Why we flood – what it is – what it should be.

This is a picture of a stream, Spring Gulley, in Precinct 4 of Harris County. We think this is normal because it is what the citizens are used to seeing in our gulleys, streams, creeks, bayous. For almost 30 years Harris County government, Commissioners Court, have neglected flood control and underfunded Harris County Flood Control. In Precinct 4 either Commissioner Ebersole or Cagle was in charge during this period.

Note the eroded banks, the sand bars clogging the channel, the destroyed outfalls, the sides sloughing in filling the water with sand, sand to be transported downstream to our neighbors in Kingwood. This picture was taken four years after Harvey.

This is the way our streams should look if they have proper maintenance. Note the sloping banks, new outfalls, grass stabilized shoulders, clean channel bottom. This channel has NOT been deepened our widened, that’s against the law without a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. No permit exists. Rather this stream has been returned to its normal state before it was damaged by years of storms, flooding and neglect. Which of these two streams will carry more flood water? This portion of Spring Gulley was offered by Commissioner Cagle as an example of the excellent and thorough work being done. Scroll down.

This picture was taken immediately downstream of the one above, just around the bend and out of sight of the public passing on Cypresswood Drive. Note the bank ‘mass wasting’ and sliding completely into the stream with dirt, brush, trees, etc., completely blocking the stream. No one noted or acted to clear the stream until cycreekstoptheflooding.com called HCFCD to demand action. Yet the stream above was offered by Commissioner Cagle as a shining example of all the work done in our area to mitigate flooding. He’s either completely out of touch or just not honest.

This is a drone shot of the same stream channel 50 yards downstream of the above slide area, but before the stream joins Cypress Creek. Harris County is spending $60 million of your tax dollars from the flood bond over the next 4-5 years to do deferred maintenance on Cypress Creek tributaries such as this. Note the eroded banks collapsed into the channel, the sand bars blocking the channel, dead vegetation creating dams, etc. The repair work is being done UPSTREAM of this mess. More water will be able to flow downstream through the repaired areas to this bottleneck and back up into area homes. A child knows you take the cork out of the bottle before you try to pour. But when given the above data the Deputy Executive Director of HCFCD, Matt Zeve, just poo-pooed our concerns saying they will get to it eventually, when they receive further funding. This is the same governmental indifference at Harris County that led to 10,000 homes flooding in Harvey, 2,000 homes flooding in Tax Day and 1,000 homes flooding in Memorial Day floods. Bad government usually results in bad results, as above. If you, the tax-payer and voter, remain silent on these scandals expect them to continue.