Seeking a new vision

Game changer

As the recovery from Hurricane Harvey begins, the city of Houston needs to take a hard, serious look at flooding. We can’t continue to believe these floods are simply 100- or 500-year events. We can’t bury our head in the sand and say it will never happen again. We can’t continue to build in flood-prone areas based on flood-control maps that don’t match reality. These misguided maps have been an enabler of unconstrained development. Something significant needs to change.

The harsh reality is, Houston will decline in population and economic influence if we do not do something about flooding. Companies will begin to question their investment in Houston. When house flooding is an annual event, people will eventually walk away. Part of the reason Houston exists as a major port city is the severity of the 1900 hurricane and the idea that Galveston was too risky for major investment. Galveston did do something significant by raising the island and building the seawall, but it was too late to instill the confidence necessary for it to become a major city.

Houston needs to do something big, really big. We need a public works project that changes the game on flooding in Houston. We need to stop building houses and businesses where it floods. We need to change the paradigm of deciding where it floods.

The Addicks and Barker Reservoirs are examples of doing something big. These reservoirs and dams are now old and protect only parts of Houston. During Harvey, they were taxed to the extreme. Even though these reservoirs offer limited protection and are in dire need of renovation, they were part of a vision cast forth to help enable the success of Houston.

The time has come for strong leadership to push for a solution to more of Houston’s flooding problems. This is a complex problem that will require major funding. However, the cost pales in comparison to repetitive flood recovery.

Two key tenets of the solution are additional flood control projects and limiting development in flood prone areas. Most of all the solution requires leadership and new vision to set a course toward making Houston a safe and prosperous city. The opportunity is here. Who will take the reins?