Dwayne Bohac is a lifelong resident of District 138 who knows first-hand that flooding is one of our community’s deepest concerns. As the only candidate who actually lived in our district through Hurricane Harvey, he has been on the ground from day one helping our affected communities in the wake of the storm. And he’s delivering results, not rhetoric.
Representive Bohac supported Congressional efforts to secure tens of billions of dollars in disaster relief funding for Hurricane Harvey recovery. He is a strong advocate for aggressive flood control efforts including the increased use of retention ponds and supports utilizing the state’s “Rainy Day Fund” to help build a third reservoir and improve our existing reservoirs, tributaries and bayous. Bohac will continue working with our local, state and federal officials to recover, repair and rebuild from Hurricane Harvey and other recent floods to protect our neighborhoods from future flooding threats.
Dwayne has been endorsed by Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and both of District 138’s county commissioners, Jack Cagle and Steve Radack, because they know Dwayne is a strong partner on the state level to help solve Harris County’s flooding problems with a plan to reduce future flooding:
Build a Third Reservoir
Dwayne supports utilizing the Texas Economic Stabilization Fund—our “Rainy Day Fund”—to help construct a third reservoir in Harris County. This third reservoir would protect Addicks and Barker Reservoirs and a 685 square-mile area ranging from Cypress and Katy to downtown Houston and the Houston Ship Channel.
Add Capacity to Existing Reservoirs
Dwayne supports cleaning up Addicks and Barker Reservoirs and increasing their capacity for future storms. We must remove all sediment and invasive species that have accumulated since the reservoirs were constructed and work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to add more capacity by excavating inside the reservoirs and, where possible, acquiring additional available land for inundation.
Initiate Voluntary Home Buyouts
Dwayne supports the voluntary purchasing of repetitively impacted homes along waterways that flood to give victims real, timely help if they decide they want to sell. These buyouts would create additional drainage capacity and new parks and greenways that connect the region.
Clean Out Bayous, Creeks and Tributaries
Dwayne supports cleaning up Buffalo Bayou, White Oak Bayou and our existing creeks and tributaries to improve conveyance and safely move flood waters away from our neighborhoods.
Increase Use of Retention Ponds
Dwayne has long supported the aggressive use of retention ponds and detention basins to reduce neighborhood flooding. He has worked closely with local elected officials, community leaders and citizen stakeholders on projects like the Briar Branch Detention Basin and Brickhouse Gully to alleviate flooding and believes these measures must be a part of all future developments in our community.
Improve Our Roadways
Dwayne Bohac has worked with TxDOT, HCFCD, the City of Houston and the Spring Branch Management District to implement flood improvements to vital roadways throughout the district. Our local roads must continue to be improved to make them more reliable in the event of major storms to safely convey flood waters away from our neighborhood streets.
Construct the Coastal Spine
Well before Hurricane Harvey, Bohac supported HCR 106 urging Congress to provide sufficient federal funding for the construction of the Coastal Spine, a storm surge barrier along the Texas coast that would protect our region from future storms. He will continue to push Congress to provide the federal funding for the construction of the project and supports state-level partnerships to implement this vital coastal barrier plan.
Develop Responsibly
Representative Bohac authored HB 4046 last session that would have required that a majority of the members of the Board of Directors of a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) be elected residents of the area within the TIRZ. This proposal would give local residents a majority voice in the development decisions that affect their community and flood control infrastructure.
Enforce Flood Control Rules
Last session, Bohac supported HB 2334 that would have made it a criminal violation to violate flood control rules and allow Harris County greater tools of enforcing those rules. Currently, they are limited to filing a lawsuit in civil court, which can take up to five years and lots of taxpayer dollars to resolve a violation. HB 2334 would have provided Harris County access to the same enforcement tools that other counties are using to resolve violations by writing a ticket instead of filing a lawsuit. Although this bill was not signed into law, Bohac will fight for this measure again next session.
Support the HCFCD Flood Bond Initiatives
Dwayne Bohac publicly endorsed and campaigned for the recent $2.5 billion Harris County Flood Control District bond that passed with more than 85% of the vote. With the bond program approved, Harris County can now leverage the power of matching federal funds to rebuild and recover from Hurricane Harvey.
Moving Forward
Hurricane Harvey was a turning point for the Greater Houston area. Recent flooding in 2015, 2016, and 2017 shows that the current business-as-usual model is not working as intended. In order to prevent another Harvey and other recent flooding events, we must explore all options available at the federal, state, county and local level. Even without a catastrophic storm, it floods too much in Houston. It's going to take everybody working together to come up with strategies and solutions so that we never have anything like this happen again.
Our future depends on conveying storm water safely to the Gulf and keeping it out of our homes, businesses, and schools. These regional solutions will cost tens of billions of dollars to implement but will save lives and hundreds of billions, potentially trillions, of dollars in flood losses and damage to our economy.
Dwayne remains committed to working with our federal, county and city counterparts to do whatever it takes to solve these flooding issues. It will require enormous cooperation between all levels of government. But the time for discussion is over. The time for action is now.
Others Agree
“Dwayne came out to our neighborhood to see the devastation first-hand, then backed it up by supporting efforts to pay for the recovery and protect against future flooding. He clearly cares about his constituency and our community.”
“Representative Bohac was easily available to answer questions and provide the latest information regarding flood control post-Harvey. We thank him for his attention to detail and his timely responses.”
“Dwayne Bohac is a conservative who has worked hard for Harvey relief and flood control efforts, property tax reform, a balanced State budget with no new taxes, and tougher border security measures. We can count on Dwayne to work hard for us and our conservative legislative priorities.”
- “Local Quality of Life Champion” West Houston Chamber of Commerce
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Proudly Endorsed By:
- Harris County Judge Ed Emmett
- County Commissioner Jack Cagle
- County Commissioner Steve Radack
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