With the recent street reconstruction work done on; Wall, Capri, Crawford, Tahoe, Carlsbad streets, and the berm added around the golf course, it is unknown how a very heavy rain event will affect the golf course. It is certain that residents are expecting to get relief from their homes flooding while watching water flowing off the golf course and into the streets and then rising into their yards. Yet to be seen is how much water will get pumped from that area into the golf course for retention until the water levels have dropped in the channel. How long that water is held behind the berm on the golf course will impact the playing condition of the golf course and the cost to return the course to playing condition.
The decisions made by the Jersey Village City Council and their long time preferential Engineering Firm of Brooks and Sparks worked to come up with a flood mitigation designed project that would appear to be effective in reducing flooding of Jersey Village homes and also be the least damaging to the Jersey Meadows Municipal Golf Course. Most of the council members view the golf course as the “Crown Jewell” of our city. The pump and berm idea solved their dilemma, at least in theory. The berm will restrict the stormwater sheet flow runoff problem of the water from the land on the golf course, which has a higher elevation than the streets, flowing to a lower level. The Berm also allows the ability to pump stormwater that accumulates in the streets around the homes east of the golf course via a pipe into the golf course for temporary retention. That area of the city recently had the streets reconstructed, increasing the number of street drains and significantly enlarged underground drainage piping system.
The original berm design created by Brooks and Sparks Engineering (in around 2003) called for it to be built at 111.5 feet above base sea level top of berm elevation; however, the berm did not get built at that time. Fast-forward several years later, the berm that is now close to completion (2022), was also engineered by the Brooks and Sparks Engineering Firm, was constructed at an elevation level of 107/108 feet above base sea level top of bank. Why was the berm elevation significantly decreased? Did the members of the city council tell the engineering firm they wanted it lower to minimize the damage to the golf course? If the reason for the lower elevation was disclosed, it was not located for the preparation of this article. The pump flood mitigation design allows the water collected on the golf course grounds area to be pumped out/off the golf course area at a much quicker rate than allowing it to drain off through a gravity/graded restrictor designed system; thereby, reducing the time period that water is left on the golf course.
During the Mayor’s November 2021 Town-Hall meeting, the Mayor was asked “Why did the city choose to not also pump stormwater flowing within the E127-000-000 Wall Street Channel into the golf course berm area to reduce the flooding of homes further east where the Wall Street Channel coverages into the E100-000-000 White Oak Bayou area?” His reply was, “Why should the City of Jersey Village, Texas have to collect stormwater runoff that is created/caused by other areas?” Most Jersey Village residents have been led to believe that city councils’ highest concern is to stop the flooding of the highest number of homes in the shortest amount of time. However, based on actions and attitude, not all residents are seeing that commitment in action.
While any damage to the golf course is certainly less important than flooded homes, that period of downtime and repair time will impact the potential income from golfers and possibly other activities at the golf course. Flooding homes in an area that also has a golf course is not unique to Jersey Village. It is important to be aware of those other situations and what decisions were made or are under consideration as solutions. Examples of those will be discussed a little later in this article. The Jersey Meadows Golf Course has a lot more history than most people know about. A great deal of time, money, and effort had been put into the idea to make the golf course profitable over the years since Cameron shut it down as an employee-only course. The plan was not successful by the first group that poured lots of money into the project and that eventually led to discussions about developing the land into more profitable options. Those discussions led to Jersey Village City Council purchasing the golf course without voter approval. As of 1/1/2022, the Jersey Village voters have never had a chance to vote on any of the expenses related to the purchase of the golf course or any repairs or improvements involving the golf course. Other articles on this website discuss the financial aspects of past expenses and proposed plans to spend additional millions of taxpayer money on improvements that are hoped to at some point provide additional income.
So what do we know about other communities with golf courses in the Houston area where flooding issues and financial issues forced actions regarding golf course operations? The below examples are in areas not far from Jersey Village. Other municipal golf courses around the country where taxpayers are dealing with the increasing costs of keeping those courses open will be discussed in other articles on this website.
Inwood golf course to become stormwater detention site:
Inwood Forest located nearby was developed as a country club community with a golf course and country clubhouse in Northwest Houston. (only minutes from Jersey Village) Many of the original houses in Inwood Forest were developed for oil company executives. Around three-fourths of the houses in that neighborhood flooded during Tropical Storm Allison.
Inwood golf course to become stormwater detention site (houstonchronicle.com)
Raveneaux Country Club operations cease Jan. 20, 2021; flood control district seeks remaining acreage: Located in the Champion Forest neighborhood on Cypresswood Dr., Raveneaux Country Club has been a staple in the northwest Houston community since the 1970s. Harris County pays $11.5M for Raveneaux Country Club for the 27.6 acre site and it will become a detention basin.
Raveneaux Country Club operations cease Jan. 20; flood control district seeks remaining acreage | Community Impact
Longwood Village: Flood mitigation project proposed at Longwood Golf Club in Cypress
Plan involves reducing 27-hole golf course to 18-hole in an effort to reduce flooding to homes and to reduce the flooding impact of the entire 27-hole golf course being closed for repairs.
Flood mitigation project proposed at Longwood Golf Club in Cypress | Community Impact