Stay ahead of Houston's unpredictable weather with effective land drainage strategies. Learn how to protect your property from flooding and erosion, ensuring long-term resilience in the face of heavy rainfall and tropical storms.
You would think solving a flooding problem is easy. To most people stormwater is a local concern and the obvious answer, bigger is better, seems best. But to a civil engineer, stormwater is far larger than any single-site solution.
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Storms are one of nature’s most powerful reminders that we are not in charge. They humble us, terrify us, and fascinate us all at once. If you ask people which apps they faithfully use, I’d bet my hat one of them is the weather report. When a big storm is coming, the whole world tunes in. I believe that deep down, this fascination comes from the simple truth that storms are completely beyond our control, and it is that truth puts us civil engineers in quite a precarious position. Our job is to try to manage the unmanageable.
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As I pen these thoughts from the deck of a ship somewhere between Brisbane and Fiji, I find myself immersed in the quiet discipline of rest. This 22-day Pacific crossing from Australia toward San Francisco will take us across the equator and the International Date Line, reclaiming the day we lost on the outbound flight, while granting 17 full days of open-ocean reflection amid visits to five island ports. For a civil engineer who spends his days balancing loads, managing settlement, and designing resilient infrastructure, this enforced pause is more than vacation; it is professional recalibration.
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As the Winter Olympics unfold in Italy, I find myself captivated by the performances of world-class athletes who have dedicated 20 years or more to mastering their craft. These competitors embody relentless discipline, practicing daily to refine their skills. They combine innate talent with the fundamentals of their sport, guided by seasoned coaches who scrutinize every detail of their technique. What strikes me most is their innovation. Moves that earned gold medals a dozen years ago now fall short of the podium. Athletes push boundaries, attempting feats once deemed impossible, even at the risk of falls, crashes, or injury. They compete despite less-than-perfect health, knowing these rare global opportunities may not come again. Watching this, my thoughts turn to what defines a world-class engineer, planner, surveyor, or appraiser. What traits distinguish excellence in our professions, and what "events" test our mettle?
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For millennia, people prayed for rain. It nourished crops, supplied drinking water for families, livestock, and wildlife, and even aided transportation along rivers and streams. But as humans shifted to dense urban living, rain turned into a problem we wanted gone, and gone fast. This change from a "hydrophilic" to a "hydrophobic" society happened gradually, driven mainly by urban density. As cities grew, we replaced permeable, crop-covered land with impervious pavement, roofs, and concrete. Our modern buildings and infrastructure also tolerate flooding poorly, so we've engineered ourselves to resist runoff at all costs. Yet rainfall remains essential. The life-sustaining regeneration we once valued it for is still vital, urbanization just made it inconvenient. Traditionally, the fix has been bigger, faster drainage systems that rush stormwater straight into the Gulf of America. Efficient, yes. Sustainable, not really.
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This is Dwayne Culp, Ph.D. and Technical Director of Tetra Land Services, writing to our valued clients, partners, and the greater Houston development community we are proud to serve. My 2025 Christmas wish is for RELAIBILTY. I want a regulatory landscape that is steady, transparent, and predictable. We all work better if we can confidently anticipate how rules will be applied. Predictability enables accurate planning, budgeting, and on-time delivery. Above all, strong, professional relationships with reviewing agencies remain the foundation of that certainty. When regulators and the regulated respect one another, everyone benefits, most especially the citizens of Greater Houston who gain homes, jobs, and infrastructure.
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As a Canadian-turned-Texan with nearly five decades in Houston, I’ve seen our city battle floods with grit and ingenuity. The esteemed Houston Chronicle recently questioned the undeniably brilliant Elon Musk’s claim that his Boring Company’s 12- foot-diameter tunnels, used in Nashville, could solve Houston’s flooding for a fraction of the Harris County Flood Control District’s (HCFCD) $4.6 billion, 36-foot-diameter tunnel plan. After crunching the numbers, I find Mr. Musk’s idea innovative but inadequate for Addicks Reservoir - though the tunnel’s untapped potential could fight both floods and subsidence.
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Surface water fills Texas’ rivers, lakes, wetlands, and streams, directly exposed to environmental and human influences, making it prone to contamination from sediment, pathogens, and organic matter. Groundwater, stored in underground aquifers, is recharged by precipitation filtering through soil, a process that naturally reduces contaminants. All groundwater begins as surface water, undergoing filtration as it percolates. Globally, over 30% of freshwater resides in aquifers, 30% is locked in glaciers and permanently frozen sources, and 40% exists in surface water systems. Texas boasts an abundance of surface water, with fifteen named rivers, approximately 3,700 named streams, and roughly 80,000 miles of waterways, supporting diverse ecosystems and communities.
