F-27 Zube Stormwater Detention Basin

Project Description

This project involves design and multi-phase construction of the Zube Stormwater Detention Basin, HCFCD Unit L500-01-00. The basin is located on the east side of Harris County Precinct 4’s existing 141-acre Zube Park, extending onto an 84-acre Flood Control District site between Roberts and Becker roads. This project is part of a regional drainage infrastructure plan for an area of northwest Harris County, the Little Cypress Creek Frontier Program. Stormwater detention basins are large, excavated areas that reduce flooding risks and damages during heavy rain events by safely storing excess stormwater and slowly releasing it back to the bayou when the threat of flooding has passed.

The third phase of the project began construction in late March 2022. In this phase, the Flood Control District will lower the flow line of Little Cypress Creek through the existing basin and incorporate 9,300 feet of natural stable channel design features in the creek channel. Natural stable channel design features are designed to mimic nature in a way that restores and stabilizes the channel. Examples are the use of natural woody material (buried tree logs and root balls) to protect the channel banks and bottom. The goal of these features is to restore a stream channel so that it transports water and sediment delivered by its watershed in a manner that does not aggrade or degrade the channel bed over a long period of time.

The project also will expand the basin by excavating approximately 563,940 cubic yards of material for offsite disposal or limited onsite use as topsoil and to create maintenance berms along the creek.

Funding for this phase of the project comes from a federal partnership from the U.S. Department of Houston and Urban Development through its Community Development Block Grant application.

Construction of the second phase of this stormwater detention basin was completed in 2018. Work during that phase involved the excavation and removal of approximately 101,000 cubic yards of soil. The project also included the construction of a weir or spillway structure that also serves as a pedestrian crossing over Little Cypress Creek as part of Zube Park’s expanding trail system. Weirs are a type of structure designed to control and direct stormwater from the channel or bayou into a detention basin. Phase 1 construction was completed in 2016 to establish the top-of-bank outline of the basin along the south and east sides, in coordination with plans for the park.

At the completion of Phase 3, the Zube basin is designed to hold approximately 835 acre-feet, or more than 272 million gallons, of stormwater during heavy rain events.

Community Engagement Meeting

A community engagement meeting was held on Wednesday, November 14, 2018.