The Harris County Flood Control District will establish three stormwater basins on city property along the bayou as part of the plans. The basins will be located at 3200 N. MacGregor Way, Houston; at 11810 Chimney Rock Road, Houston, along Willow Waterhole Bayou; and at 9100 Fondren Road, Houston, in the Braeburn area.
The agreement was established in the Nov. 30 Houston City Council meeting, just one day after members of the Harris County Commissioners Court passed the county’s portion of the agreement.
Harris County will pay $7.6 million for the design and creation of the three basins, and Houston Public Works will design the sites using previously authorized engineering contracts.
The city of Houston acquired the three tracts of land—which are collectively valued at $18.3 million—through Housing and Community Development Department grant funding for flood planning.
In the Nov. 30 meeting, the council also approved a grant application to the Texas Division of Emergency Management for flood-proofing measures along Keegans Bayou and Ruffino Hills.
If the grant is approved, the $96.65 million project would be paid for with about $24.2 million in local funding and $72.5 million in federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“[The Harris County Flood Control District and FEMA] have worked together to create a channel improvement and detention facility that will provide benefits to the neighborhoods and surrounding channel area,” District J Council Member Edward Pollard said. “This grant application is going to be very competitive. I know that there’s going to be projects from all over the state that will be applying for this grant.”
In November, the council voted to enter a purchase and sale agreement with the city of West University Place for a tract of land along Keegans Bayou known as the Ruffino Tract. At the time, city officials said they hoped to purchase the land before the end of 2022.
