harvey, over 5,000 new homes have been built. That’s right: five thousand since 2017. Where is that water from those new roofs, those new driveways, new streets, new shopping areas, where does that water go? Well, same place it went before. Nothing has changed. Except we have more water and no place to put it. The future is up to you.
Paul Eschenfelder
Cell: 832-656-7109
George Peckham
Cell: 713-822-8 145
The $160 million Gambit
The Cypress Creek watershed needs to have installed ~25,000 acre/feet of detention along the creek according to the recent Michael Baker study. This is about 3.9 square miles of detention. The study said the need for detention was “…immediate”. The reason: over-development in the watershed and no place for the water to go. As a result, we have flooded 7 times since 2000, the last three floods being the Memorial Day flood in 2015, Tax Day in 2016 and Harvey in 2017.
The recent Harris County flood bond vote approved ~$2.5 billion for flood mitigation across all 22 watersheds in the county. While Cypress Creek watershed was allocated funds to purchase land in the flood plain, it was not allotted funds to build detention facilities. The Michael Baker study identified nine areas along the creek as potential detention sites. All need to be built.
There are plans by Harris County Flood Control (HCFCD) to build 2 small detention sites, one on TC Jester and the other in the Westador neighborhood. Neither of these construction projects have funds approved yet.
On the other hand, HCFCD set aside $175 million in flood bond funds for matching programs with any government entity. In other words, if a city or other government entity, i.e. MUD, PUD, WCID, proposed a flood mitigation project, HCFCD would match that entity’s funds from this pot of money. Three years after the bond passed there is still $160 million in matching funds available.
The Cypress Creek watershed is exclusively in unincorporated Harris County. There are no cities or towns in the watershed, but there are dozens of MUDs. A number of these water districts have considerable retained earnings that they have accrued over the years, some as much as $20 million. It is our belief here at cycreekstoptheflooding.com that sufficient funds are available in the watershed for the immediate construction of a detention facility which would benefit all, if MUDs would work together. We do not expect any one MUD to put up a huge sum of money but rather like the rain, all put their share in the bucket. The county would then match our bucket of funds.
We are currently hamstrung in funding for detention by the necessity of requesting federal funds via the state land office. As you can imagine this is an agonizingly slow affair with many hurdles. The $160 million is available immediately from HCFCD, it is part of the bond.
The idea of “self-help” along Cy Creek is a new idea. People are resistant to change. MUD boards could see the idea as outside of their purview; not true, flood control is within the remit of virtually all MUD charters. Or the idea may be viewed as “never been done before”. Never have we had so many floods before, either. If we wait for the state and federal government to act, we can expect more and greater losses to flooding, including the losses of recreational facilities built by MUDs with their retained earnings. And the losses of homes, business and economic prosperity in the area. We need to act.
Our first step is to discuss the idea among the voters and citizens along Cy Creek. Unless the idea has popular support, it is doubtful MUD boards will cast aside their hesitations and act. Please discuss the idea within your family, with your friend and neighbors and with your MUD board. If you need more information please contact us here at cycreekstoptheflooding.com.
Paul Eschenfelder – 832-656-7109
George Peckham – 713-822-8145
What’s New and Old on Cy Creek Flooding for 2021?
Most importantly, as we start 2021, is the fact that since the Memorial Day flood in 2015, Tax Day flood in 2016 and Harvey in 2017, not one more drop of water can go down Cy Creek than before. This is not progress over time.
In 2020 we saw the publication of the Michael Baker report on Cy Creek. It advised that we need around 26,000 acre/feet of flood water detention along the creek. This would require around 1,400+ acres of land to accomplish. Quite the task.
While we have seen Harris County Flood Control (HCFCD) engage in repairs around our watershed, these repairs do not make us more capable of handling floods like the 3 cited above. Even more threatening is the report by NOAA. Their new Atlas 14 forecast for storms indicates exactly what every forecaster has predicted: more storms, more intense storms. For the 100-year storm (1% chance every year) instead of receiving 12.4 inches of rain, we can now expect to receive 16.3 inches. Quite the increase. Buy flood insurance. See the chart by Community Impact Newspaper below:
With some urging, HCFCD did abandon its whack-a-mole approach to flood mitigation on Cy Creek. It has formed “Project Cypress Creek”, similar to its “Project Brays” on Brays Bayou. An engineering firm is developing a plan of action and a team of HCFCD personnel has been formed to implement the plan. We should see the first draft of the plan this spring. The plan will prioritize projects and establish time lines for project completions, a yardstick against which we can measure progress.
