Unforeseen Impacts to Horsepen Bayou
Gary Seloff - Clear Lake City
As a longtime, frequent paddler on Horsepen and Armand bayous, I am very concerned to learn of a proposal to widen the channel of Horsepen Bayou near El Dorado Blvd due to the unforeseen impacts it might visit to downstream areas. I have been photo-documenting flora and fauna on the bayous on a regular basis for more than 15 years and I can state definitively that greatest variety and concentration of wildlife (birds, mammals, reptiles, fish) are in the downstream section of Horsepen Bayou before its confluence with Armand Bayou. Working with master naturalists at the Armand Bayou Nature Center, I know that the reasons for this concentration are the results of extensive environmental restoration efforts by Nature Center staff and volunteers, and the natural colocation of three unique ecosystems (estuary, coastal forest, and tallgrass prairie) near the mouth of Horsepen. I have witnessed impacts to the wildlife populations there when the salinity levels drop with large infusions of fresh water, and I have seen fish die-offs following chemical spills from upstream.
My opinion, based on these years of observation, is that any widening of Horsepen where it is already an easily navigable channel so close to this critical habitat would have significant and potentially dire consequences to the environmental quality of the area.
While I appreciate the need to protect residential and commercial infrastructure at risk of damage, it must be noted that flooding impacts during Hurricane Harvey were already significantly mitigated in parts of this watershed when only Phase 1 of Exploration Green was fully excavated. Exploration Green Phase 3 (fully excavated but not shown on the Harris County Flood Control District plan) is within around 12 blocks of the proposed widening of Horsepen Bayou at El Dorado Blvd and all five phases are now near completion, suggesting that retention capacity and flood mitigation are considerably further increased since 2017. In addition, proposed stormwater retention at Pine Brook and The Reserve at Clear Lake City, and channel widening at Ellington Field would also serve the same area covered by proposed widening of Horsepen with considerably less potential impact to the downstream areas of the bayou.
It seems only logical that all of these improvements should be fully evaluated before any other modifications to Horsepen Bayou in the more environmentally sensitive areas are proposed or approved.
Non-Compliance Issues
Harry Lee Landon - Clear Lake Resident
State Senator / Representative / Commissioner / Congressman
I am writing you as a concerned citizen and am requesting your urgent assistance. I reside in the Clear Lake region of the City of Houston (CoH) in Harris County. You are aware of the plans to develop Ellington Field as the Houston SpacePort. The City of Houston advertises the Spaceport as having 400 “build-to-suit” acres with activities underway for construction of streets, water and wastewater, pipelines, electrical power and distribution and communications facilities. What is conspicuously missing from their planning is the handling of rainwater and floodplain management. The City and the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) are not planning to follow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers guidance for floodwater detention that “The premise of detention in association with development is to hold water where it falls and cause no peak flow impacts.” Instead of building detention on the SpacePort site, they are planning to shift the burden of flood control to the downstream neighborhoods on the banks of Horsepen Bayou. HCFCD plans to widen the bayou by 70 feet, replace natural vegetation with crushed limestone, displace local wildlife, and destroy five Native American Archaeological Sites (41HR532, 41HR533, 41HR534, 41HR535 and 41HR536) along the banks of Horsepen Bayou that are listed as protected by the Texas Historical Commission.
What is particularly upsetting about this approach, and is totally unacceptable, is that the Harris County Flood Control District openly lied to the residents of the subdivisions along Horsepen Bayou about their plans. At a public meeting held at the Bay Oaks Country Club, representatives of HCFCD told residents that the bayou would be widened by 10 feet. This false project is drastically different from the actual construction documents that were acquired from HCFCD via a Public Information Request. Those construction plans show the details mentioned above that pale in comparison to the publicly stated 10 foot widening. This is incredibly ironic because the same HCFCD representative told the residents that you can’t shift upstream flood issues to downstream communities. That is exactly what CoH and HCFCD are planning to do. They are planning to shift the floodplain management responsibility for SpacePort development to the downstream communities along Horsepen Bayou.
Further to the above, this plan completely rejects guidance issued in June 2023 by the Association of State Floodplain Managers on “No Adverse Impact” floodplain stewardship. It is clear that HCFCD plans for Horsepen Bayou will have adverse impacts on the residents, the wildlife, the antiquities sites, and the local ecosystem. “In essence, No Adverse Impact is the principle that the actions of one property owner should not be allowed to adversely affect the rights of other members of the community. The NAI approach protects the rights of neighboring property owners and also protects the natural systems that provide flood mitigation benefits to the community. NAI elevates the concept of floodplain management to one of floodplain stewardship that requires integrated management of both natural systems and human activities in areas prone to flooding. “…insisting that landowners internalize the negative externalities of their conduct is a hallmark of responsible land-use policy…” – Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., in the majority opinion for the Supreme Court’s ruling in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management, 133 S. Ct. 2586 (2013).” (No Adverse Impact Legal Guide for Flood Risk Management p. 9, June 2023, Association of State Floodplain Managers, Inc. 8301 Excelsior Drive Madison, Wisconsin 53717) [This guide was funded by the Association of State Floodplain Managers Board of Directors and in part by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.]
