LCA President’s Update as of November 17, 2018
LCA President’s Update as of November 17, 2018
The lake goes down. The lake goes up. And so has been the story of Lake Conroe since our last LCA President’s Update dated July 29, 2018 when the lake level was 200.52 msl (mean sea level). The San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) began releasing water from Lake Conroe as part of its “seasonal adjustment strategy” on August 1 when they reported a lake level of 200.61. By August 31, SJRA reported its “temporary flood mitigation goal” of 199.0 had been reached and releases from Lake Conroe were to end (subject to future rains). So, of course, it began to rain; so much so that over 11 inches of water were released between September 1 and 13 to again reduce the lake level to 199.0. Gradual rains initiated lake level increases in early October, and then we were inundated with a storm averaging 3.96 inches of rainfall across the watershed such that by October 17 Lake Conroe had risen 1.26 feet and exceeded the normal pool elevation of 201.0 once again. Considerable rain occurred in the northern portion of our watershed and SJRA reported they “wouldn’t be surprised to see runoff continue for a week or more” and “when the ground is fully saturated, we’ve seen 3 or 4 inches of rain result in 15 to 20 inches of lake level rise. It’s amazing how much difference soil saturation makes”. And so we have lived with seemingly endless days of rain throughout October and early November where Lake Conroe has exceeded 201.0 for 32 of the past 48 days. Today’s lake level is reported to be 201.07.
Many of our LCA Members have expressed their dissatisfaction with SJRA’s “seasonal adjustment program” and the lowering of Lake Conroe by 2 feet. In response, we communicated with 55 POA’s on Lake Conroe and numerous businesses to request documentation of difficulties experienced as a direct result of lowering the lake level to 199.0. Many thanks to those of you who submitted responses. We have built a file with the intention of presenting your concerns to the SJRA Board in January, 2019. We anticipate that the SJRA Board will vote in February, 2019 as to whether to continue their “seasonal adjustment program” in 2019 under similar parameters (1 foot reduction March 1 – April 30 and 2 foot reduction August 1 – September 30), modified parameters, or no reduction at all.
SJRA’s “seasonal adjustment program” was initiated in response to flooding in the Kingwood and surrounding areas during Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent Corps of Engineers dredging project of the West Fork of the San Jacinto River. That $69.8 million project funded with FEMA monies saw dredge staging begin July 19, 2018, general debris removal/disposal and dredging begin September 21, and demobilization and cleanup to be completed by May 14, 2019 (subject to allowable delays). The aim of this project is to remove 1.8 million yards of sediment deposited as a result of Hurricane Harvey. The LCA receives monthly project updates from the Corps Supervisor responsible for this project.
It should be noted that Harris County voters approved a $2.5 billion flood bond package in August, 2018. Within this bond package, approximately $50 million was been earmarked as “permissible for dredging of the West Fork of the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston to remove debris and sediment deposited before Hurricane Harvey”. We envision that supporters of these dredging projects will attempt to utilize these $50 million immediately upon the completion of the current Corps project so as to avoid the removal of dredge equipment from the site and incur the significant start-up costs associated with transporting/setting up out-of-state dredge equipment to the site for the possible 2019/2020 project.
The LCA toured the Kingwood area in May, 2018 to review residential/business devastation and significant sediment deposits (sand bars) resulting from Hurricane Harvey. We were escorted by a very knowledgeable, energized volunteer named Bob Rehak who has expended endless hours attempting to promote the restoration of the Kingwood area as well as programs to reduce flooding in the future. His website, reduceflooding.com, provides much background on the situation should you be interested.
NEW SJRA BOARD MEMBER: Governor Abbott’s Appointment Office has appointed Ms. Brenda Cooper to the SJRA Board. Brenda is a Walden resident and someone active in our community. The LCA welcomes her as an advocate of issues involving Lake Conroe, its residents and local businesses.
NEW AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES ON LAKE CONROE – CRESTED FLOATING HEART: SJRA and Texas Parks & Wildlife (TPWD) have identified an invasive species new to Lake Conroe named Crested Floating Heart. This invasive is a rooted, floating leaf plant with heart-shaped leaves and showy white flowers. It is deemed highly invasive due to its unique reproductive habits which include daughter plants that develop on the stem, eventually break free, and float away to become rooted in another location. Further, this plant can reproduce by fragmentation which can be particularly difficult to control since any kind of physical damage to the plants will accelerate their invasion. Fragmentation can occur naturally by insect grazing or storm events, but it is more commonly caused by humans in areas where there is a lot of recreational use and boat traffic (sound like Lake Conroe?). It has been primarily identified in the back of Little Lake Creek (the area northwest of the bridge going over Lake Conroe and towards the town of Montgomery on FM1097) although it has been also identified downstream of that bridge. Remediation has been initiated by SJRA and TPWD via a spray crew from TPWD Jasper applying a new herbicide called Procellacor. Approximately 14 acres were treated on Friday, November 2. Reports of this invasive elsewhere have noted expansion from 20 to 2,000 acres in a period of two years where the plant has gone untreated. A photo of this plant is shown at the bottom of this letter.
LCA ANNUAL MEETING: The Annual Meeting of the LCA will occur on Thursday, January 17, 2019 at 10AM at the SJRA dam site office (3rd floor conference room) off Hwy 105. LCA Members and the general public are welcome. An overview of past year will be briefly provided, questions from attendees will be answered, and ballots will be counted for the 2019 LCA Board of Directors. We will be conducting our Annual Election of the LCA Board of Directors electronically this year (via e-mail) so as to reach the maximum number of eligible voters and reduce the administrative cost of printing and mailing ballots and envelopes. If you are a LCA Member, you should receive your e-mail voting package by December 27, 2018. As always, anyone interested in joining the LCA Board should contact us and attend one of our LCA Board Meetings held a minimum of every three (3) months. We are always looking for new individuals to join the Board and represent your sub-division and community.
Thank you for your interest and time in reviewing this LCA President’s Update. For additional information regarding the LCA, to review previous LCA President’s Updates, or to review links to relevant web sites, please visit us at www.lakeconroeassociation.com. To make a donation to the LCA, contributions may be mailed to Lake Conroe Association, P.O. Box 376, Willis, Texas 77378. Should you have any questions, you may contact us via the LCA web site or e-mail me directly at [email protected]. Wishing you safety on the lake and a very happy holiday season.
Mike Bleier, President
Lake Conroe Association