HCFCD also announced detention facilities on TC Jester and in Westador, where Ella dead ends in the creek. Unfortunately, these facilities will be small and dependent upon both state and federal funds to move forward. Funding is, of course, political. We compete with all other areas in Harris County, and the state, for these funds. Therefore, we need political representation which advocates for us if we are to ever succeed. When you see your county commissioner, your state representative or your congressman please recall that, by in large, their positions are that flooding on Cy Creek is not something that makes their phone ring. Give them some input if you expect to receive government dollars for flood control on Cy Creek.
HCFCD is also installing swales in 6 locations along the creek. Swales will aid flood prone areas to drain better during storms. Unfortunately, more drainage to an overburdened creek does not seem to be a good idea. Bioswales (rain gardens) are used in Angleton County to slow down run off and protect Dickenson Bayou. They are also advocated by Texas A&M engineers as an aid to flood mitigation. HCFCD does not use bioswales in Harris Co. but agreed to begin a project along Cy Creek to investigate their efficacy and see if they can help slow the extreme run off due to overdevelopment we experience along Cy Creek.
A community flood mitigation group formed this year under the auspices of the Cypress Creek Cultural District. This Task Force (TF) has convened several meetings with HCFCD to learn of their plans and give some much-needed community input to HCFCD. The group, led by Dr. Glenn Wilkerson, plans to maintain contact with HCFCD and elected leaders to help move forward projects which are slow moving. It is interesting that the repair project on the Centrum in the Cultural District is installing flood gates around the building to protect it from future flooding. This is the first real manifestation by the community that flooding is a problem for us, a problem here to stay which must be confronted.
Finally, what about Raveneaux County Club? HCFCD has purchased 27 acres at this location on Cypresswood Drive and is negotiating with the PUD there to purchase the balance of the 200+ acres of golf course. This is an excellent place to construct a large detention facility (and park) for the benefit of the entire community. Negotiations have been difficult and there has been considerable push back from the local subdivision. As the golf lease expires the end of this month hopefully the impasse will be broken soon. What does all this mean? It’s good to see project planning but still no dirt is flying. The community cannot continue as before. We had several near-misses with tropical cyclones this past season. Luck is not a flood mitigation strategy. We need some place for the water to
No insurance – no problem?
Some homeowners feel that they have never flooded so there is no need for them to have the federal flood insurance. Wrong! Better have a spare $100-150,000 in the bank to repair your home/replace your furnishings, then. ANY place in Harris County can flood due to our very flat topography, impermeable soils and tropical inundations. Plus, see article below, you never know when the environment around you will change by development.
Both the State of Texas meteorologist and the Harris County Flood Control meteorologist believe the future is a greater number of storms along the Gulf Coast and more intense storms. Why? Global warming. No matter what your political views, the fact is the atmosphere is warmer and holds more moisture, therefore greater inundations. Don’t believe them? See below:
It is the middle of a very active hurricane season in 2020. Currently the National Hurricane Center is tracking seven (7) tropical systems today. Here in Harris County we have already dodged two bullets this year. When it comes to flood mitigation, luck is not a strategy. Nor can one rely on past history. Buy flood insurance.
______________________________________________
Developing Problem
It’s late August – the heart of the storm season. It’s going to be an interesting next several weeks as we look toward the sea. Buy flood insurance. ANY place in Harris County can flood, don’t be another surprised flooding victim. “I’ve never flooded before” will not get you much sympathy anymore, we have heard it too much.
