Fletcher: Partnership works to 'keep our community safe from flooding'

U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas, said the approximately $33 million in federal funding allocated to Harris County for the reconstruction of Poor Farm Ditch in Texas’ 7th Congressional District is a reflection of “what we can do when we work together.”

Poor Farm Ditch is a man-made drainage channel responsible for carrying stormwater from north of the Houston suburbs of West University Place and Southside Place to Brays Bayou, according to a June 28 report from Houston NBC affiliate KPRC.

“The partnership that has made funding for the Poor Farm Ditch Rehabilitation Project possible reflects what we can do when we work together," Fletcher said in a June 28 release from her office. "We have worked across all levels of government and across the aisle to secure funds for an important investment to keep our community safe from flooding."

She went on to say she is working to identify solutions with Southside Place Mayor Andy Chan; West University Place Mayor Susan Sample; state Rep. Ann Johnson, D-134th; state Sens. Joan Huffman, R-17th, and John Whitmire,D-15th; Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis; and the Harris County Flood Control District, the release reported.

The money for the Poor Farm Ditch project is a combination of local, federal and state funds, KPRC reported. Nearly $10 million was earmarked for Fletcher’s district, while close to $17 million went to Huffman and Johnson. The flood control district received $5.7 million while Southside Place and West University Place were allotted $150,000 each.

The Poor Farm Ditch Rehabilitation Project’s main objective is to build a new channel structure that will prevent a failure of the existing channel, Fletcher's release said. The project, made possible through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, will decrease flood risk for the residents of Southside Place, West University Place, the Braeswood neighborhood and in the larger Brays Bayou watershed.

The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season has been in effect since June 1, with memories of Hurricane Harvey and its widespread flooding still fresh on the minds of Southeast Texans. Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported flood insurance policy carriers will likely be saddled with higher rates, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently applying changes to how it calculates rates.