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Developer Buys 5300 Acres of Floodplains, Floodways, Wetlands from Ryko

Reduce Flooding — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 02:12:41 +0000

10/15/2025 – San Jacinto Preserve and a sister company, Scarborough Houston LLC have purchased approximately 5300 acres of land west of Kingwood from Ryko and its sister company, Pacific Indio Properties. Ryko tried for years to develop approximately the land, most of which is floodplains, floodways and wetlands where the San Jacinto West Fork, Spring […]

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Meritage Finishes Clearing 40 Acres between Pinehurst and Kings River

Reduce Flooding — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:39:10 +0000

Meritage has finished clearing all of its 40 acres between Pinehurst and Kings River. The property is just east of West Lake Houston Parkway and borders Kings Park Way, Texas Laurel Trail, and Pinehurst Trail Drive. The company plans to build 210 homes on the site in two phases. Status of Phases 1 and 2 […]

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A Visual Testament to the Wonders of Wetlands

Reduce Flooding — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 19:44:23 +0000

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, wetlands provide free floodwater storage that helps retain runoff and reduce flooding. Wetlands also reduce erosion and improve water quality. Last, but not least, they also provide habitat for hundreds of species. One of my hobbies has long been bird photography. Few other cities in America offer the […]

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Bayou Land Conservancy Protects Another 966 Acres in Lake Creek Watershed

Reduce Flooding — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 22:08:15 +0000

Bayou Land Conservancy (BLC) has announced a conservation easement on 966 acres of critical Lake Creek property in Montgomery County. The property is just northeast of Magnolia on Tranquility Ranch, which is owned by Nathan and Lindy Ingram. BLC started working with the Ingrams in 2015. The conservation easement is across Lake Creek from the […]

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Meritage Begins Clearing 40 Acres for 210 Homes, Many Over Wetlands

Reduce Flooding — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 20:56:19 +0000

Meritage Homes of Texas LLC, a company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, has begun clearing 40.2 acres between Kings River and Pinehurst of Atascocita. The company will reportedly build 210 homes there – 5.2 per acre. Although the new development is far above floodplains, wetlands cover a large part of the first phase. Two Phases of […]

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Guess Where the Wetlands Were?

Reduce Flooding — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 01:54:25 +0000

Guess where the wetlands were? Today, I flew over Northpark Drive and Sorters-McClellan Road near the San Jacinto West Fork. I photographed a new development called Northpark South. Much of this land is in the floodplain. And much was also classified as wetlands for sixty years. Can you guess which portion? Here’s what the area […]

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40 Acres of Timber Turned into Toothpicks

Reduce Flooding — Sat, 25 Nov 2023 19:51:35 +0000

In two weeks, approximately 40 acres timber has turned into toothpicks at the new Northpark South development. Clearing is now about two-thirds to three-quarters complete. The development lies between Sorters-McClellan Road and the West Fork San Jacinto at the end of Northpark Drive. The developer, Century Land Holdings of Texas, LLC, hopes to build 236 […]

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Northpark South Starts Clearing Wetlands, Floodplain

Reduce Flooding — Sat, 11 Nov 2023 18:04:19 +0000

Colorado-based Century Land Holdings of Texas, LLC has started clearing land for Northpark South in Porter along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River at the west end of Northpark Drive. Documents from the Houston Planning Commission, USGS, and FEMA; eyewitness accounts from nearby residents and flood professionals; and aerial photos indicate: The same […]

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GIS Data Reveals Likely Source of NE Houston Flooding Unrelated to Historic Disinvestment

Reduce Flooding — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 22:58:48 +0000

In northeast Houston, where residents and activists frequently chant “historic disinvestment,” I accidentally stumbled onto a much more likely cause of the frequent flooding than systemic racism. It happened while browsing a GIS database with hundreds of layers containing a broad range of information. The instant I saw it, it unlocked a mystery. Tumblers suddenly […]

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Louisiana Loses Hundreds of Square Miles of Wetlands

Reduce Flooding — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 21:47:05 +0000

A new study estimates that Louisiana lost approximately 750 square miles of wetlands between 1984 and 2020. Using a first-of-its kind model, researchers quantified those wetlands losses at nearly 21 square miles per year since the early 1980s. Even after accounting for gains in some areas due to sediment transported by rivers, the net loss was still […]

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Wetlands Once Covered Area Where 138 Nesting Birds Were Slaughtered, Maimed

Reduce Flooding — Thu, 19 May 2022 19:58:26 +0000

Last weekend, a contractor killed or maimed 138 nesting egrets and herons in the Cypress Towne Lake Area while clearing land. Little surprise the birds were nesting there. That area was once pockmarked with wetlands that are rapidly being developed. Wetlands provide free stormwater retention. They also provide valuable habitat that supports a remarkable level […]

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How Soon We Forget!

