Houston flood-control actions remain on city’s to-do list

HOUSTON» Large-scale projects long considered essential to easing Houston’s flooding woes went to the top of the area’s to-do list after Hurricane Harvey inundated large swaths of the nation’s fourth-largest city.

Seven months later, local officials are still looking for funding to undertake plans that include a new reservoir, deeper and wider bayous and a coastal barrier system — all of which have fallen victim to a lack of money or political will in the past.

Yet, local leaders insist this time will be different, saying they’re committed to making the projects a reality, even as they wait to find out how much money they might get from the state and federal governments and whether local taxpayers will be willing to help out.

“There’s been a whole lot of talk over the years, but now it’s time to get it done in the post-harvey era,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a recent community meeting.

One thing that’s giving Turner and others hope is that billions of federal dollars have been allocated to pay for flood-mitigation projects. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has promised $1 billion for areas affected by Harvey, though Houston will be competing with other Texas communities for that funding. Congress in February provided $15 billion to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood-control projects nationwide, some of which could go to the Houston area.

Big projects Houston-area officials are eying include building a third reservoir for the area, at a cost of about $500 million.