Harris County flood control officials expect to complete 11 projects funded through a $322 million Hurricane Harvey recovery grant by an extended deadline, but the county could still lose access to $113 million in unused funding.
The Texas General Land Office announced a one-year extension Sept. 28 for eligible existing contracts with documented need. The extension moves the spending deadline for the 11 disaster recovery projects to Feb. 28, 2028.
Harris County Flood Control District Executive Director Marcus Stuckett said the projects remain on track, Community Impact reported. Favorable construction bids and lower-than-anticipated costs have left money available without reducing the projects’ scope, he said.
Stuckett outlined the projected $113 million balance in an Oct. 2 letter to Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, the Houston Chronicle reported.
He proposed two ways to use that money for flood mitigation projects assigned to a separate Harvey recovery grant. The plans would have required another extension to give the county time to identify replacement projects for the other grant program.
Buckingham rejected both proposals Oct. 14, according to the Chronicle.
The GLO had previously criticized an earlier plan to shift projects and billing between grant programs, saying it created compliance-tracking problems, the Chronicle reported.
Any money left unspent by the February 2028 deadline would return to the GLO, but the agency could redirect funding sooner. Whether it would reclaim the money immediately remained unclear, according to the Chronicle.
GLO spokesperson Brittany Eck told the newspaper that the agency could redirect unused funding to other Texas projects. Some money could remain within Harris County through projects in smaller cities, including Pasadena and Baytown, depending on a separate proposal process.
Along Cypress Creek, the T.C. Jester Stormwater Detention Basin is one local project receiving Harvey disaster recovery funding.
The flood control district announced an Aug. 19 groundbreaking for Compartment 1B near T.C. Jester Boulevard and Cypresswood Drive. Its $18.6 million construction contract will add 793 acre-feet of stormwater storage on approximately 44 acres, using state funding and federal Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery dollars.
After an Oct. 16 meeting with federal, state and local officials, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey told Community Impact that “time becomes the challenge” in using the unallocated money.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told reporters Oct. 15 that she remained hopeful the county would retain its federal funding, Community Impact reported.
The district’s project update to Commissioners Court, originally scheduled for Oct. 15, was postponed to Nov. 12, according to Community Impact.
