SUBJECT: Petition for the City’s consent to the addition of two (2) tracts of land totaling 350.61 acres to Harris County Water Control and Improvement District No. 159.
RECOMMENDATION: Petition for the City’s consent to the addition of two (2) tracts of land totaling 350.61 acres to Harris County Water Control and Improvement District No. 159 be approved.
SPECIFIC EXPLANATION: Harris County Water Control and Improvement District No. 159 (the “District”) was created through the TCEQ in 2007 and currently consists of 3,146.05 acres within Harris County. The District is within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Houston (the “City”) and has petitioned the City for consent to add 350.61 acres of vacant land, proposed to be developed as single-family residential and other properties including ponds, roads, and open space, to the District. The proposed annexation tracts are located in the vicinity of Langham Creek, Cypress Creek, Katy-Hockley Road, and Grand Parkway (SH-99). The addition of land to the District does not release it from the City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The Utility District Review Committee has evaluated the application with respect to wastewater collection and treatment, potable water distribution, storm water conveyance, and other public services.
The District has a wastewater collection system and treatment facility. The annexation tracts will be provided with wastewater treatment by the Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 418 Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 2. This regional plant also provides wastewater treatment to Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 419, Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 489, Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 490, and Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 493. Potable water is provided by the Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 418 Water Plant No. 3.
The nearest major drainage facility for Harris County Water Control and Improvement District No. 159 is Langham Creek, which flows to South Mayde Creek, then to Buffalo Bayou, and finally into the Houston Ship Channel. Langham Creek is within the Addicks Reservoir and the Cypress Creek watershed. The proposed annexation tracts are within the 100- year floodplain (64.0%) and the 500- year floodplain (1.8%).
By executing the Petition for Consent, the District has acknowledged that all plans for the construction of water conveyance, wastewater collection, and storm water collection systems within the District must be approved by the City prior to their construction.
The Utility District Review Committee recommends that the subject petition be approved.
____________________________
Randall V. Macchi, JD
Director, Houston Public Works