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Activity  ⁄  Active Projects  ⁄  Addicks Reservoir  ⁄  F-54 Upper Langham Creek Frontier Program

F-54 Upper Langham Creek Frontier Program

F-54 Upper Langham Creek Frontier Program
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Recent Actions

September 27, 2022 - Harris County Commissioners Court approved a change in the construction contract resulting in an addition of $500,000 to the contract amount.

September 13, 2022 – Harris County Commissioners Court approved an interlocal agreement with Harris County Water Control and Improvement District No. 159 that includes a $1.56 million Flood Control District share of channel conveyance improvements, stormwater detention, and associated control structures in support of the frontier program and the Greenhouse Stormwater Detention Basin. Commissioners Court also approved an encroachment agreement with a pipeline company in support of the frontier program.

July 19, 2022 - Harris County Commissioners Court approved an interlocal agreement with Harris County Water Control and Improvement District No. 159 in support of this project.

November 9, 2021 – Harris County Commissioners Court authorized an interlocal agreement in the amount of $430,300 with Harris County Water Control and Improvement District No. 159 for turf establishment after construction of Phase 2 of the Upper Langham Creek Frontier Program.

September 13, 2021 – Construction began on Phase 2 of the Upper Langham Frontier Program, which includes construction of the ultimate channel corridor for approximately 2600 feet downstream of SH99 and construction of the Greenhouse detention basin to ultimate conditions.

April 13, 2021 - Harris County Commissioners Court authorized an interlocal agreement in the amount of $1,621,000 with Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 165 and Harris County Precinct 3 for cost sharing in support of the Upper Langham Creek Control Structure project at West Road.

October 27, 2020 - Harris County Commissioners Court authorized the Flood Control District to execute an agreement with Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 165 to establish impact fee reciprocation for dedication of needed right-of-way in support of this project.

October 27, 2020 - Harris County Commissioners Court authorized the Flood Control District to execute an agreement with Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 165 to establish impact fee reciprocation for dedication of needed right-of-way in support of this project.

July 28, 2020 – Harris County Commissioners Court authorized to initiate and proceed with planning, design, and construction of improvements to Upper Langham Creek Program.

Project description

The Upper Langham Creek Frontier Program is one component of the Harris County Flood Control District’s overall Frontier Program, which is an organized effort to plan for drainage infrastructure in advance of future land development.

The Upper Langham Creek Frontier Program focuses on a roughly 16-square-mile, 10,000-acre portion of the Langham Creek watershed upstream of the confluence of Dinner Creek with Langham Creek near Barker Cypress Road. It provides an innovative approach to the way drainage infrastructure is planned and constructed in the land development process. By collaborating with land owners and developers, the program works to identify a large-scale, mutually beneficial plan for drainage that cost-effectively maximizes stormwater mitigation and water quality, as well as opportunities for public recreational amenities and open space.

This approach is in contrast to typical efforts in which individual land owners and developers install drainage infrastructure that serves their site alone, resulting in smaller, isolated stormwater detention basins and minimum-width channels for stormwater management. Often, regional approaches are considered only in reaction to a major flooding event. The Frontier program is designed to anticipate these needs before major development occurs in the area.

Location

The Upper Langham Creek Frontier Program Service Area is roughly bounded by FM 529 to the south, House & Hahl Rd to the north, Katy Hockley Blvd to the west, and Queenston Blvd to the east. As of 2022, about 75 percent of this service area has been or is currently being developed.

Major Plan Elements

Major elements of the Upper Langham Creek Frontier Program plan include:
  • At the downstream end, a regional stormwater detention basin near the intersection of Greenhouse and Longenbaugh roads, formally identified as HCFCD Unit U500-02-00 and commonly referred to as Greenhouse Stormwater Detention Basin. The 190-acre basin site is also home to a Harris County Precinct 3 community center and recreation area. Initial developer excavation of this basin began in 2007 and is ongoing. Multi-phase construction on this basin by the Flood Control District began in 2014 and is ongoing in 2022. The basin ultimately will provide approximately 860 acre-feet of detention storage. 
  • At the upstream end, a regional stormwater detention basin to be bounded by Peek and House & Hahl Roads to the east and north, respectively, by West Road to the south, and by Katy Hockley Road to the west. The 865-acre basin site, formally identified as HCFCD Unit U502-02-00, is the home of Precinct 3’s John Paul Landing Park. Construction on this basin began in 2015 and is ongoing in 2022. The basin ultimately will provide approximately 2,360 acre-feet of detention storage. 
  • An approximate six-mile, 600-foot-wide, 16-foot-deep floodplain and stream corridor encompassing Langham Creek, formally identified as HCFCD Unit U100-00-00, between the two regional stormwater detention basins. The variable-width, undulating corridor design features wide flood terraces (or benches), gentle side slopes and control structures at various locations to create in-line detention storage volume for the mitigation of stormwater flows. Within the corridor, Langham Creek will be redesigned as a natural stable stream, with adjacent forested borders, native grasses, and stormwater quality mitigation features. Developer excavation within the Upper Langham Creek channel corridor began in 2008. As of 2022, the corridor has been excavated all the way from SH99 to the Greenhouse basin. An additional 3,000 feet of the U100 corridor was completed by FedEx, north of its new distribution center upstream of SH 99 near John Paul Landing. Developers are currently excavating the final stage of the Greenhouse basin. Design and construction of the upstream end of the of the channel continues as neighboring development dictates. 
  • A one-mile, 300-foot-wide stream corridor just west of Greenhouse Road, encompassing a manmade tributary of Langham Creek formally identified as U132-00-00. Excavation of this channel is complete and ownership of the channel right of way was transferred to the Flood Control District in 2016. 
  •  A 350-foot-wide stream corridor north of the John Paul Landing basin, encompassing a manmade tributary of Langham Creek formally identified as U133-00-00, which connects the U502-02-00 stormwater detention basin to Langham Creek. A portion of this channel has been constructed as part of the U502-02-00 stormwater detention basin design. Design and construction of the remaining portions of the channel along with excavation of additional volume within the John Paul Landing basin continues as neighboring development dictates.

Developer Participation

Developers in the Upper Langham Creek service area participate in the Frontier Program in several ways: Payment of a per-acre impact fee of $3,100, which was adopted by Harris County Commissioners Court in 1986. The Upper Langham Creek Frontier Program may use the impact fees paid by land developers to: 

  • Acquire additional public right of way within the Upper Langham Creek corridor, • Make necessary pipeline and utility adjustments, 
  • Construct in-line flow control structures, which may incorporate roadway or utility crossings, 
  • Establish plantings of vegetation in these areas that aid in cleaning the stormwater by settling sediments and filtering out harmful materials. 
  • Provide environmental mitigation for impacts within the stream corridor and basins 

Excavation within the two regional stormwater detention basins and the channel corridor, to mitigate for the effects of their development and fill placed within the existing floodplain. 

Negotiation of an impact fee reciprocation agreement in which a land owner/developer conveys right of way required for the program in return for credit towards future impact fees. 

Negotiation of control structure reimbursement agreement in which a land owner/developer share costs of construction of control structures within the program based on Program Guidelines adopted by Harris County Commissioners Court in 2012.

The Frontier Program approach allows for the inclusion of recreational areas that can be utilized when the stormwater detention basins are not in use during a heavy rain event.

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Upper Langham Creek Frontier Program
Service Area

Work Areas in Upper Langham Creek
Frontier Program

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