Original Timmy Chan's

Interesting...(from the above linked pdf)

We continue to be on or ahead of schedule and under budget.

In addition,” Schindewolf explained,“we have also benefitted from an excellent working relationship with the City of Houston -- from whom we will purchase the new supply of surface water...

Why was this necessary and why the rush? Seems to me, what they've done is consolidate the little independent water districts in NW Harris County and West Houston and have forced them to become dependent on the City of Houston's surface water source? So now, we're in effect subjected to City of Houston pricing. City of Houston bureaucrats, City of Houston Chloramine disinfection, Big Gov't crookery, etc.

The answer to you first question is SUBSIDENCE due to groundwater withdrawals. Each of these hundreds of "little independent water districts" or MUDs in Harris County pump from the ground millions of gallons of water EVERY DAY. The result of pulling billions of gallons of water from our underground aquifers, year after year and decade after decade, is that our ground is literally sinking beneath us.

Here's a map showing land subsidence in the Houston area between 1906 and 2000.

Notice that much of SE Houston has subsided 7-8 feet over the last 100 years, due to water (and oil) withdrawals. Also note that the Jersey Village area has also seen similar subsidence. Most of SE Houston's subsidence was due to massive withdrawals of water for the petrochem industry around the Ship Channel and Texas City. That's not the case around Jersey Village...that subsidence is due to water withdrawals for (mostly) residential uses.

What's been happening over the last 30+ years is a shift from groundwater to surface water (from sources like Lake Houston, Lake Livingston, Lake Conroe). SE Houston was the first to get off of groundwater and on to surface water, with surface water being supplied to East Houston industries as early as the 1950's.

I've also linked to a map showing subsidence of the Houston area from 1978-2000. Notice the success of the surface water transition in the SE parts of Houston...minimal subsidence on the SE side, but growing subsidence in NW Houston, as the population of that part of town has exploded over the same period of time. While SE Houston saw about 6" or less of subsidence between 1978-2000, NW Houston saw up to 5' of subsidence. That's a direct result of SE Houston being on surface water (little to no groundwater withdrawal in that area), while NW Houston keeps pumping hundreds of millions of gallons of water out of the ground each day.

Houston Subsidence 1978-2000

The subsidence issue is much larger than any individual MUD can tackle. It's a regional issue that we all have to work together to solve. The City of Houston has taken the lead on investing hundreds of millions of dollars and decades of time getting surface water rights, building reservoirs, and building surface water treatment plants to help solve the subsidence problem. I suppose the West Harris County and North Harris County Regional Water Authorities are free to build their own reservoirs and treatment plants independent of the City of Houston, but it seems to be a huge waste of effort and funds to do so, just to avoid dealing with the City of Houston.

Well, it was at Easthaven Babtist that I learned that AC/DC stands for "After Christ, Devil Comes"!!!

Who knew that AC/DC and the Dead were "DEVIL WORSHIPPERS"?!?

Sorry I can't give you much more input than that.

I did drive through the area a few years back, and wasn't terribly surprised to see that Easthaven still looks just like it did in the late 70's and early 80's.

It's similar to a lot of south Houston (and South Houston, which is just across the freeway). A mix of small old wood frame homes, light industrial and vacant lots. It's my kind of place.

The new rule is a government taking without just compensation - this happened to my good friend. Being a lawyer he asked me for my advice - I told him that it is the most blatant taking without compensation and that he should sue. But to sue you first have to prove that the rule/regulation is actually causing you a real damage. His home was split in two by a tree during Ike....city said damage exceeded 50% of the value of the home, and told him he had to raise the house 26 inches to comply with the new code. (in timbergrove along the bayou) His house is not pier/beam, its a concrete slab.

He applied for a variance to not raise the home and just repair the damage - denied. I wrote a letter for him threatening to sue and detailing the damages and what the city was about to owe him should they deny him the right to rebuild his house as it sits - and whala - magically the variance is granted.

The city wants to push that regulation on everyone - but if you fight it you will win. They knew it was not legal when they wrote it, but so long as they can keep someone from challenging it, it will stand and some poor saps are going tear their house down and start over.

To me, a fair trade would be for the City to grant the variance ONLY on the condition that the homeowner be ineligible for both federally subsidized flood insurance and any future FEMA disaster funds.

I know it's a tough, no-win situation. If the City grants the variance, then in the event of a disaster, we all get to pay for his insurance claim, despite his refusal to raise his home (with the City's approval.) If the City denies the variance, the homeowner has an unrepairable home, which is not good for either homeowner or City.

Best solution in my mind is buyouts of the homes at greatest risk of flooding, and start with those in the 10-year floodplain. Just takes $$$...but much, much less $$$ than trying to significantly reduce the floodplain elevations of White Oak Bayou, Greens Bayou, etc.

Can we get them to kill their evening news as well?

How many other major American cities need to convince their citizens that "It's Worth it"?

NYC in the 1980's.

My basis for stating this as fact is my first-hand research: "Ghostbusters II"

Stay in Zone X.

Don't mess around with 100 or 500 year flood plains. Too many homes that are not in flood plains to pick from...

