County Judge Announces $2.5B Flood Control Plan

HOUSTON, TX — Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and Harris County Flood Executive Director Russ Poppe unveiled a flood control plan that will go before Harris County voters this summer.

"Harvey changed lives," Emmett said. "Just as we endured and survived Harvey together, we must prepare for the future together."

To prepare for that future would require a plan, which would include the passage of a $2.5 billion flood control bond.

The Harris County Commissioners Court will decide on June 12 whether to place the flood control bond referendum on the ballot, which if it is approved, would be held on Aug. 25, the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey's landfall

In the name of transparency, the county will host a series of public meetings in all the Harris County watersheds to share the aspects of the flood control plan, and to solicit public comment.

The first of those will be held on June 5 at the Hiram Clarke Multi-Service Center, and end on Aug. 1, the start of the early voting period for the Aug. 25 election.

"These engagements are not simply an opportunity for county officials to educate the public on the bond issues...it's really an opportunity for a give and take, for a two-way conversation," he said.

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If approved, issuance of the bonds would be spread over 15 years, and the expected Flood Control tax increase for most homeowners would be limited to 1.4 percent or less.

"We've assembled what we feel is a fairly comprehensive list of projects," Poppe said.

Some of those include:

• Home buyouts in flood prone areas
• Improvement in the flood warning system
• Channel improvements and repairs
• Creation of green space and detention basins throughout the entire county

What won't be on the project list is the Barker and Addicks Reservoirs, which are owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Emmett said some of these projects have been in the works for years, but haven't been completed because the county lacks the funding.

That will change if this bond passes.

"On Aug. 25, the voters of Harris County will get to make one of the most important decisions — I think — in our history," Emmett said.

The initial list of potential projects and details about the upcoming community engagement meetings can be found as they become available through June 8 on a dedicated portion of the Flood Control website athat's found here.

Image: LaMarcus McCray and Allan Sommer (L-R) push a boat through a flooded neighborhood as they help bring items out of a friends home in an area where a mandatory evacuation is still under effect after it was inundated with flood water after torrential rains caused widespread flooding during Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey on Sept. 3, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Harvey, which made landfall north of Corpus Christi on Aug. 25, dumped around 50 inches of rain in and around areas of Houston and Southeast Texas. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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