From August 25-29, 2017, Hurricane Harvey dropped more than 30 inches of rain causing severe flooding of homes, leaving more than 350,000 cubic yards of silt material within Willow Fork Drainage District (WFDD or the “District”) channels. Within a week of Harvey’s landfall, aerial and ground inspections of District parks, channel facilities and storm sewer outfalls were completed. Within a month of landfall, WFDD began removing deposited silt from channels and cleaning storm sewer lines and outfalls to restore positive drainage and completed repairs to Willow Fork and Exploration parks. Recovery efforts and planning to prevent future erosion has included coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Fort Bend County Drainage District, Harris County Flood Control District, Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management, Harris County Office of Emergency Management, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Completed and scheduled restoration includes:

Completed in 2017 and 2018

• Inspected all 15 miles of channels.
• Inspected and/or cleaned more than 1,000 feet of outfall pipes.
• Replaced five interceptor pipes.
• Removed approximately 180,000 cubic yards of silt from the District’s channel network.

Completed in 2019

• Coordination with Fort Bend County Drainage District to remove silt within the main branch of Willow Fork in Buffalo Bayou that is the county’s maintenance responsibility.
• Initiated a five-year plan for annual inspections, cleanup and repair of drainage infrastructure.

2020 and Beyond

• Removal of silt from the Diversion Channel downstream of Exploration Park to the intersection with Buffalo Bayou.
• Repair of slope erosion across the District’s channels.
• Coordinate with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on Section 216 study of Addicks and Barker Reservoirs to ensure their design, construction, operation, and maintenance is as safe and effective as possible.
• Coordinate with the Fort Bend County and Harris County Flood Control Districts on efforts to update Drainage Criteria Manuals and Flood Insurance Rate Maps within WFDD.