President's Message: Help Us With Flood Control Auggie Campbell, President, West Houston Association Greater West Houston needs solutions to the flooding issues that surfaced during the Tax Day Floods. One of the solutions should be H.B. 5025, the "Tax Day Flood Bill," sponsored by Rep. Al Green. Over 88 representatives have co-sponsored the bill, including Reps. Kevin Brady, Mike McCaul, Ted Poe, John Culberson, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Pete Olson, Gene Green, and all other representatives of both parties in the Houston area. The Tax Day Flood Bill will not provide any new solution, but it will provide funds to complete planned solutions. If passed, the bill will provide $311M in disaster relief funding to pay for local, existing federal flood control projects through 2026, including projects in Brays, White Oak, and Hunting Bayou Watersheds. These projects will reduce the "one-percent" flood risk to thousands of homes. The Tax Day Flood Bill would help pay to complete the White Oak Bayou Federal Flood Damage Reduction Project (White Oak Project)-a big benefit to Greater West Houston. Started in 1998, the White Oak Project combines over 15 miles of earthen channel modifications from Cole Creek upstream to F.M. 1960 with four detention basins providing approximately 2,940 acre-feet of storage and recreation features. The total cost of the White Oak Project is approximately $166 million; approximately $70 million is eligible for federal reimbursement. The completed project will take over 1,500 homes and businesses out of the one-percent flood plain and reduce surface water elevations between 0.5 and 1.5 feet during one-percent flooding events. To receive funds under the Tax Day Flood Bill, a project must be part of an existing Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) authorized under Section 211(f) of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). The White Oak Project is covered under a PPA between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD). Legislation in 2014 repealed part of the WRDA and restricted the Corps' ability to enter in new PPAs. Helping to make sure that the Tax Day Flood Bill will pass Congress is easy. Please email your Congressional Representatives today and let them know that you support this bill and hope they will do everything in their power to move it forward. We will have to work harder, and we will need new solutions. The West Houston Association's Board and committees are working to review and advance a number of proposed revenue sources and projects. We will need your help and support. If you have ideas or would like to get more involved, please email me at acampbell@westhouston.org.