F-124 Carpenters Bayou Watershed Planning Project

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Recent Action

May 19, 2020 - Harris County Commissioners Court approved new Bond ID added to the 2018 Bond Program List.

December 3, 2019 – Harris County Commissioners Court approved a $500,000 agreement with an engineering firm to develop a watershed plan for the Carpenters Bayou watershed

August 27, 2019 – Harris County Commissioners Court authorized negotiations with an engineering firm in support of this project

August 27, 2019 – Harris County Commissioners Court initiated a watershed feasibility study for the Carpenters Bayou watershed and authorized planning, design, and construction of improvements to district infrastructure.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

This effort resulted in a watershed-wide plan for major stormwater infrastructure improvements in the watershed of Carpenters Bayou, HCFCD Unit N100-00-00. Completed in 2021, the Carpenters Bayou Watershed Planning Project investigated flooding problems and evaluated and recommended potential projects to reduce the risk of flooding in this watershed.

Summary of Carpenters Bayou Watershed Plan

This planning study was funded by the 2018 HCFCD Bond Program, Bond ID F-124.

Planners coordinated with Harris County Precinct 1 and 2, both to clarify flooding issues in the watershed, and to provide coordination between Flood Control District regional projects and future local neighborhood and park projects under consideration by Harris County.

This type of Watershed Planning Project is a feasibility project, which means that results and recommendations are at a conceptual level. Each recommended project would need to be developed in more detail during separate preliminary engineering and design stages of the project lifecycle before proceeding to construction, which could be at least several years away. Taking a watershed-wide approach will ensure that future flood risk reduction projects work together and are sequenced appropriately to achieve the maximum benefits.

In 2021, the Flood Control District was awarded $10 million in partnership funding for design and construction of a flood risk reduction project in the Cloverleaf area of the watershed, as recommended in this plan. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation program (CDBG-MIT) through the Texas General Land Office and Harris County Community Services Department.

The Carpenters Bayou Watershed Planning Project had a contract budget of approximately $500,000.

Goals of This Watershed Planning Project

Goal 1: Identify Existing and Potential Future Flooding Problems. Goal 2: Evaluate Problems and Potential Solutions. Goal 3: Develop Watershed Strategy. Goal 4: Create Watershed Plan Document. Goal 5: Develop Additional Details for Immediate Projects. We are at goal 4.

Taking advantage of past Flood Control District reports and studies, the Watershed Planning Projects will:

Define existing conditions for the drainage infrastructure and identify existing and potential future flooding problems in the watershed.
Evaluate potential solutions to these problems using criteria provided by the Flood Control District.
Develop a strategy for the watersheds that provides appropriate improvements for future drainage infrastructure.
Create a comprehensive Watershed Plan to document recommendations for required improvement projects.
Develop a list of immediate improvement projects with more detailed costs and implementation information.

Additional Information

The Harris County Flood Control District conducted high-level Watershed Planning Projects to identify strategies for mitigation of existing flooding problems in ten multiple Harris County watersheds, and to address improved drainage infrastructure required for future development. Nine watershed planning projects are funded by Harris County, the Texas General Land Office of the State of Texas, and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Community Development Block Grant Program to provide for disaster recovery and restoration of infrastructure for communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey. These include Armand Bayou, Jackson Bayou, Spring Gully, Galveston Bay, Luce Bayou, Vince Bayou, Goose Creek, Spring Creek and Willow Creek. A similar study for Carpenters Bayou is being funded through the 2018 HCFCD Bond Program. Approximately 10,000 structures flooded within these ten watersheds during Hurricane Harvey – with the most flooded structures located within Armand Bayou, Vince Bayou, and Goose Creek watersheds.

Previous Engineering Reports And Studies for this Watershed

The Flood Control District maintains a large library of engineering reports from various studies and projects related to flooding conditions across Harris County. These include:

10 Major Engineering Studies that cover a significant area within the watershed or involve multiple or large proposed projects
9 individual drainage study reports for small projects in the watershed.
10 Geotechnical and Environmental Studies to support various project activities within the watershed.

Project Lifecycle

Every flood damage reduction project is unique. Yet each project begins and ends, with common and predictable milestones along the way. Whether a project moves forward – and how quickly – depends on many factors, including the availability of funding at each milestone, shifting community priorities for flood damage reduction, and other changing circumstances (such as the price of trees or concrete) from year to year.

Public Information Session

An identified project in the Carpenters Bayou watershed is included in an application for federal funding through the Community Development Block Grant for Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Program. A virtual Public Information Session to discuss the identified project was held on:

Date: Monday, October 5, 2020
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The official public comment period for the CDBG-MIT applications will be open from October 3 - October 16, 2020. We encourage residents to learn more about the application process, submit a comment and view the meeting presentation and video.

Presentation