Bohac Reports Progress on Brickhouse Gully’s New Detention Basin

HOUSTON - State Representative Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston) is pleased to announce progress by the Harris County Flood District (HCFD) on 16 acres of land to be used as a detention basin along flood-prone Brickhouse Gully. Engineering and design work will now begin.

The land, which Bohac announced last January had been purchased by the HCFD, is located west of Highway 290 on the northwest side of the Gully. Purchasing the land was the first step, but designing the detention basin is the next phase toward improved flood relief in the area.

"This represents forward progress in making sure we prevent future flooding in Mangum Manor and Oak Forest,” said Bohac. “A new detention basin, combined with ongoing renovation to the existing concrete sides and base of Brickhouse Gully, should greatly improve the capacity and water flow of this vital waterway.”

The HCFD has received approval to negotiate with an engineering consultant to provide a preliminary design engineering report for the newly acquired property adjacent to Highway 290. The design of the project should be completed within the next six months, hopefully by March 2005. The project will then go through the bid process sometime in April 2005. The final step will be the construction of the detention basin that should begin next summer.

A detention basin is an area where excess stormwater is stored temporarily and then slowly drained away when water levels in the receiving channel recede. Detention basins are used extensively in the Harris County region and are very useful in flood prevention.

Brickhouse Gully starts near Gessner and Clay Road and runs east between Clay (43rd Street) and Kempwood (34th Street) until it intersects White Oak Bayou in the Watonga area. Many areas in the watershed recently experienced significant flooding due the devastating rainfall amounts brought by Tropical Storm Frances in 1998, Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 and recent torrential rains.