Glen Forest Stormwater Detention Basin

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Construction is underway at the Glen Forest Stormwater Detention Basin, which is located on a 160-acre site near Greens Road and Interstate 45 in north Harris County. The project is referred to on the map below as P500-08-00.Construction is underway at the Glen Forest Stormwater Detention Basin, which is located on a 160-acre site near Greens Road and Interstate 45 in north Harris County. The project is referred to on the map below as P500-08-00.

Stormwater detention basins reduce flooding risks and damages during heavy rain events by safely storing excess floodwater and slowly releasing it back to the bayou when the threat of flooding has passed.

The contractor will use large construction equipment to clear and remove trees, vegetation and soil from the site. Truck traffic enters and exits the site onto the I-45 northbound feeder road, north of Greens Road.

The Flood Control District appreciates the public’s patience and understanding through the duration of this project.

More About The Project

The Glen Forest Stormwater Detention is one of two regional stormwater detention basins the Flood Control District is constructing that will reduce flooding risks and damages in portions of the Greens Bayou watershed in north Harris County. The basins are part of a suite of new flood damage reduction projects in the watershed known as Progress Greens.

The Glen Forest Basin construction project will remove approximately 2.15 million cubic yards of soil, creating three interconnected detention basin cells. The completed basin is designed to hold approximately 894 acre-feet, or 291.3 million gallons of stormwater. Following construction, the basin design calls for 2.75 acres of native tree and shrub plantings and 0.81 acres of stormwater quality treatment wetlands.

Natural channel design features – including riffles, pools and a natural meander pattern – will be used in the low-flow channel within the basin to provide environmental and water quality enhancement.

Background

In February 2015, FEMA awarded $39.2 million to the Harris County Flood Control District, under the Hurricane Ike Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), for the construction of two stormwater detention basins in the Greens Bayou watershed. The Flood Control District is contributing matching funds to the project.

In June 2015, Harris County Commissioners Court awarded a $63.7 million construction contract to low bidder Ceres Environmental Services Inc. to construct the two basins over a three-year time period. The combined basins project will be the largest single construction contract ever managed by the Flood Control District. When complete, the two basins will reduce or remove flooding risks and damages from more than 1,100 structures along Greens Bayou, resulting in avoided damages of more than $90 million.

For more information, questions or comments about these projects, please call the Flood Control District's Project and Study Information Line, which is monitored daily, at 713-684-4040.