Yesterday, Aug 15, 2024, GCCDD board president Rusty Burkett, vice president David Johnson, and superintendent Joseph Anderson met with the Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas (IDRT) at the ION offices in Houston. Dr. Sam Brody and his team discussed their extensive work on coastal drainage projects.

Rusty highlighted our board's efforts to address flooding issues. Dr. Brody offered IDRT's advanced drones and mapping technology to help our engineers identify drainage restrictions, aiding in cost-benefit analysis for short- and long-term solutions.

IDRT's drone and mapping services aim to identify drainage obstructions and historic silting levels in Clear Creek. They will provide much-needed advanced mapping and new LiDAR technology to tackle Clear Creek's complex watershed issues. This data will strengthen our collaboration with the Army Corps of Engineers to secure federal funding for potential dredging and clearing projects, as well as assess upstream water impacts from development.

We also discussed the gates and pump system at Clear Lake and State HWY 146 to demonstrate the Ike Dyke's potential effectiveness on a smaller scale. Advancing this project within the Ike Dyke timeline could significantly alleviate flooding impacts in the Clear Creek watershed.

Thanks to Justin Tieman, Dr. Sam Brody, and their team for their valuable insights. The next meeting is scheduled for fall 2024 to follow up.

-- David Johnson, GCCDD Vice President