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Exploration Green will Provide Sufficient Protection
Bay Area Magazine - Precinct 2 States Exploration Green Greatly Increases Flood Protection
Clear Lake City
An estimated 250 homes flooded in the Clear Lake City area according to Houston officials, who said homes in Bay Oaks, Bay Glen, Bay Pointe, Meadowgreen, Oakbrook West, Pine Brook, Middlebrook, Brook Forest, University Green, Sterling Knoll, Pipers Meadow and Northfork reported water damages – some with only an inch or two of water and some with a foot or so as Horsepen Bayou overflowed.
Meanwhile, Doug Peterson [Pct. 2, Bay Area Houston Liaison] tells us, “With its first section excavation about 90 percent complete, Exploration Green worked like a champ, gathering and detaining about one million gallons of water, and then slowly releasing it long after the rain stopped. It’s estimated that between 150 and 200 homes avoided flooding because of Exploration Green, and up to 2,000 will be protected from flooding when the project dig is complete.”
[Website Editor's Note: Exploration Green held its Grand Opening on September 30, 2023, after the completion of all five sections.]
Bay Area Houston Magazine, "A wandering hurricane named Harvey leaves behind miles and miles of misery", Mary Alys Cherry, November 1, 2017. http://www.bayareahoustonmag.com/wandering-hurricane-named-harvey-leaves-behind-miles-miles-misery/
Wooden Fences caused Flooding Backups during Harvey
Fencing Between Homes Acted as Dams
“Per the topographic survey, homes that were flooded had a finish floor elevation from 17.85 to 18.56, which is higher than the high-water mark of 17.5 feet in Horsepen Bayou at El Dorado Boulevard, located at the southeast side of the subdivision. The high-water mark elevation is approximately 4.2 to 12.7 inches below the finish floor elevation of the impacted homes, and the natural ground between homes at the existing casements ranges from 16 to 17.5 feet. Therefore, stormwater levels appear to have risen higher within the subdivision than the adjacent Horsepen Bayou.
After evaluating the area and the topographic survey, it appears that the existing fences between, acted as a dam and kept the storm water from sheet flowing towards Horsepen Bayou. This finding was supported by a resident account where the resident stated when they opened their wooden fence gate storm water rushed towards Horsepen Bayou where there is a wrought iron fence along the back property line. The wooden fences have been constructed with no opening for storm water flow, whereas the wrought iron fencing has opening and provides a path for storm water to flow through. Without a dedicated path for the sheet flow, storm water within Park Estates Lane continued to rise until the rainfall subsided enough to allow Horsepen Bayou and the subdivision section storm sewer system to recover and discharge the storm water downstream.”
Proposed Solutions
Potential Option No. 1 - Concrete Extreme Event Spillways.......................$100,000 ($50,000 each)
Potential Option No. 2 - Additional Inlet along Park Estates Lane..............$55,000
Excerpted from:
Bay Forest Section Three Subdivision
Hurricane Harvey Flooding Analysis
LAN Project No, 120-12129-000-100
December 18, 2018
[Web Editor's Note: This post is not intended to minimize or lay blame on Bay Forest for flooding during Harvey, but to illustrate that some of the flooding that occurred during Harvey, being used by HCFCD as justification for the bayou project, was not due to rising water from Horsepen Bayou. Not all previous flooding will be resolved with the widening project.]
Bowl Shape Topography Impacted Flooding in Areas of Bay Oaks
Sheet Flooding from Street Flooded Homes during Harvey
“Based on LiDAR topography data and evaluation of pavement elevations in the record drawings, there are some areas within the Bay Oaks Subdivision where the middle of the section is lower than the perimeter, similar to the shape of a bowl. In Bay Oaks Section 8, Enchanted Isle Drive was designed with no defined pathway for extreme event sheet flow. During intense rain events, storm water will rise in the street until the elevation of the water surpasses the high point and spills over into Space Center Boulevard. Other similar areas within the Bay Oaks Subdivision are Bay Oaks Section 2 along Lofty Mountain Train and Tangle Pine Court; Bay Oaks Section 7 along Almond Creek Drive and Scenic Elm Street.”…
….”The reported flooding within Bay Oaks Sections 3, 7 and 8 occurred in depressed areas where the storm water will continue to rise in the streets until it reaches an elevation high enough to overflow into another drainage area and eventually into HCFCD channels. As stated above, during Harvey the area experienced an average rainfall intensity of 3.5 inches per hour for over three hours, the storm sewer system was supercharged, and ponding in the streets near the inlets ranged from approximately 6 to 18 inches in depth. Without a dedicated path for the storm water sheet flow, storm water within the Bay Oaks Subdivision continued to rise until the rainfall subsided enough to allow Horsepen Bayou and the subdivision section storm sewer system to recover and discharge the storm water downstream.”
Proposed Solutions
Potential Option No. 1 - Add Extreme Event Swale to Bay Oaks Section 8 - Topographic Study needed to determine total Option cost, Study Cost - $5,000.
Potential Option No. 2 - Add extreme Event Swale to Bay Oaks Section 7 - Topographic Study needed to determine total Option cost, Study Cost - $5,000.
Excerpted from:
Bay Oaks Drainage Evaluation
Hurricane Harvey Rising Water Analysis
LAN Project No. 120-00765-029-984
December 18, 2018
[Web Editor's Note: This post is not intended to minimize or lay blame on Bay Oaks for flooding during Harvey, but to illustrate that some of the flooding that occurred during Harvey, being used by HCFCD as justification for the bayou project, was not due to rising water levels in Horsepen Bayou. Not all previous flooding will be resolved with the widening project.]