Please understand that the residents of the communities along Horsepen Bayou are not trying to stop the development of the Houston SpacePort. We are asking for CoH and HCFCD to comply with the guidelines for floodwater detention “where it falls” and to develop detention ponds among the 400 “build to suit” acres or immediately adjacent to Ellington Field. Note that this project does almost nothing to help the residents of the neighborhoods along Horsepen Bayou. The original projection for flood control improvement was a few inches. Even worse, using Horsepen Bayou as a massive detention facility may worsen flooding in our communities as the existing gravity feed drainage systems will be unable to overcome the hydraulic pressure created by detained SpacePort runoff in Horsepen Bayou. This will back up existing drainage systems into our neighborhoods.
The Reserve neighborhood was required to construct flood detention ponds within The Reserve to hold stormwater as a requirement of the subdivision being built in the Clear Lake area. The Houston Spaceport should not be treated any differently. They should be required to build detention capacity on their own grounds.
Your urgent intervention is needed since HCFCD plans to start digging in January 2024.
Respectfully Submitted
Harry Lee London
Perspective of a Homeowner Flooded During Harvey
Bill and Kathy Richard - Brook Forest
Horsepen Bayou Project Comments/Concerns
Channel Conveyance Improvements on Horsepen Bayou and Tributaries
HDFCD Project ID B104-00-00-E002
As previously flooded homeowners on Horsepen Bayou, we have some comments and concerns about the flood control project that is planned for the bayou behind us.
During tropical depression Harvey, we were flooded. Consequently, we are interested in any flood control projects that will bring flood relief to our area. Therefore, we were very hopeful when a flood control project for Horsepen Bayou was announced.
However, we are disappointed in the plan that has been developed and apparently is currently out for bid. Our comments and concerns are documented below.
We are disappointed that it appears that a natural bayou that provides recreation to the community and environmental habitats to a variety of waterfowl, and other animals will be converted to a commercial drainage ditch.
It was our understanding that the project would be simply to widen the bayou by 20 feet. This plan was also displayed on the Harris County website. However, the bid plan shows a much wider project with a much larger impact on our community. We interpreted the previous plan to mean that every effort would be made to keep the natural beauty while enhancing the drainage capability of the bayou. Apparently, we were misled.
The current bid plan shows an aggressive plan that includes clear cutting of all of the trees that are in the easement of the Flood Control Authority. We do not believe this is necessary. We understand some of the trees will need to be removed but cannot imagine why anyone would simply cut down all the trees to meet the requirements of the project. We urge that careful consideration be given to which trees could remain. We believe this will not only enhance the beauty of the final result but will also help retain the banks of the bayou and prevent erosion.
The project is planned to end at the bridge at Bay Area Blvd. This means that the bayou downstream of Bay Area Blvd will not be changed in any way resulting in a “choke point” for drainage. In effect, you are not increasing run off with this project, but are, in fact creating a long detention ditch in place of a natural bayou. We oppose this approach.
We believe the recent project of Exploration Green, which converted the old Clear Lake Golf course to large detention ponds have greatly relieved the burden on Horsepen Bayou. The Exploration Green project mitigated 1600-acre feet of flood water. Has the benefit of this project been taken into consideration when planning the Horsepen project? The floods resulting from Harvey were a one-thousand-year occurrence. We believe that a recurrence of such an event is highly unlikely, especially since the completion of the Exploration Green project. In fact, we have experienced heavy rains since the Exploration Green project completion and have observed that the water rises much slower and we no longer feel threatened. If this is true, why would you even consider spending taxpayers’ money to undertake this project. We were the victims of the previous flood, and we are confident that the improvements to the flood control that have already been made in our community are sufficient. Please stop this project and use the money in other areas where it will be more beneficial.
We trust that our comments and concerns will be strongly considered as you assess the need for this project.
Concerned homeowners living on Horsepen Bayou.
Cultural Considerations
Native American Cultural Sites
There are five designated Native American cultural sites along the lower part of Horsepen Bayou. Three of these are designated by the Texas Historical Commission as State Antiquities Landmarks. Two of these three are eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historical Sites.
