(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) granted the City of Houston $1.7 million for the first phase of the Subterranean Detention Basin and Storm Sewer Improvement project – part of a $54.3 million infrastructure project to undertake flood mitigation projects in West Houston.  

This project is the second largest in a series of four proposals sent by the City of Houston to FEMA for large-scale flood mitigation projects to improve local water conveyance during large-scale rain events like Hurricane Harvey.  

“In the three years after Hurricane Harvey, Houstonians have remained vigilant in our efforts to identify and build better water conveyance infrastructure and to improve our resilience to strong weather events,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “I am pleased to bring this federal funding, which will have a direct impact on this district where we have experienced the devastating loss brought by historic flooding year after year.  By working together—with agencies across government as well as community leaders—we are bringing critical improvements to our community.”

“Houstonians have been looking to elected officials for progress, and I’m glad to have Congresswoman Fletcher working side by side with my team to deliver this important project,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. 

He continued: “Following the third anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, federal support continues to play a key role in our ability to build forward. These investments will take us one step closer to reducing flood risk in many neighborhoods repeatedly devastated by flooding and major storm events. I want to thank the Houston congressional delegation, state officials, city council members, FEMA, Texas Division of Emergency Management, and my executive team for working together to secure funding for the transformative flood mitigation project in Houston.”

After a year-long design and permitting process, the next phase will be the construction of a sub-surface detention basin and storm sewer system improvements, providing additional storage and conveyance capacity of water during heavy rainfall events.

With a local match of 55 percent funded by the City, the federal share of the $54.3 million project is estimated to be $24.3 million.