Flood project holds promise

Houston has a great deal to be proud of in our response to the devastation brought by Hurricane Harvey as public and private entities, as well as many thousands of individuals, rallied to help our neighbors. The work is far from over, and indeed may never end, in our rapidly growing, but level, green city.

There has been much progress since Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, as demonstrated by flood relief construction projects in the Brays Bayou and White Oak Bayou watersheds. Unfortunately, there is a widespread narrative outside of Houston that we do a poor job with our infrastructure and that we fail to prepare adequately, which, like many generalizations, is largely untrue. However, the question remains: Houston, what are we going to do in response to Harvey?

Many projects will be offered up for consideration, and no doubt many will be done. However, one in particular is worthy of strong consideration and implementation, not only for its value to public and private assets but also the billboard value of not having the heart of our city as a media poster child for the narrative mentioned above.

Following Tropical Storm Allison, Harris County Flood Control District, in collaboration with the nonprofit Buffalo Bayou Partnership, studied a project in detail called the “North Canal.” This flood-conveyance infrastructure project was designed to divert flow from White Oak Bayou to Buffalo Bayou just north of Harris County detention facilities, rejoining Buffalo Bayou near McKee Street. It was studied under the strict scoring system and guidelines of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and again in a project known as Charting Buffalo Bayou. The engineering exists. It’s been paid for.

The engineering from these two studies says the peak flood level in Buffalo Bayou would be reduced by 3.5 feet downtown, and, for White Oak Bayou, the benefit would be the same unless some other upstream improvements are done, which would improve it even more — up to 5 feet. If this project had been put in place as it should have been prior to Harvey, we might have a theater season and saved millions in rebuilding our theater district again. We might not have flooded our county court buildings again, which now have to be rebuilt at taxpayer expense. The list is long, even excluding the impact to private property, which was substantial.

So why wasn’t it done? The short swath of land in question is all owned by a combination of the city, the county and Metro. As scarce resources are allocated to strengthening our city for the future, let’s not get caught with this project still staring us in the face if and when the next severe storm comes calling.

Cover is CEO for the Southwest Region of the real estate development firm Hines and a former member of the Buffalo Bayou Park Standards Committee.