Over the years, work along the bayou has caused some damage to three of the five sites. This “Oops, I did it again”, to quote a song, trend needs to stop. William L. Fullen, the discovering archeologist, acknowledged even with the damage, the cultural sites are worth preserving. Mr. Fullen also wrote that both banks of Horsepen Bayou should remain intact and undisturbed due to the high probability of additional antiquities not yet discovered. The lack of consideration to the sites is an affront to the Native American race.
The exact location of the sites is kept private by the THC so that people don’t dig up the areas in search of relics. The general areas are, however, known and they are within the scope of the widening project.
Join us in saying “enough is enough” to the gradual destruction of the sites and the disrespect of the people who lived here before us; those who appreciated nature as much as we do.
- An Archeological Survey of Portions of Horsepen Bayou, Harris County, Texas, by William Louis Fullen, Ed.D., Texas Antiquities, Permit Number 438, February 1985.
- Monitoring of Three Archeological Sites During Construction of a Sanitary Sewer Along Horsepen Bayou, Harris County, Texas, Texas Antiquities Permit 470, William L. Fullen, Ed.D., May 1985.
- Monitoring of Archeological Site 41 HR 536 During Construction of a Sanitary Sewer Along Horsepen Bayou, Harris County, Texas, Texas Antiquities Permit 561, William L. Fullen, April 1987.
What's All the Talk with Horsepen Bayou?
John Watson - Clear Lake Resident
Dear Neighbors,
There has been a lot of interest in the Harris County Flood Control District’s (“HCFCD”) plan for the Horsepen Bayou widening project. First of all, absolutely everyone supports flood control mitigation that works. If this project was designed with the intent of protecting our homes from flooding, I would be behind it 100%, and I’d be the first to plant shrubs to block the eyesore they are planning to create. However, HCFCD has not been straight forward with the community regarding this project since the beginning. To this day, they describe the project as 10’ widening on both sides with a diagram that shows the same slope, the same general aesthetic. Yet, the engineering drawings show this project is planning to take much more than 10’ (up to 70’ in some locations). The slope will also be increased to 25%, which is too steep to support vegetation growth (read: there will be no grass). They even acknowledged that they would need to provide shoring up to two-thirds of the way up the bank. From what I have read, I believe that to be Rip-Rap, rock or crushed limestone, although there is confusion in the plans.
This project is described by HCFCD as “conveyance improvement and in-line detention.” However, experts say the best mitigation for flood control is upstream detention, not in-line detention. This project starts on the north end at Clear Lake City Blvd. and ends on the South end at Bay Area Blvd. What does this mean? They are bringing water into our neighborhood (68 acre-feet), but not getting it out. Here is an important point learned by the concerned citizens working to stop this project. In the engineering report, they state, “The goal of this final engineering report is to provide for confirmation of no adverse impact from the proposed improvements.” This begs the question - what flooding are they working so hard to prevent? Many of the homes that flooded during Harvey will still flood after this project, as the project only reports to provide between 1-1/2” to 4” of flood mitigation. Inches, not feet. They should be building dry detention basins upstream of our neighborhood, but they are not. An upstream detention project would provide a greater magnitude of protection for our homes than this project (up to 4 feet versus 1.5 to 4 inches) and would result in little to no disruption to any of the neighborhoods.
The project itself will affect life in the area for 1-4 years with construction equipment lining our streets, dump trucks dirtying up the roads, the noise, the mess. Will they have our safety on their minds, or their schedule? In what condition will they leave our property? Just look at the El Dorado widening project, and you will know the answer. Our Bay Oaks HOA has spent countless hours working with and continues to work with COH representatives to get that disaster properly addressed.
There is a lot of concern about how this project will impact the natural environment. We know they plan to remove dozens and dozens of mature trees. The work to the bayou will be potentially devastating to wildlife. There is also a risk of losing historical archeological sites that are located along the bayou. It’s clear that HCFCD has not put the effort into understanding the impacts to the natural environment and the wildlife living here.
To date, efforts by a coalition of concerned citizens working to stop this project have resulted in a temporary pause to the project until 2024. State Senator Mayes Middleton and State Representative Dennis Paul are now involved. We recently received information from Senator Middleton’s office that due to push back from the community, HCFCD has hired an outside consultant to review the project. This review is scheduled to be completed in December. Once completed, his office and Representative Paul’s office plan to meet with HCFCD and the Army Corps of Engineers (“the Corps”) to review HCFCD’s plans in detail.
Please go to SaveHorsepenBayou.Org to learn more and to stay up to date on the progress of the coalition working to stop the project. Also, please contact the public officials listed on the website to let them know that you support saving Horsepen Bayou and that you are against this unnecessary project.
Thank you,
John Watson
Concerned Citizen &
Clear Lake Resident