PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project will develop a stormwater detention basin on undeveloped land located on Cypress Creek, east of the Hardy Toll Road, and north of F.M. 1960. This project has been approved for a $15.4 million dollar grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery fund, awarded to Harris County Community Services Department. Additional funding comes from the 2018 Bond Program, which was approved by Harris County voters on August 25, 2018.
The overall objective of the Mercer Stormwater Detention Basin project is to reduce the vulnerability of streets and adjacent structures to flooding. Stormwater detention basins reduce flooding risks and damages by safely storing excess stormwater during heavy rain events and slowly releasing it back to the creek when the threat of flooding has passed.
This is among multiple stormwater detention projects the Flood Control District is developing in the Cypress Creek watershed. A regional drainage study for the watershed found that flooding along tributaries of Cypress Creek is predominately caused by stormwater from a rising Cypress Creek backing up into tributaries, rather than a lack of sufficient stormwater conveyance or drainage capacity on the tributaries themselves. Therefore, stormwater detention basins could be a beneficial project to reduce that backwater issue.
The regional drainage study described here recommends nearly 25,000 acre-feet of additional stormwater detention in the watershed.