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While I am originally from Canada, I’ve been in Houston for nearly five decades and consider myself a Texan. Frustratingly enough, in that time I have been unable to shake an old habit of reading foreign newspapers. In a recent perusal of the British press, I chanced upon a most disconcerting report proclaiming our cherished Houston as the swiftest subsiding metropolis in all of America. It was said that research from multiple sources have estimated “as much as 42% of Houston's land area is subsiding faster than 5 millimeters per year, and 12% is sinking faster than 10 millimeters per year.” Houston is indeed sinking, however we are miles from Venice, both figuratively and literally.
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As beauty is in the eye of the beholder, expenses are different for every landholder. Land development engineering expenses vary for every landowner. The least expensive option is a detention facility draining via gravity to a public system, like a drainage ditch or storm sewer. In Harris County, detention rates depend on the outfall type. For an 8-foot outfall, 12-15% of the land is used for detention, while a 4-foot outfall requires 25-30%. Excavated material is often used to raise project elevations, including the detention facility's high bank. Adding one foot of detention can reduce land use by over 10%, a neat little trick for maximizing developable area.
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Harris County is in the process of issuing new flood maps based on Atlas 14 rainfall amounts showing an increase in rainfall by 20%. The net result is that for most buildings in the Houston area floodplains, the water surface elevations will be increasing. Every building owner needs to review the preliminary maps to determine how they impact the properties they own.
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As discussed in our previous column, for both commercial and residential development the City of Houston currently regulates minimum flood protection elevation of 0.2 percent flood elevation plus 2 feet. Harris County currently regulates minimum finished floor elevations to 0.2 percent flood elevation in areas where the drainage infrastructure meets the current design standards, and 0.2 percent flood elevation plus 2 feet in non-conforming subdivisions. Since elevation is a passive system, and requires no significant maintenance or manual intervention, elevation is generally the first option selected by engineers and architects for commercial systems. It is important to understand that commercial properties, unlike residential properties, have the additional option of floodproofing buildings to the same elevations as previously noted.
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Recall in the last article we discussed the need for floodplain regulations. In this article the discussion will be on how to develop in the floodplain. The most important concept to understand is the elevation known as Base Flood Elevation (BFE). The base flood elevation is the elevation of the water surface to which the city or county regulates development. In our region, the BFE could be the elevation of the stormwater during the 1%-event (100-year storm) or the 0.2%-event (500-year storm), dependent on jurisdiction.
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Regional developers are commonly challenged with developing low-lying land within the floodplain. Unlike stormwater regulations, which mostly defer to Harris County Flood Control Standards (HCFD), floodplain development regulations are unique to all 64 jurisdictions within Harris County alone. These regulations have been adopted by FEMA, and to participate within the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) these jurisdictions must have similar regulations, but not always similar interpretations. It can be confusing.
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Low Impact Development (LID) attempts to mimic existing conditions in the developed world with regards to rainfall and stormwater runoff related design. LID techniques include: reducing pavement widths; reducing the amount of pavement in parking systems; increasing flow path lengths; adding filtration systems to the green areas; not directing stormwater to storm sewers; adding trees with large canopies to intercept stormwater and to enhance evapotranspiration; adding vegetation in unusual areas such as green roofs. Each of these systems has advantages and disadvantages, which we will review in brief.
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Image credit: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle
Latest update from our ongoing civil design work on a true Houston landmark, the oldest professionally designed cemetery in Houston; Glenwood Cemetery.
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Image credit: City of Houston
Pre-design and feasibility still in the works for premium 17-acre site in River Oaks.
Read MoreTetra Land Services is a civil engineering, commercial and residential land surveying company. We are TXDot pre-certified. At Tetra Land Services, we understand that accountability and a commitment to expedient service is vital to our customers. Please contact us any time regarding our engineering, land surveying, platting, appraisal or other services.
Tetra Land Services
5304 Ashbrook
Houston, Texas 77081
Phone: 713-462-6100
Fax: 713-432-1003
Email: jvn@tlstx.com
Texas Board of Professional Land
Surveying Registration Number: 10127500
Texas Engineering Firm: F-22195
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