In 1984 Dr. Phil Bedient, of Rice University, wrote his first research paper on flooding along Cypress Creek. At the time he said the cause was too much development with no place for the water to go. In 2018 Dr. Bedient, as head of Rice’s Severe Storms Center, wrote another paper on flooding on Cypress Creek. He said the cause was too much development with no place for the water to go – too much run off. One of his co-authors told us that even if a dam was erected on the creek at 290, and another dam erected at the junction with Little Cypress Creek, the main stem of the creek would still flood. Too much run off, no place for the water to go. And too much unbridled development.
We all bewailed the Arizona developer who brought eight (8) feet of fill onto the 50 acres at the Vintage, on Vintage Preserve Pkwy., to build apartments. He installed detention to capture the run off on that 50 acres, but what of the water that used to pool there during floods, where does it go? He produced an engineering study saying “no adverse impact”, but where does that water go?
We recently visited a Harris County home buy out focus site in Saracen Park on Cypress Creek. There were several vacant lots where residents had sold out to FEMA to escape repeated flooding. Immediately adjacent to these properties, which were purchased with federal tax dollars, was a new home being constructed. It was a spec home being erected by a builder – “for sale by owner”. The County verified that the builder had the proper permits to build in the floodway. Not flood plain, floodway – the stream channel. Harris County allows building in the stream channel. Why? Is there no other land? Or is this land just really cheap because it’s in the floodway? Why spend tax dollars to buy out properties and, in turn, allow more properties to be built there? What sense does this make? Who are the stewards of our tax money? Harris County is one of the few places in the country which allows building in the floodway. As one of our state representatives told us, it is difficult to obtain state funding for flood mitigation in Harris County when other representatives from around the state ask: “Well, why ya’ll allow building in the flood plain, anyhow?” How does one answer that?
At the corner of Cypresswood Drive and Champions Forest Drive a developer, Don Hand, recently brought in 5-6 feet of fill to build up his lot for a construction project. He didn’t bother to obtain a permit. There was no detention built and no consideration for his neighbors. If a tropical storm had arrived, the water would have cascaded off that lot into the Chase branch bank, crossed the street into the Mormon Temple, flooded the Conservatory parking lot, inundated Cypresswood Drive and perhaps entered the Kroger, again. Citizen outrage caused the County to ‘red flag’ his construction. The County was required to go to court to obtain an injunction to stop this developer and require the fill to be removed. It was a pyritic victory. The penalty assessed under the law against this type of dangerous develop is $100/day. Little wonder the dirt is still there – it’s cheaper to pay the fine than remove it.
Development continues apace along Cypress Creek. Community Impact’s investigation into development along the creek indicates that since the 1997 county standards were adopted, there have been over 3,600 new building permits issued along the creek. More impervious surface, less room for the water. The Greater Houston Flood Consortium’s 2017 report on flooding and building standards recited that “…not requiring new development to fully mitigate its impacts would essentially be a subsidy for that development, reducing the cost of building but ultimately requiring taxpayers to pay for more new flood mitigation infrastructure and saddling downstream residents with flood-related property damages.”
How did we get so far out of balance? For a century builders & developers have had a powerful hold on Houston and Harris County. Recall the 1960s mayor of Houston, Louie Welch, and his statement: “The business of Houston is business”. No zoning, weak regulation. Another reason is money. County regulations are approved by Commissioner’s Court. In 2018 a Houston Chronicle investigative report indicated that all 4 of the commissioners received at least 80% of their re-election funds from builders/developers/engineering firms. While all the commissioners deny that these election contributions have any impact on their decisions, you can bet the donors get their phone calls returned.
It currently appears that by this time next week we will have been visited by a tropical storm. There is a hurricane right behind it. Thus far in this very active hurricane season we have been lucky and dodged all the storms. In flood mitigation, luck is not a strategy. We must have flood infrastructure. Three years after Harvey, four years after Tax Day, not a shovel of dirt has turned on Cypress Creek. But we must also have reasonable rules which look after not only developer profits, but public safety and security. Tell your friends, tell you neighbors, tell your elected representatives. Let’s start that conversation.
