04/11/2019
http://katytimes.com/news/article_72d873e0-5610-11e9-b8eb-33d2932869d3.html
City reveals newest flood prevention plans
By Claire Goodman
Managing Editor
Apr 3, 2019 Updated Apr 3, 2019
The day after Hurricane Harvey flooded the area, city officials began making plans to ensure that Katy would never again experience the same devastation.
“We made this commitment that we would never let this happen again,” said Kayce Reina, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the City of Katy.
In a March 27 meeting with the Katy Business Association, Reina and Mayor Chuck Brawner laid out the plans the city has initiated to prevent another Harvey-level flood.
Since that day, city officials have regularly met with state and national representatives to make sure Katy has the plans and resources needed to make the improvements to the infrastructure that will prevent future flooding.
In the 1940s, the Army Corps of Engineers realized that under extreme rain, the city would experience a devastating flood. The Army Corps of Engineers recommended three improvements to the city to pull water away from residential areas, only two of which were ever implemented.
“The Army Corps of engineer said back in the 40s that we need the Barker Reservoir, the Addicks Reservoir, and a third levy. It was supposed to be triplets that would all work together but only two-thirds of that got built,” explained Reina.
When the United States entered World War II, all the funding for improving infrastructure was diverted to the war efforts. After the war, however, the city never revisited the original plan, and the third levy was never built.
According to Brawner, one of the first issues the city will address is the need for a new watershed north of the city. While some of the water from Harvey came from the failures of the Barker and Addicks Reservoirs, most of the water in Katy specifically drained from the Cypress.
“Adding a watershed in Cypress would keep the water from that area from moving into Katy,” said Brawner.
The need is so obvious that water movement into the city has become formulaic. “When (Cypress) gets a lot of rain, we know exactly what streets (the water) is going to come down,” he added.
Brawner noted that homes in the northern part of Katy have flooded multiple times as a result of inadequate drainage.
“We have the Pine Forest area: those homes have been flooded during (the ‘Tax Day Floods’ in April of 2016) and then turned around and got flooded after Harvey, so we're undergoing a major drainage improvement in that area.”
The city is also awaiting federal funding to add a retention pond to the area that will contain water and prevent it from flowing down into Katy.
Old Katy
First Street is a notorious thoroughfare for flowing water. During Harvey, water overflowed from the roads and into buildings. The city will be overhauling the First Street by lowering the road and raising the curbs and gutters.
The city will install pipes with greater capacity and larger diameters in order to carry a greater water volume from businesses and residences down into Cane Island Creek.
During Hurricane Harvey, the First Street bridge became a defacto dam for flowing water. The city will be raising the bridge to give the water and anything it’s carrying more room to flow unobstructed.
Reina explained, “In our bonds, we have money to raise that bridge up to get more clearance so debris that comes through may be able to pass through and not serve as a dam.”
The city also has plans to add numerous smaller retention ponds throughout the area to alleviate flowing water.
“We’re excited to have some progression on these projects, and what we’re doing is very important, obviously,” said Reina. “They knew in the 40s what needed to be done, and so we have a commitment now to make sure it’s done.”
Reina added, “Harvey had us down, but it hasn’t had us out.”
The day after Hurricane Harvey flooded the area, city officials began making plans to ensure that Katy would never again experience the same devastation.