The mapped 500-year floodplain is modeled from a theoretical 24-hour rainfall of 21.6 inches of rain. That's TS Allison type rainfall...very uncommon.

While the 500-year floodplain is a risk to consider, being in Zone X (outside the 500-year floodplain) doesn't necessarily reflect your true flooding risk.

What's not reflected on the floodplain maps is your risk of sheetflow flooding due to lack of positive street grades. Once the street inlets are overwhelmed (whether due to lack of capacity or debris clogs) the water is conveyed through the streets. Unless there's good relief through the streets, the water can also be conveyed through your home.

Requirements to consider extreme event sheet flow through streets weren't required in the design of Harris County subdivisions until the early 80's. More often than not, if your subdivision was constructed before that time, there are certain locations in the subdivision that tend to pond or flood in a very heavy rain.

There are a ton of subdivisions in Houston built before the 80's. Many are outside the floodplain, and therefore reasonably safe from riverine flooding (as shown on floodplain maps), but at risk of flooding on a local, block-by-block scale.

If you're in an area like this, I'd highly recommend flood insurance. If you're out of the floodplain, you get the cheapest rates...somewhere in the range of $250/year.

I might be going through the hassle of this process...

Once place claimed 100 year flood plain on the seller's disclosure, but when I mapped it on TSARP, it was clearly in the 500 year. Maybe I am blind. Maybe the map is inaccurate. Maybe the seller is misinformed. But otherwise, why oh WHY would someone put 100 on a 500 home?

The official floodplain can change with time, as better data becomes available, or in some cases as the effects of certain improvements are made.

Harris County's floodplain maps were completely revised in June 2007 as part of a county-wide restudy (TSARP.)

It's possible that the house was in the 100-year floodplain prior to 2007, but was determined to be in the 500-year floodplain after the remapping.

If you're looking at buying a home, I believe a floodplain delineation is required, or can be acquired, to show that you're out of the 100-year. I believe insurance in the 500-year floodplain is much cheaper than in the 100-year.

You can also get a slab survey and elevation certificate from a surveyor to show that your slab elevation is (or is not) above the 100-year floodplain. That can also reduce the cost of flood insurance.

Interesting.... well maybe that's it then. Still surprised I'm at 23k though if the average home is at 10k....

Big family (laundry/dishes/showers)? Big yard(irrigation)? Pool?

Could also be a leak or a bad meter. Assuming your neighbors have similar house/yard sizes, are your water usages similar?

I called and they said it was calculated something like this. These aren't the exact numbers but very close:

Water = $9 base charge and $1.35 for each 1000 gallons over 10k gallons

Sewer = $10 base charge and $1.00 for each 1000 gallons over 25k gallons

Region Water Authority = $1.50 for each 1000 gallons.

My bill seems to add up using these amounts- I just don't understand why my water usage has gone up so dramatically...My usage supposedly went from 13k to 16k to 21k to 23k over the last four months...I've always been in the 10-15k range in the past. It's hard to believe its all due to the sprinklers running a little more. I was wondering if others were seeing a similar increase in their usage...

Watering makes a HUGE difference. I forget the statistics, but they're probably pretty easy to find online...something like 50-60% of domestic water usage is for irrigation/watering. Typically you're not watering in the wintertime, so it stands to reason that you'll use more water in the summer.

I'm not in a MUD, but my water usage doubled in June. I'm typically in the 3k-4k gallon range, but with all the watering I did in June (two or three times a week), we used 7k. During a more typical summer where we actually get some rain I usually use around 5k gallons.

Just to give you some perspective, for public water systems, the TCEQ estimates a typical home to use 315 gallons per day (for 2.3 or 2.7 residents/household?). That's around 10k gallons per month.

Best Pie in Houston is Frito.

It tastes just as good at home or afield.

Does FOIA apply to states, localities, and special entities like METRO?

I don't care...use it anyways. Print it out and throw it through their windows!!!

concur. i guess all the land deals aren't finalized but it is a shame that the only thing they had there were basically overview type sketches. we need details by this point.

I know you're looking for the East End line. I was able to find some plans for the Southeast Line...not sure how up to date these are, since they're dated April 2008. I have to assume there have been some changes over the last 1+ years, but maybe not.

I found this through the "Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement" link on the Southeast Line page. I couldn't find anything similar for the East End line.

http://metrosolutions.org/posted/1068/SE_Corridor_SFEIS_Volumn_II_April_2008.200832.pdf

I was at the metro office for the east end line about an hour ago. I wanted to see some more engineering type drawings to determine what buildings will be taken out, etc. All I repeatedly heard was "that's proprietary".

How dare you ask for information that your tax dollars were spent to prepare?!? I don't see how engineering plans prepared for a public agency can be considered "proprietary", especially if the project is approved and under construction.

I'd recommend FOIA...but be prepared to spend some $$$ on reproduction. Ask for 11x17's instead of 24x36 to save some costs.

I recall that several years ago there were preliminary engineering plans for the SE line available online through METRO's website.

Let's just all get our barcode tattoos and be done with it. Pull me over, scan me, send me on my way. And if you have your Kroger plus card with you, you get 10% off the speeding ticket instantly and accumulate points toward cheap gas.

