Site work for a water / sewer project in Houston, Texas. Completed plans call for site work for a water / sewer project.

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/harris-county/2026/05/06/551059/more-than-245-million-in-grant-funds-jeopardized-as-harris-county-flood-projects-linger-behind-schedule/?amp=1 The latest hurdle is a time crunch for the flood control district to break ground and complete those projects ahead of 2027 and 2028 funding deadlines set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Texas General Land Office. A new Harris County report shows most disaster relief flood bond projects likely won’t meet a fast-approaching funding deadline early next year, jeopardizing more than $245 million. The report was provided to the offices of Harris County commissioners last week after County Judge Lina Hidalgo grilled flood control director Tina Petersen over the status of 28 flood mitigation projects that were delayed after revelations of a multi-million-dollar funding shortfall. The latest hurdle is a time crunch for the flood control district to break ground and complete those projects ahead of the 2027 and 2028 funding deadlines set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Texas General Land Office. Sign up for the Hello, Houston! daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox. Six of the 11 disaster relief projects outlined in the flood bond won’t meet a Feb. 2027 funding deadline to complete construction, according to the report. The county has only broken ground so far on four of those disaster relief projects that are on track to meet next year’s funding deadline. The six projects that could miss next year’s deadline — totaling $245.8 million — include channel conveyance improvements in precincts 1 and 2 and stormwater detention basin projects in precincts 2, 3 and 4. Emily Woodell, a spokesperson for the flood control district, said the office has had several conversations with the general land office about a potential extension. “There is a grace period between our current deadline and the ultimate grant deadline to HUD,” Woodell said. “The [general land office] has been clear that they want these dollars to stay in Harris County, as do we.” An extension has not yet been granted, and Petersen previously said the office is awaiting environmental clearances from HUD to proceed with several of the flood projects — which were first established through a $2.5 billion flood bond approved by voters in 2018 after Hurricane Harvey. Projects outlined in the bond were set to include major repairs to flood-damaged drainage infrastructure, channel modifications to improve stormwater conveyance, voluntary buyouts of flood-prone properties and a major overhaul of the county's flood warning system. The bond — which has been encumbered by an 8% inflationary cost increase — immediately presented hurdles for county engineers and flood control staffers since it was created with a significant funding gap. About $2.7 billion from state and federal funding sources was secured by the county to cover the remaining costs of the bond projects. In a statement to Houston Public Media, general land office spokesperson Brittany Eck said the decision to grant a project deadline extension is up to HUD — which set the final 2028 grant deadline. The general land office implemented project benchmarks for the county, allowing just enough time to complete closeout work HUD requires to complete the overall grant, she said. “If Harris County takes longer than their contract allows, then we will not have time to finalize the documentation to close out the full grant,” Eck said. “Failure to meet HUD’s deadline could result in a multitude of HUD decisions, including partial or full recapture of the grant funds.” Only 11 of the 28 projects outlined in the flood bond are set to meet funding deadlines. While disaster relief projects have a funding deadline approaching in February next year, mitigation projects won’t see a deadline until 2028 — when about half of those grant funds must be used by. During a recent update to commissioners court, Petersen acknowledged lingering project delays as commissioners voiced their concerns. Following the update, Hidalgo said her office requested data to show the status of the projects, including whether they are on track and how they are planning to stay on schedule. But the documents shared with commissioners court at the time, she said, did not answer those questions — prompting Hidalgo to say she had lost confidence in Petersen. In a Tuesday statement about the new report, Hidalgo said what remains missing is a clear explanation of the obstacles preventing certain disaster relief projects from meeting deadlines — and which of those obstacles are within the county’s control. “This is personal to me, not only because of the suffering many communities have endured, but because of the extraordinary effort it took to bring these funds to Harris County,” Hidalgo said. “The first federal deadline is February 2027, after my time in office. That does not change my responsibility now.” It’s not clear whether HUD — which did not immediately return a request for comment — intends to extend the deadline for Harris County to use that funding. General Land Office Commissioner Dawn Buckingham negotiated an extension in 2024 for the disaster recovery grant funds. But in a letter at the time, HUD said it would no longer grant extensions. Eck said that the work before construction takes the most time, and the construction phase is faster. Significant construction progress and expenditure of grant funds are the best justification in support of deadline extension requests, she said. “In other words, the further you are into construction, and the closer a project is to completion, the more receptive HUD may be to granting additional time,” Eck said. “HUD does not consider a project complete until people are benefiting from it. HUD evaluates the pace of a grant based on expenditures only.” Hidalgo said the projects need to stay on track. “I will do everything necessary to keep these projects on schedule,” Hidalgo said. “These communities have been through so much, and with hurricane season approaching, we must be willing to confront hard truths so we can address them.” ------------------------------------------ Isom Stormwater Detention Basin for the Harris County Flood Control District, Texas. TX-GLO CDBG-DR CONTRACT ID: 24-033-000-E072 US-HUD CDBG-DR CONTRACT ID: B-17-DM-48-0001; B-18-DP-48-0001 Question Deadline 03/24/2026 at 12:00 PM CT Online Portal .