Additional Programs

Development Coordination and Inspection

Development Coordination and Inspection monitors and inspects developer construction activity in District rights of way to ensure that it meets Flood Control criteria and specifications. District criteria must be adhered to on any project that enters District right of way.

LOMR Review Program

This program delegates select agencies across the country the responsibility of performing the technical review function for Letters of Map Revision (LOMRs) and Conditional Letters of Map Revision (CLOMRs) in their local community on behalf of FEMA. To date, there are only six other agencies across the country who have been selected to participate.

MAAPnext Development Program

The Harris County Modeling, Assessment and Awareness Project (MAAPnext) will develop the next generation of flood mapping. Along with new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), new tools will be developed for communicating the results of this project. Changes are on the way for Harris County flood maps, and we are ready to bring the region’s flood resistance and resilience to the next level.

Property Acquisition Program

Property acquisition by the District falls into two main categories:
(1) Voluntary Acquisition, and
(2) Project Right-of-Way Acquisition.

These are two very different activities, although the processes they follow share many similar steps. The most distinctive characteristic of Voluntary Acquisition is just that – it is voluntary and owners may choose to not sell their property to the District. The Project Right-of-Way Acquisition process is used when the purchase of land is deemed a public necessity.

UAS and the Flood Control District

The Harris County Flood Control District is testing the use of small, unmanned, remotely guided aircraft as a cost-effective tool for conducting flood control project surveys, and for collecting maintenance-related data and imagery.

Watershed Environmental Baseline (W.E.B.) Program

Each watershed or proposed project area will have an environmental inventory performed and each natural, cultural, and physical resource deemed necessary to evaluate potential project alternatives, will be cataloged and quantified in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), referred to as a Watershed Environmental Baseline (W.E.B.) Map.

Wetland Mitigation Banks

By preserving, restoring and creating wetlands within its mitigation banks, the Harris County Flood Control District provides opportunities for federally permitted government and private developments to mitigate for the unavoidable loss of wetlands elsewhere in Harris County. The creation of wetlands “credits” at our mitigation banks helps offset the “debits” of wetlands losses due to development. The sale of those credits helps ensure the long-term sustainability of these important wetlands preserves.

Stormwater Quality

Stormwater runoff is not treated at a wastewater treatment facility. Virtually anything that touches the ground can make its way into the stormwater drainage system and flow directly into our waterways, and ultimately into Galveston bay. If stormwater contains pollutants, it transports those pollutants unless intercepted by natural or manmade treatment systems.

Home Buyout Program

Home buyouts are used by the Flood Control District to reduce flood damages in areas several feet deep in the floodplain where structural projects (i.e. channel modifications or stormwater detention basins) to reduce flooding are not cost-effective and/or beneficial. These are homes that were simply built in the wrong place, prior to the knowledge we have today of the boundaries of our floodplains and prior to building regulations imposed by the city and county on land development.

Raingarden Demonstration Project

The Harris County Flood Control District is exploring new low-impact ideas to lessen the burden on neighborhood storm sewer systems and reduce local street flooding. Raingardens – small, shallow, specially-planted areas that collect and promote infiltration of rainwater – have been used successfully in other areas of the country to reduce flooding risks and improve stormwater quality.