Addicks Reservoir Channel De-Silt and Repair Program (F-53)

---

 The Addicks De-Silt Program consists of multiple comprehensive projects to evaluate and de-silt channels for which the District has property rights that drain directly to the Addicks reservoir. In addition, this program will repair impacts, and develop construction and maintenance plans, in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as appropriate. 

The goal of this program is to make sure these channels are functioning at design capacity as they carry stormwater out of surrounding neighborhoods and into the federal reservoir. Rainfall within the 138-square-mile Addicks Reservoir watershed drains along 159 miles of open waterways, including Langham Creek (U100-00-00), South Mayde Creek (U101-00-00), Bear Creek (U102-00-00), Horsepen Creek (U106-00-00), and its tributaries. As a part of the Flood Control District’s overall maintenance operations, this program follows the Tax Day 2016 and Hurricane Harvey storms, which sent record levels of sediment-laden stormwater through the channels leading into the reservoir, and caused severe erosion in some areas.

To learn more about this project and other Flood Control District efforts in the area, please visit www.hcfcd.org/F53.

July 20, 2020 - HCFCD reports that the District has removed over 100,000 cubic yards of silt, sediment, and debris.  The largest volume removed was in Langham Creek, with 64,579 tons removed, followed by South Mayde Creek with 32,298 tons (or 3,200 dump trucks) removed. Crews are continuing work on this construction project to remove silt and debris from these 2 creeks, plus Bear Creek and Horsepen Creek to help return these waterways to their original design capacity. 

October 3, 2019 - HCFCD held a community engagement meeting is to discuss the rehabilitation of channels upstream of Addicks Reservoir.  

The “South Mayde Creek Channel Conveyance Improvements and Bypass Channel” (C-36) is made up of two components: (1) a widening and deepening of South Mayde Creek west of the Greenhouse Road bridge, starting at Fry Road; and (2) the construction of a bypass channel on the east side of the Greenhouse Road bridge, extending to Barker Cypress Road.  

The purpose of channel expansion west of the Greenhouse Road bridge is to increase the conveyance capacity of South Mayde Creek. 

The bypass is an additional waterway that will be constructed east of the Greenhouse Road bridge. The purpose of the bypass is to convey the additional flow of stormwater into the Addicks Reservoir during more severe storm events. The existing channel will continue to convey water during normal rainfalls.

HCFCD recognizes there will be a number of challenges to the bypass, and the final configuration has not been determined. Some of the challenges are:

1. The bypass will intersect a channel that flows north-south from Morton Road, 
2. It will also cross Groeschke Road at the trail entrance to Cullen Park .
3. The water volume and velocity when the bypass rejoins South Mayde Creek just before the Barker Cypress Road bridge is uncertain.
4. Sediment will be transferred downstream.  The Corps of Engineers will require sedimentation basins to be constructed. 

The project also includes the construction of two wet bottom detention basins near South Mayde Creek to mitigate the potentially adverse impacts of the channel improvements by temporarily storing excess stormwater - and then slowly draining when channel water levels recede.

It should be underscored that this project is in a preliminary engineering stage, and changes to the design are not unexpected. HCFCD expects to work through the bypass challenges and model alternatives for the next few months. The PER will be completed in the spring of 2020, and properties for the two stormwater detention basins will be acquired. No timeline has been established for the detailed design and construction of the bypass, but detailed engineering for the detention basins is to begin in the summer of 2020. A start date for construction has not been determined.
 

Harris County Engineering consultant Pape‐Dawson Engineers, LLC. presented recommended drainage improvements for the Bridgewater Village and Enclave at Bridgewater subdivisions on October 8, 2019 at Loraine T. Golbow Elementary School. 

Recommended improvements for the Bridgewater Village and Enclave at Bridgewater subdivisions include a regional wet‐bottom stormwater detention basin to the north of Clay Road and east of Grand Parkway to provide more storage capacity. In addition to the basin, a berm along Clay Road is also proposed to provide further mitigation.