Paul Eschenfelder
George Peckham
_______________________________________________
Floods, plagues and locusts
No one should underestimate the danger of the coronavirus. Or the danger of our next flood along Cypress Creek in spite of having to social distance and avoid the plague. Since Harris County has seen 5 floods in the last 6 years we should expect another, shortly. We are currently in the middle of the spring rainy season (remember Tax Day & Memorial floods?). And a month and a half from hurricane season. Under our “Studies & Reports” tab you can find an extremely interesting Op-ed from last Sunday by the Bayou City Initiative on what we need to mitigate flooding during an epidemic. Or you can click here:
Fair deal?
This chart is from the Greater Houston Flood Consortium’s report on Harvey. It notes the amount of spending on flood mitigation on each of Harris County’s 22 watersheds over the last 20 years or so. Cypress Creek is Harris County’s largest watershed with the longest stream (30 miles) in the county. Note the amount spent on flood mitigation here.
Flood Meeting – State Reps and HCFCD, October 31st, 2019
On October 31, 2019, cycreekstoptheflooding.com coordinated a meeting between state representatives and HCFCD at HCFCD’s HQ. Present were Representative Sam Harless and Representative Valerie Swanson and their staffs. Present for HCFCD were Russ Poppe and Matt Zeve with their staff support. A summation of the meeting follows:
1. The State Reps made it very clear to HCFCD that the citizens along Cypress Creek had been very patient but that patience was at an end. Flood mitigation action is required by HCFCD. It appeared that message was received by HCFCD.
2. Matt Zeve volunteered that the HCFCD website page for Cy Creek would be modified so that users could obtain salient information on projects such as timelines, percent completed, etc., so that progress can be monitored.
3. The CI-012 ‘Major Maintenance’ project on Cy Creek has begun. Citizens may see work at various areas along the Creek. This project is to desilt and restore the Creek to its previous condition before storm damage. This is not an effort to increase the water carrying capacity of the Creek.
4. The CI-035 study for regional drainage and tributaries of the Creek is completed in its draft form. Russ Poppe promised this report would be finalized by year end. This report is the basis for much of the work to be done on Cypress Creek to lower the flood risk.
5. Of the $100 million in the Bond election dedicated to buying land along Cypress Creek for detention facilities, Matt Zeve stated that land purchase continues but not enough land has been purchased anywhere along the Creek to construct a new detention facility.
6. Harris County owns the land along the Creek between and near the TC Jester bridge and Meyer Parks. There is no reason that construction of a large detention feature cannot begin here. Russ Poppe challenged his team to move forward on this and other projects which are necessary without waiting for completion of all studies. Nevertheless, there will be further delay as HCFCD must obtain permits and environmental approval.
7. The Kuykendahl bridge at the Creek has been identified as a bottleneck for drainage and needs to be modified. As this is a County bridge under the control of Precinct 4 it would seem relatively ‘easy’ to begin the work on this modification. Matt Zeve said he would take this project to the Commissioner, Jack Cagle, to initiate work. Likewise, the I-45 bridge is a bottleneck but as this is an interstate bridge with TXDOT and the Feds involved it will take longer to modify.
8. Home buyouts along the Creek continue, removing families from high risk areas. But, thus far, due to the voluntary nature of the buyouts, no subdivision has been entirely purchased which could allow construction of a detention facility at that location.
9. Considerable funds are still available from the Bond for joint use flood mitigation projects between HCFCD and community entities, such as MUDs, HOAs, etc. There seems to be a great reluctance for the local entities to apply for funds as this is a ‘cost sharing’ effort and the local entity must foot part (~50%) of the cost.
10. Despite direct questioning we were unable to secure a promise from HCFCD that detention features would be multi-use in a manner which would be an asset to the community for other than flood water detention.
Opinion: we were heartened to hear the state reps deliver a very clear message that the time for Cypress Creek is ‘now’. There continues to be considerable flood mitigation work ongoing across Harris County. We need to see the same level of activity along Cy Creek. Unfortunately, it is a bureaucratic effort and agonizingly slow. Please remember that one reason we have any success at all is because you have voiced your concerns and continue to do so. Without citizen involvement we are going nowhere. Keep up your contacts with your elected officials and the civil servants who work for you.
Paul Eschenfelder
George Peckham
Cypress Creek - Stop the Flooding 