Legislator explores ‘flood pool’ disclosure

Thousands of residences were inundated by reservoir water during Hurricane Harvey

AUSTIN — A key Texas legislator is examining whether sellers of property should be required to disclose whether their land is located within a “flood pool,” the water that builds up behind dams such as Houston’s Addicks and Barker dams.

State Rep. Jim Murphy, the West Houston Republican who chairs the committee that oversees special purpose districts, aired the issue at the panel’s meeting Thursday.

Thousands of homes in Harris and Fort Bend counties were flooded during Hurricane Harvey by water from the reservoirs behind Addicks and Barker. Many homeowners complained that they were never informed of the risk.

Must be ‘clearly defined’

Murphy asked Scott Norman, executive director of the Texas Association of Builders, for his reaction to the idea of requiring that sellers of property within a flood pool disclose the fact to buyers. The requirement would apply to all property sales, not just those in special purpose districts.

Norman replied it would depend on how the Legislature defined a flood pool.

“It needs to be clearly defined and understood what that is,” he said.

“If there is a bill, we’ll have plenty of hearings and work on that,” Murphy said.

After Thursday’s hearing, Murphy questioned why there are different disclosure standards for floodplains and flood pools.

If a home is within a 100year floodplain, bank rules and insurance policies require a buyer to be told. Banks typically will not grant a mortgage for a home within a floodplain unless the buyer has flood insurance. Those requirements do not apply to properties in or near flood pools.

Murphy said he learned about flood pools in part from Houston Chronicle articles about the issue.

“We’re early, early in the process, but we need all to not forget what we went through and go back to normal,” Murphy said. “We can’t. We saw and learned some things that should cause us to operate differently in the future.”

Barker and Addicks Dams were built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1940s to protect downtown Houston after devastating flooding in 1935.

The reservoirs behind the dams are dry much of the year, and they now include parks, trails, golf courses and other recreational facilities. As a result, many people do not realize the reservoirs’ true purpose: to hold excess storm water until it can be safely released through the dams’ gates.

The flood pools do not have fixed boundaries. Their size depends on rainfall and how much water the Army Corps releases through the dams’ gates.

Extreme consequences

In an extreme storm, more water can accumulate in the reservoirs than the Army Corps has land to contain it. The government-owned area behind Barker Dam, for instance, covers about 12,000 acres. But the dam can hold back enough water to submerge more than 16,000 acres.

That’s called the “maximum flood pool,” and it now includes thousands of homes and businesses. Many flooded for the first time during Harvey.

Murphy cautioned that he has not begun work on a bill to require flood-pool disclosure, and has not yet talked to real estate agents, bankers, or other affected parties.

Murphy said he wants to find a way to protect those who didn’t know they lived in a flood pool until Harvey struck.

“I don’t want to hurt anybody’s property value or impede the market, but there were people who were flooded that never had an idea that they would flood. And nobody disclosed to them. It tugs at your heartstrings,” Murphy said.

During Thursday’s hearing, Murphy said he supports adding a third flood-control reservoir to the Houston area but said removing silt from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs to increase their capacities can be accomplished sooner.

“If we can fix that reservoir for a couple of billion dollars, we should hire the bulldozer man today and say, ‘Hey, get after it,’” he said.

During the hearing, Murphy said he is soliciting ideas on how to expand a 2009 state law enacted in response to Hurricane Ike. The law requires water utilities in Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties to provide back-up power to operate their systems, commonly using on-site auxiliary generators. The question is whether the law should include other protections for water system customers, Murphy said.

“I don’t want to hurt anybody’s property value or impede the market, but there were people who were flooded that never had an idea that they would flood. And nobody disclosed to them. It tugs at your heartstrings.”

State Rep. Jim Murphy

Consultant hired

Also, the trade group for water districts, the Association of Water Board Directors-Texas, said it has hired Meyers Research, a California firm, to study the impact of Harvey flooding on properties within Houston-area water districts and compare it to damage outside those districts.

Scott Davis, senior vice president in the firm’s Houston office, said the study also will assess the damage to infrastructure in municipal utility districts, or MUDs and the extent of utility service interruptions, along with the districts’ ability to keep up on bond payments.