The Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) is conducting a study to find large-scale alternative solutions designed to mitigate flood risk and enhance resiliency. These solutions may include building 100-foot tunnels to transport water during emergencies.
Recent flooding events have damaged Texas property and infrastructure, including in regions like Harris County, drenching the landscape and overwhelming existing conveyance and mitigation measures. To better prepare for future emergencies, the HCFCD is asking for community feedback through the Solutions for Advancing Floodplain Evaluation and Resilience Study (SAFER Study) to gather experiences and insights from flood victims and survivors.
The multi-year feasibility study will provide the district with valuable information that will be used to determine what the most effective flood risk reductions would be to implement, prioritizing data-driven, long-term strategies. The projects that would later be developed would be on a much larger scale than many of the district’s past efforts, with officials estimating they would cost more than $30 billion to complete.
Tunnels are one of the preferred options being considered for funding. Officials stated that the HCFCD would leverage federal dollars to potentially build 133 miles of tunnels up to 120 feet below ground. These structures would convey excess water from almost half of the county’s watersheds to the ship channel, where they would be safely deposited in the ship channel leading out to sea.
The study is currently in the public scoping phase, with plans to develop and evaluate alternatives through 2026. The county anticipates submitting a final report to the federal government in 2027, with the expectation that funding would be allocated by 2028.
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