Yeah but with my luck, they'd have trouble scanning me...like the barcode on a sack of carrots.

When they ask me at the Border Patrol checkpoints, I just say, "Yes I'm an American citizen." It seems to work for them, why not the local police?

I have my birth certificate and US passport at home. If the jack-booted thugs aren't pulling me out of my home to arrest me, then I can still rely on my "Made in Pasadena" tattoo. I never leave home without it.

Outside of listening to Astros games on the radio, I don't listen to much besides public radio. Commercial radio is just extremely difficult to listen to, between the horrible music and the long commercial breaks.

I do enjoy listening to Mark Levin's show on KTRH when I can catch it. That's one angry man...he's extremely entertaining.

Music:

"Blues in Hi-Fi" on KTRU (Wednesday nights)

"Listening Back with Myron Anderson" on KTSU (Friday mornings)

"The Mason Jar" with Bobby Mason on KTSU (Friday afternoons)

Gospel Sundays on KTSU (Sunday)

"Spare Change" on KPFT (Saturday afternoons)

"Blues on the Move" on KPFT (Sunday mornings)

"Blues Brunch" on KPFT (Sunday afternoons)

Non-music:

NPR's "Morning Edition" and "Weekend Edition" on KUHF

"Fresh Air Weekend" on KUHF (Sundays)

"This American Life" on KUHF (Sundays)

I got $0.99 gas in Wimberley last weekend. It was the Beef and Green Chili burrito.

At the time, Pearland was merely a dot on a map...not the blob that it has become. Most folks associated 288 with a place that they could speed freely, without any congestion, ever. Most folks also associated the land around Beamer, Sabo, and Blackhawk with toxic waste and PISD schools rather than super-affordable housing on tiny lots.

You call it toxic waste, I think it just made us stronger...like Spiderman.

I don't know about toxic waste about Beamer/Sabo/Blackhawk. Only Superfund site I know of was Brio, closer to Friendswood than Sagemont/Kirkmont/Beverly Hills.

Anyhow, the South Belt was congested the day it opened. I was living in Pearland at the time that the Tollway opened, and the South Belt was bumper to bumper from Telephone Road to the SW Fwy from day one.

I definitely think it was poor planning. And poor management that 13 years later, there still has not been a widening project there.

That being said, I thought I saw a quote from El Franco Lee earlier this year saying that a widening project would be kicking off this year. Was I dreaming or just high?

If you're interested in Cruz-Diez, one of his pieces was just installed earlier this year at UH. Intersection of Calhoun and University.

An email I got today said they're investigating the possibility that a retaining wall separating the river from this building's foundation failed.

That actually makes some sense...the ground would literally have to give way for a building like this to simply fall over.

My neighborhood borders a large ditch that drains into Buffalo Bayou (Cinco Ranch-Highland Park subdivision).

I can't wait for a brand new Flagship Hotel...so I can urinate on it.

You're not serious about bahai grass I hope . Yes its' drought hardy , but it's stems are tough as vinyl . Hard to mow . An ugly invasive grass that has no purpose in the city . Its a pasture grass used for cattle grazing .

No, not serious about bahia grass...I brought it up because of a recent trip to my grandpa's place up towards Collie Station, where they're in a slightly worse drought than we are here in Houston. For reference, he's had the property for nearly 50 years, and his stock ponds are as low as he's ever seen them.

That being said, he's still got *some* green bahia grass out in his pasture...obviously it's a tough drought-resistant grass. Probably a result of having those tough stems you talk about. I know that a lot of desert plants stay drought tolerant due to their high wax content that prevents them from losing too much water to evapotranspiration.

I do have a friend down in Corpus that's been growing a couple of patches of buffalo grass in his yard. Says it's hardy as hell, but pretty tough to get it to spread in an existing turfgrass yard. Says you have to just about eradicate any other turfgrass in the patches you want to grow it. Says it does great where you can pull up St. Augustine, but it isn't outcompeting the bermuda grass. Says you have to completely kill the bermuda to get the buffalo to be able to grow.

He also said that it does require maintenance...the buffalo grass needs to be mowed TWICE a year!!! I like that idea.

Corpus is in an EXTREME drought...much worse than we are in Houston, and worse than what they've got up at my grandpa's. We think we've got it bad because we haven't had significan rain since April...they haven't had significant rain in Corpus since OCTOBER!

Anyone else as shocked by their own reactions as I was? I was choked up when I heard.

I guess I had soured on White MJ, and had forgotten just how amazing Black MJ was.

Truly the King of Pop.

MJ was a troubled man for much of his life. I hope Michael has found peace.

Serious question: why do people watch local news?

I occasionally try to catch Channel 26's sports, because Mark Berman is always two steps ahead of his competition with regards to breaking local sports news...and because they seem to be the only local station that covers UH (and Rice) athletics.

Side note on Mia Gradney...I saw one of her reports while flipping through channels a few months back, something on fashion or swimsuits or something. What made me stop was seeing her standing next to the models. You wouldn't know it from seeing her behind the desk, but she must be at least 6' tall! If she's not 6' tall then the models she was standing with must have been full-blooded Cajun women!