Jersey Village, Texas—2019 Recipient, Program Excellence Award, Community Sustainability (Under 10,000 Population)

Jersey Village, a suburb of Houston, Texas, has had its fair share of flooding over the years. Beginning with Tropical Storm Allison in 1998 and floods in 2002, the city saw three flood events that devastated hundreds of homes. Although a lot of work was done to help mitigate flooding, the Tax Day Flood that hit the city in April 2016 affected more than 230 homes.

Afterward, the city set in motion a strategy to create a long-term flood recovery plan. The first step was to work with an engineering firm to map out various flood risks and take elevation surveys of homes.

The city held multiple community input sessions that allowed residents to share their experiences, information, and ideas. The process kept residents informed of solutions under consideration, alternatives, and long-term impacts, and the city received more than 2,000 pages of feedback from residents.

The completed plan identified four main projects that would have positive outcomes: home elevations, increasing drainage in one particularly vulnerable neighborhood, building a berm around the golf course, and deepening and widening the bayou through town. Because the bayou system that helps control and mitigate flooding is largely under the control of the Harris County Flood Control District, the city had to involve that organization in its planning. The city also worked closely with state and federal elected officials to ensure their buy-in. Although some portions of the city are not in imminent danger of flooding, the plan was designed to protect the entire city.

The final plan was adopted and approved by the city council in September 2017, just weeks after Hurricane Harvey dumped 31 inches of rain on the city and more than 50 inches on the surrounding area.

This project is vitally important to the long-term sustainability of the community, given the increasing number of severe rain events. It is also a model for other cities, and Jersey Village has stepped up to be a leader in the region despite its small size.