Harris County official spars with other counties over flood control and prevention

The severe flooding in early May along both forks of the San Jacinto River reached the finger-pointing stage last week, with county officials sparring over flood control and prevention.

Calling on his counterparts north of Harris County to join regional flood control effects, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey criticized Montgomery and Liberty county leaders for not doing enough to prevent stormwater from closing roads, inundating neighborhoods and forcing the rescues of residents from Kingwood to Crosby.

“My neighbor to the north, Montgomery County, needs to do more on flood mitigation because every drop of water that flows from Montgomery County comes into Harris County through Precinct 3,” Ramsey said. “I’m tired of excuses. There’s no reason you don’t mitigate what flows in. Same goes with Liberty County and Colony Ridge.”

Why we reported this story

• Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey called out county officials in Montgomery and Liberty counties for not properly mitigating last week’s severe flooding.

• Officials from both neighboring counties pushed back against Ramsey’s assertions, arguing that better drainage and flood management across the region requires collaboration with Harris County.

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The commissioner, whose precinct stretches across the top of Harris County, from Tomball to Spring down toward Baytown, said Liberty and Montgomery counties should adopt policies that align with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atlas 14 study , which helps provide precipitation estimates for areas across the country.

The accusation drew quick rebukes from Montgomery and Liberty leaders, who said their counties adopted Atlas 14 guidelines back in 2019.

“This ain’t all on Liberty County, ain’t all Montgomery,” Liberty County Judge Jay Knight said. “It’s gonna be a shared misery.”

Flooding concerns in Colony Ridge

Ramsey specifically singled out Colony Ridge — a 33,000-acre development near Cleveland in Liberty County that has swelled to about 75,000 residents over the past decade, according to estimates from the sheriff’s office — as a site of mismanaged flood control efforts that continues to plague areas south of it.

The land where developers John and William “Trey” Harris cleared the way to build out Colony Ridge used to be mostly timber and hunting grounds.

Flooding has always been a concern, Knight acknowledged, but the Harris brothers built their drainage system according to the standards set forth by the engineer firm that reviews every plat of land recorded in Liberty County, the judge said.

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“I got a lot of respect for Commissioner Ramsey, but this method of … bringing it up in court first (before talking to me) I do not appreciate,” Knight said.

Ramsey also criticized the San Jacinto River Authority for not releasing water from the Lake Conroe Dam sooner to reduce rising waters downstream during the storms.

“The San Jacinto River Authority needs to do a much better job of releasing the water early,” Ramsey said. “They could’ve released it five or six days ago. They knew the flood was coming and that would buy us time.”

Heather Ramsey, the authority’s director of communications and public affairs, told the Landing she met with the commissioner Friday to discuss operations at the Lake Conroe Dam.

“SJRA and Commissioner Ramsey committed to identifying ways to work toward mitigating flood events for both Montgomery and Harris counties,” she said. “We are also committed to looking for projects that we can partner on to improve outcomes for the region.”

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Statewide attention on Texas flooding

The push for regional flood control came up in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Former Harris County judge Ed Emmett called on area officials to band together and examine how to best tackle the issue.

The Texas legislature also ordered the first-ever state flood plan to be created in 2019. Lawmakers tasked the Texas Water Development Board to spearhead the initiative, which split the state into 15 regions. Each area submitted a flood plan last January and then approved in July. Those plans will be used to create a single state flood plan, which will be delivered to the legislature in September.

Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said any blame for last week’s flooding goes only to the massive amount of rain that fell – as much as two feet fell in some areas. No amount of drainage work would have prevented floodwaters from spilling over the banks of the San Jacinto River, which is controlled by state officials, he argued.

“We don’t place blame in Montgomery County on weather events as Mother Nature caused them,” Keough told the Landing. “Rather, we work together as a community to recover and support those affected in every way possible.”

In Liberty County, Knight said there is only so much county officials can do when working with outdated drainage systems that are overrun by a sudden increase in flooding and water pressure.

“I explained it like this to (Lt. Gov.) Dan Patrick: ‘What happens when you take a roll of toilet paper, wad it up, stick it in the bottom of a commode and flush?’” Knight said. “Well … it clogs!”

Knight agreed with Ramsey that drainage and flood mitigation across the region needs to be reviewed, but insisted that work includes Harris County.

What is Harris County’s responsibility?

Though critical of the other jurisdictions, Ramsey said Harris County had room to improve, as well, especially when it comes to “working with our neighbors in the north.”

Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis agreed and encouraged Ramsey, who is a Republican, to use his relationships at the local and state level to try to help improve flooding.

Jim Blackburn, co-director of the Severe Storm Prevention, Education and Evacuation from Disaster Center at Rice University, said he doesn’t believe most counties are doing enough when it comes to flood control and prevention, including Harris County.

He wishes officials would pay more attention to construction in floodplains. If homes are within those low-lying areas, they’re almost guaranteed to flood, putting the lives of residents and first-responders at risk. It’s also costly to homeowners and local governments to continuously rebuild damaged infrastructure.

Harris County has been developing new floodplain maps and their release, which has been delayed, is expected to be revealed later this year.

“It’s time that we get those new maps out and that we start talking seriously about floodplains in this community,” Blackburn said.

‘It’s not even hurricane season’

Officials said fewer than 200 homes were flooded in Harris County but that the torrential rainfall served as a harbinger for what is to come.

“This is really a turning point,” Judge Lina Hidalgo said. “It’s not even hurricane season and these stories and the destruction are heartbreaking.”

Commissioners Court, which has had ongoing conversations about deferred flood control maintenance, said that the need for investment is more timely than ever.

Tina Petersen, director of the Harris County Flood Control District, said flooding infrastructure has had “a lack of consistent investment over time as our assets have grown.” Commissioners said they presently spend about $40 million a year on upkeep.

In 2018, voters approved a $2.5 million bond measure to help finance flood control projects following Hurricane Harvey. More than 35 bond-funded projects have been completed so far, according to the flood control district, including new stormwater detention basins and improved infrastructure in channels and bayous.

Harris County officials will weigh in the coming weeks whether to find additional money for the 2025 fiscal year budget — which already has the county facing a projected deficit — or potentially go to voters for another flood control measure.