(713) 467-9762
The Public Works Department is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the City's water and wastewater utility infrastructure, drainage system, public streets, traffic control devices, sidewalks, and animal services.
Drainage
The City’s drainage requirements are based on a concept called “No Net New”. In order to fully understand this concept, some history of the city is required. Several years ago, our first Master Drainage Plan was created. This document was created as a result of more than 300 homes flooding in the city. The goal of our first plan was to create a global roadmap to construct new drainage from all areas of the city and deliver that water to Buffalo Bayou. (CLICK HERE TO SEE A MAP OF THE PLANNED DRAINAGE PATHS)
Our citizens have invested almost $20 million to construct the projects of the first Master Drainage Plan. Since the completion of these first drainage projects, Harris County Flood Control, the entity which owns and operates Buffalo Bayou, has restricted any increase in drainage to that waterway. As the city redevelops with new homes and additional runoff generated from new lot coverage, a storage location for the water has to be created. This is why underground detention is required for a project when additional non-permeable coverage is created. The storage is required for the planned addition above what was previously existing, hence the name “No Net New” runoff.
After the first edition of our drainage ordinance was in place, we began seeing an issue with the application of the requirements to the medium and smaller lots of the city. Specifically, when a new home was planned and the required detention was constructed, a substantial cost was encountered later by home owners who wanted to add a new pool, outdoor kitchen or other non-permeable lot coverage project. The additional lot coverage meant that additional underground storm water detention would be required. For lots with an area of 25,000 sf or less, the majority were developing to the maximum allowable non-permeable lot coverage of 45%. So, for these size lots, the drainage ordinance was revised to require all of the detention to be in place at the time of the new home construction. This means that no additional underground detention would be required as new homeowner projects are added. The ultimate required detention would already be in place.
An update to the City’s Master Drainage Plan was recently completed to map out future improvements to the City’s drainage. As a result, several city storm water detention projects have been completed adding approximately $4 million in additional drainage improvements. Our partnership with everyone who builds new homes allows us to improve the overall drainage of the city incrementally as each new home is constructed. Our goal is to allow redevelopment to occur without impacting the existing homes and properties.
