Jim Blackburn and Mary Conner

Set aside Katy Prairie?

Blackburn and Conner are environmental lawyers with the law firm Blackburn & Carter. , May 23, 11.

Tagged with environment, houston, flooding, drainage

What would it be worth to be able to change the future — to erase an error of judgment that caused a major disaster? Could New Orleans have avoided the Katrina disaster? Would the Japanese do things differently relative to the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plants?

Such a question is relevant to Houston today. The most valuable and successful flood control investments ever made in the Houston region - the Addicks and Barker Dams and Reservoirs - are at risk of failure. If these dams were to fail, horrendous flooding would inundate much of west, southwest and central Houston. Yet, most of us are not aware that this threat exists, much less what can be done to protect these assets.

In July 2010, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a report on safety concerns associated with these dams. In this study, the Corps concludes that a risk of “catastrophic failure” exists at the two dams under normal operational conditions.

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Unfortunately, our governmental entities responsible for land development west of Addicks Reservoir seem to have ignored this Corps information. The Texas Transportation Commission recently voted to move forward with its plans to construct Segment E of the Grand Parkway in the drainage area of Addicks Reservoir, ultimately sending more runoff from its concrete and the development it will spawn. Similarly, Harris County has failed to enact development restrictions in response to this July 2010 memorandum.

Perhaps most importantly, none of these governmental entities have proposed any solutions. And there is at least one viable solution: We could buy and set aside large areas of the Katy Prairie west of Addicks and Barker Reservoirs as detention areas to hold additional flood waters, similar to the original thinking behind these two reservoirs. The Corps has stated that “the construction cost (for Addicks and Barker) of over $4 million appears small when compared to the giant savings which have resulted.” New flood protection in the undeveloped Katy Prairie could save billions in avoided flood damages.

Such a new project today would be a bold and far-seeing commitment. Much of the Katy Prairie is a wetland - a sponge that holds rainwater during wet times. A recent publication by Houston Wilderness identifies significant dollar benefits in keeping these lands undeveloped and intact. These natural wetlands west of Addicks and Barker protect us all and should be bought and set aside as protection to absorb and hold rainwater.

There is no reason why the city of Houston and Harris County should not come together and find the financial resources to implement this or a similar solution. Why not spend some of the city’s drainage fee on this project? Why not spend flood control district tax money here? Such spending makes economic and ecologic sense and would help prevent the “catastrophic failure” of Addicks and Barker Dams.

We in Houston have a chance to address a major disaster before it occurs - to show vision like those who came before us - before we find ourselves wishing for the chance to undo an error of judgment.

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Source: Houston Chronice, May 21, 2011

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