Reduce Flooding — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 00:55:30 +0000

How soon we forget. Hurricane Harvey was just 4.5 years ago. Since then I have documented dozens, if not hundreds of questionable practices that erode margins of flood safety. It Didn’t Have to Be That Bad Harvey was the largest rainfall event in the history of North America. However, with better regulations and construction practices, […]

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Dirt Excavated from Woodridge Being Used to Build Up Laurel Springs RV Resort

Reduce Flooding — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 02:26:57 +0000

Sprint Sand & Clay, the company hired by Harris County Flood Control to excavate 500,000 cubic yards of dirt from Woodridge Village, began hauling some of it to the controversial Laurel Springs RV Resort near Lakewood Cove this morning. Wake-Up Calls My phone started blowing up before breakfast with dozens of complaints about Sprint truck […]

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New MoCo Development Being Built on Wetlands in 10-Year Flood Zone

Reduce Flooding — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 12:08:24 +0000

At least part of Madera, a new 1,700-acre development in Montgomery County that straddles FM1314 immediately north of SH242, is being built on wetlands and is in a 10-year flood zone. US Fish & Wildlife Map Shows Wetlands Dot Development FEMA’s Base Flood Elevation Viewer Shows Flood Risk Note that this survey shows only about […]

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How to Find and Verify Flood-Related Information: Part II

Reduce Flooding — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 01:09:20 +0000

This is Part II in a series about how to find and verify flood-related information. Yesterday’s post focused on finding good information about flood vulnerabilities. This second part will focus on reviewing developers’ plans. The second can compound the first. The very first sentence of the Texas Water Code § 11.086 begins with a warning […]

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Are We Winning or Losing the Battle to Reduce Flooding?

Reduce Flooding — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 22:16:53 +0000

Valley Ranch, the new downtown of East Montgomery County, seems to be exploding with growth. The northwest quadrant of I-69 and the Grand Parkway developed first. Now the focus is shifting to the southwest quadrant where more than 500 acres are being cleared near the banks of White Oak Creek. People downstream from I-69 to […]

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New Caney ISD’s West Fork High School Blocked Out; Access Being Enhanced

Reduce Flooding — Sun, 07 Nov 2021 23:24:21 +0000

Although much finish work remains, contractors have finished blocking out New Caney ISD’s new West Fork High School. Walls, structural steel and roofs are up. Some windows are in. Now they are widening Sorters-McClellan Road. They are also building another access route through woods that will connect to Kingwood Place Drive, the street immediately west […]

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More West Fork Wetlands near Northpark Drive Could Soon Be Developed

Reduce Flooding — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 00:31:37 +0000

Take Northpark Drive all the way west to where it ends at FM1314 and you will run into a 279-acre tract that the Houston Planning Commission will consider at its November 18th meeting. Sand mining has already destroyed most of the 279 acres. Now a developer wants to fill in the wetlands and build homes […]

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Colony Ridge Expanding North Into More Wetlands

Reduce Flooding — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 22:39:51 +0000

After months of expanding Colony Ridge to the east, the developer is now pushing north. The new area is outlined in red below. US Fish and Wildlife Shows Area Contains Many Wetlands According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the new area contains numerous wetlands. So did the partially developed area below it. Wetlands […]

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Scientists Quantify Flood-Damage-Reduction Benefit of Texas Wetlands

Reduce Flooding — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 01:57:46 +0000

A study by Samuel D. Brody, Sammy Zahran, Wesley E. Highfield, Himanshu Grover, and Arnold Vedlitz called “Identifying the impact of the built environment on flood damage in Texas” quantifies the flood reduction benefits of wetlands along the Gulf coast. The authors studied property damage in 423 floods between 1997 and 2001. They identified the […]

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