June 22, 2018

Thank you for subscribing to my e-newsletter.

Summer has now officially begun, but we are still hard at work making sure to bring you updates that are relevant to you and your family. In this week's newsletter, you will find news from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the General Land Office, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Texas Department of Transportation. Be sure you read on to learn this important information.

This coming week, the House Committee on Public Education has scheduled two hearings in order to discuss school safety. Speaker Joe Straus issued three new interim charges to the committee, including one joint charge with the House Committee on Public Health.

On Wednesday, June 27, we will be hearing the following two charges:

On Thursday, June 28, we will be holding a joint hearing with the Committee on Public Health to address the following charge:

If you have any comments questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me or my staff. You can find our contact information at the bottom of this email.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely, 

Click Here to View and Download This Month's Calendar!

Hurricane Harvey deposited tremendous amounts of silt in the West Fork of the San Jacinto River. The silt physically changed the river's ability to safely pass flows during storms and created the need for a significant dredging project to restore the river's capacity. As a temporary flood mitigation solution, the City of Houston and the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) proposed a temporary, joint reservoir operations strategy for Lake Houston and Lake Conroe. The temporary flood mitigation would be in place for up to two years or until the dredging project is completed.

 

The proposed strategy involves the pre-release of water from Lake Houston immediately prior to certain storms and the seasonal lowering of Lake Conroe's water level during the Spring and Fall.  

 

A significant hurdle to final consideration of the proposed temporary strategy was a decision by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on how releases of water from the two reservoirs would be "accounted for" by the state. TCEQ issues permits that limit how much water can be diverted each year from water supply reservoirs like Lake Houston and Lake Conroe. Chairman Huberty sent a letter of support urging TCEQ to expeditiously approve the flood mitigation proposal back in May.

 

The proposal from Houston and SJRA highlights the difficulty of balancing the state's long-term need for reliable water supplies with the short-term goal of protecting public health and safety while emergency measures are implemented to reduce flood risks.

 

In a letter to the City of Houston and SJRA on Friday, June 15, 2018, the TCEQ expressed its intent to use enforcement discretion to allow the two agencies to move forward with finalizing their temporary flood mitigation strategy.

 

The letter states that "if flood mitigation releases . . . result in an exceedance of the annual permitted amounts for diversion or release by SJRA of the City of Houston, the TCEQ Executive Director will exercise enforcement discretion with respect to such exceedance." The TCEQ's decision acknowledges the importance of accounting for all diversions from the state's water supply reservoirs, but it also recognizes the emergency nature of the flood mitigation work being conducted in the San Jacinto River.

  

Chairman Huberty, the City of Houston and SJRA express their sincere appreciation to the leadership and staff at the TCEQ for their thoughtful consideration of the unique flood challenges that our region is facing. We look forward to finalizing the details of our proposed joint reservoir operations strategy. Additional details on the project including a timeline will be provided as they become available.  

Corps officials extended bid invitations until June 22, 2018 after forecasted dredging material calculations increased for a FEMA funded emergency dredging operation of the West Fork of the San Jacinto River.

“We’ve encouraged bidders to submit questions and this allowed us to revise dredging quantities,” said Gary Stangeland, Interim Chief of Emergency Management at USACE Galveston District. “We were able to recalculate the volume of material needed and therefore extended the bid opening and project finish date.”

Invitations to bid were to be opened today but after contractors questioned the water surface elevations project drawings (plans), new calculations determined the volume of dredged material more than doubled.

Forecasted dredged material increased from 748,000 to 1.8 million cubic yards of material that has shoaled in areas of the West Fork of the San Jacinto River. Increased sediment deposits from Hurricane Harvey have increased the risk of homeowner flooding. 

In addition, the duration of the project was extended from 180 days to 270 days to allow the winning contractor additional time to remove the increase in material.

Corps contracting officers reposted the bid opening date to a site used by vendors to receive notice on government opportunities. The site is accessible to the public at: Federal Business Opportunities website: https://www.fbo.gov

“Our process is equitable and efficient as it allows for Corps’ Engineers to interact with vendors that will help us to restore the area to pre-Harvey conditions and help reduce future flooding risks,” said Jeff Neill, USACE Galveston District Contracting Chief, "We've publicly posted responses to bidders’ questions to www.projnet.org." Neill said bids will be opened on June 22, 2018 at 10:00 a.m., local time. 

The scope of the emergency dredging did not change with no additional placement areas needed. Stangeland said the two placement areas are sufficient to store the recalculated increase in forecasted dredged material. The opening was initially scheduled for May 29, 2018.

Please see below for new closures to facilitate the emergency repairs for the IH 69 Southbound Mainlanes Bridge at the San Jacinto River, near Kingwood and Humble. Multiple Mainlanes and Ramps will be closed this weekend to reconfigure the I-69 Eastex Southbound Mainlanes following the completion of the new Southbound bridge over the San Jacinto River. TxDOT continues to partner with our contractor as they near the completion of the emergency repairs, as quickly as possible, and ahead of schedule. Motorists should expect delays and are strongly encouraged to seek alternate routes. All closures are subject to cancellation or modification due to adverse weather. For more information please call the TxDOT Public Information Office at 713.802.5076.  

Total Closures

Single or Alternate Lane Closures



Our office is always ready to assist you. Call or email us and we will do our best to help. Many State Agencies also have hotlines or citizen assistance offices to assist you. That contact information is available at this link, in alphabetical order: 

http://www.lrl.texas.gov/genInfo/stateAgencies.cfm

All of the relevant information our office has gathered during the week will be posted to our Facebook page. By "liking" us, you will stay up-to-date about important matters across the state that affect you and your family. Click below to find our page.

This newsletter was not sent by State expense.

Paid political advertising by Friends of Dan Huberty.