The Cypress Creek Flood
Control Coalition
Frequently Asked Questions (General):
What is the Cypress
Creek Flood Control Coalition (CCFCC)?
It is a coalition of municipal
utility districts, homeowner/civic associations,
residents, and individual business firms united
under the umbrella of a 501(c) (3) nonprofit
organization. The coalition is managed by an elected
nine-member board of directors, all residents of the
Cypress Creek Watershed.
What is the CCFCC’s mission?
In collaboration with government and the private
sector, its mission is to pursue unified, proactive
resolutions to flooding within the Cypress Creek
Watershed consistent with the following objectives:
1.
Flooding:
Improve flood prevention measures implemented in
advance of urban development on a cost-effective
basis.
2.
Preservation: Promote park, recreational,
and wildlife habitant development consistent with
preservation of the watershed’s natural environment.
3.
Education:
Improve communication links between the government
and private sectors on matters concerning the
coalition’s watershed mission and objectives.
What causative factors
within the Cypress Creek Watershed resulted in the
formation of the CCFCC?
Three decades of repeated
stormwater invasion into neighborhood homes from
Cypress Creek and its tributaries was a primary
cause. In addition, watershed land was sinking (see
subsidence) as neighborhood MUDs pumped out
groundwater at rates exceeding the capacity of
aquifers to recharge. And forests were disappearing
due to rapid urban development. In tandem, these
factors seemed to be outstripping the government’s
capability of managing them. The original coalition
of twenty-three community organizations recognized
that the solutions they sought from Harris County
officials might only be achieved through a
partnership between government and the private
sector, as other local watershed stakeholder groups
had shown (i.e., the successes achieved by Buffalo
Bayou, Brays Bayou, Clear Creek, Armand Bayou and
Sims Bayou). Planning studies by these groups have
instigated on-going multi-million dollar flood
infrastructure construction projects; environmental
actions encompassing preservation of forested areas;
and the construction of hike-and-bike trails in
protected wildlife habitant areas.
What are the advantages of
forming a coalition?
Individual homeowners, MUDs,
and HOAs seldom accomplish what an effective
watershed-wide coalition can achieve. Harris
County’s more urbanized watersheds have shown that
positive results by a dedicated stakeholder group
can be accomplished through proactive cooperation
with government agencies, local MUDs and private
sector organizations.
Why does CCFCC’s charter
specify that regional solutions…flood/subsidence
mitigation, conversion to a surface water supply,
and upgrading the development of greenway
recreation…be integrated “into a viable overall
watershed plan?”
Subsidence contributes to stormwater flooding and recognizes no political
boundaries (i.e., precincts, MUDs, or county lines).
And because certain Waller County headwaters of the
Cypress Creek Watershed drain into Harris County, it
is necessary that Harris County’s flood mitigation
infrastructure be sufficient to accommodate this
out-of-county drainage (a solution complicated by
the fact that HCFCD’s jurisdiction is confined to
Harris County).
