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Energy & Environment

Texas Has Thousands Of Bad Dams, Two In Houston Deemed ‘Extremely High Risk’

As Houston Public Media reported last month, millions of dollars are being spent to repair two dams that hold back storm water on the west side of Houston. They are among over 7,000 dams listed as “hazardous” in Texas. But because so many people and structures would be at risk should these two dams fail, they’re getting attention.

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Gates allow the controlled release of water into Buffalo Bayou
Dave Fehling
Gates allow the controlled release of water into Buffalo Bayou

Here's the deal with what could be a terrible threat to Houston: most of the time, it isn't. In fact, it's a 26,000 acre recreational greenspace on Houston's west side. It lies on both sides of the Katy Freeway at Highway 6.

On one side is the Addicks Reservoir. On the other is the Barker Reservoir. Both have dams, but most of the time there is very little water to be held back by either. So the acreage is used for parks and has miles of paved bike trails.

John Tucker is among thousands of cyclists, runners and walkers who use paved trails in the reservoirs' 26,000 acres
Dave Fehling
John Tucker is among thousands of cyclists, runners and walkers who use paved trails in the reservoirs’ 26,000 acres

We were well inside the park when we stopped biker John Tucker of Katy who told us he rides here "every day on my lunch break." But what about when it rains a lot?

"This whole thing will be flooded, you can't pass, right here," Tucker said.

 

What the Dams Do

Even a moderate rainstorm last month created a pool of water but only right up behind the Barker Reservoir dam. That's where we met Richard Long who for 35 years has worked at the dam for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Water is released through gates from the Barker Reservoir
Dave Fehling
Water is released through gates from the Barker Reservoir

He took us to the top of the dam gates, unlocked the control panel, and flipped a switch.

"This is the gate operating right here," Long said as an electric motor hoisted the gate upwards inch by inch, allowing the pool of water to slowly drain into Buffalo Bayou.

"We want to get rid of the water as fast as we can so the reservoirs are available for the next rain event," Long said.

 

What Could Go Wrong

But therein lies the cause for concern: what if that "next rain event" is something really, really big? It's been on the mind of Jim Blackburn, a Houston environmental attorney.

The Barker and Addicks dams were built just after WWII
Dave Fehling
The Barker and Addicks dams were built just after WWII

"When you need Addicks and Barker is when it's been raining for a couple of weeks," Blackburn said. "That's what we're worried about, these big storms that follow each other. Where you get two or three or four storms within a couple of weeks period. That's the scary thing."

Scary because with successive storms, the reservoirs wouldn't have time to drain and water would get higher and higher. In the history of the two dams, the reservoirs have never been more than a third full but what if they filled beyond that and the dams failed?

Richard Long manages the dams for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Dave Fehling
Richard Long manages the dams for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Richard Long, the dams' manager, offers this scenario: "Because of our flat terrain here, we don't have a valley that the flood would go down. It'll spread out over a very large area. It won't be like the horror movies you see where a wall of water is coming down a canyon. It would be very rapidly rising water and cause an extremely large amount of damage and possibly a loss of life."

The Army Corps estimates that a dam failure could cause flooding from Buffalo Bayou and Downtown all the way over to Brays Bayou and the Medical Center. For years, the Army Corp has been monitoring “seepage” of water underneath the dam gates. Those leaks led to the Corps designating the Addicks and Barker dams "extremely high risk" and among the six most critically in need of repair in the nation.

 

Over 7,000 Hazardous Dams in Texas

The Army Corps didn't provide us with a list of the nation's worst dams. Texas alone has over 7,000 hazardous dams that threaten lives but detailed lists are kept secret by state government which said it can't let such information fall into the hands of terrorists.

The Army Corps has committed $75 million to completely replace the big gates on both Addicks and Barker dams. Work is just now beginning and will take up to four years to complete.

Water pools behind the Barker Dam
Dave Fehling
Water pools behind the Barker Dam

Harris County is also taking action that might reduce the risk. If approved by the county commissioners' court, new rules will require that developers build retention ponds and take other measures to reduce rainwater runoff into the Barker and Addicks reservoirs.

That was one of the concerns of the Sierra Club when it filed suit in 2011 to stop construction of the Grand Parkway. It lies west of the reservoirs and the environmentalists argued that all the new homes, strip malls and offices that would grow up around the new highway would increase runoff and imperil the dams. The lawsuit didn't stop the parkway but the court said those runoff impacts needed to be addressed. One other issue is a concern that the ends of the dams are inadequate should the reservoirs fill up. The Army Corp is continuing to study ways to remedy the problem.

The bottom line for attorney Jim Blackburn is simple and sobering: "Those dams cannot be allowed to fail. No question about it, that ought to be a number one priority."