BROOKSHIRE, Texas (Covering Katy News) — Harris and Waller county leaders are joining forces on flood-control efforts that could include a new Cypress Creek study, coordinated drainage projects and common drainage standards across the rapidly growing Katy-Brookshire area.
Brookshire-Katy Drainage District General Manager Stan Kitzman, Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones, Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey and Waller County Precinct 4 Commissioner Justin Beckendorff signed a memorandum of understanding Monday during a ceremony at the Brookshire-Katy Drainage District headquarters, 1105 Kenney St.
The coalition plans to study how water flows through Cypress Creek between the counties, collaborate on drainage and detention improvements along Cane Island Branch, explore an expanded regional flood-warning system with additional gauges and promote common drainage standards as development continues across the area.
The memorandum said the participating governments have a mutual desire to strengthen their collaboration, share information and promote strategies to support the safety of their communities. However, the agreement is nonbinding and places no financial obligations on the participants. Individual studies and infrastructure projects contemplated by the coalition would still require separate funding and government approval before moving forward.
“Its purpose is to signal a shared commitment to continued dialogue and coordinated planning,” the memorandum said.
The coalition was launched as Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall in Southeast Texas, although the storm was not making landfall in the Katy-Brookshire area.
Repeated devastation over many years
“We all have a level of trauma, apprehension, and we know the repeated devastation and destruction that we’ve experienced across this region and area in particular,” Briones said. “We know that Harvey, just in this area alone, had a devastation of about $870 million just in this area, about 155,000 structures, and you could go storm by storm.”
Briones said cooperation among local governments is becoming increasingly important because of the area’s growth. Some cross-boundary projects are already underway, she said, including a recently completed Cane Island Branch drainage study conducted by Harris County Precinct 4 and the Brookshire-Katy Drainage District.
Ramsey said flooding problems in the area have long been apparent because of the flat terrain of the Katy Prairie.
“I first came here and started doing engineering in the early ‘80s,” Ramsey said. “I would bring my father-in-law out to the Katy Prairie and we would look at geese, millions and millions and millions of geese. Now the one thing I figured out, geese don’t land someplace where there’s not water.”
Ramsey said differences in drainage standards between neighboring jurisdictions are one reason regional cooperation is needed.
“You don't get to lecture on partnership if you're not willing to practice it,” Ramsey said. “Not every county along our border shares the same drainage standards, not because we're smarter, but because Harris County has made more mistakes than anybody and learned from everyone, from Carla to Ike to Harvey.”
Waller County Precinct 4 Commissioner Justin Beckendorff also emphasized how water moves across government boundaries.
“Water doesn't care about boundaries, and it doesn't care who you are, it affects every one of us,” Beckendorff said. “Most of the rain that falls in Waller County moves through Harris County before it ever reaches Katy. It's not a question of if we flood again, it's when, and what we do today decides whether our neighbors have to live through it.”
Harris County Pct. 4
Representing Waller County, Justin Beckendorff signs the memorandum of understanding.
Addressing ongoing flood-control challenges
Kitzman said the Katy Prairie is a unique place. He said Cypress Creek, when it overflows, has consequences for Katy. Previous leaders saw a need years ago for a third reservoir after the Addicks and Barker reservoirs were established, but that reservoir was never developed.
“But our opportunity to correct that situation in some form is right now,” Kitzman said.
Speaking to Katy Mayor Dusty Thiele, who attended the event along with Council Member-at-Large Paul Follis, Ward A Council Member Johnston Dietz and Ward B Council Member Michael Miehl, Kitzman said nobody envisioned 33 years ago that there would be about 200,000 people living around the city of Katy.
“But we’re up to that challenge,” Kitzman said. “We have the knowledge.”
Thiele praised the creation of the coalition and said flooding remains personal for many Katy-area residents who experienced previous storms.
“The neighborhood that I lived in for 26 years flooded both at the Tax Day Flood and Harvey,” Thiele said. “And I always say, my old neighbors, anytime it starts raining one inch, or two inches, they have PTSD from that time because as an old insurance agent, the hardest claim to have is a water claim.”
Growth doesn't stop at county lines, and neither do the flooding and drainage challenges that come with it. Covering Katy News follows the decisions, projects and government actions that affect Katy-area neighborhoods. Subscribe today for local reporting that keeps you informed about what's happening where you live.