Stokes: Cost must be considered in building storm surge barrier

For much of the last decade, our area's flood control discussion centered on building some type of protection to protect people from a large storm surge that might occur if a hurricane makes landfall near Galveston Bay. The discussion was broadened after our floods that occurred in 2015 and 2016 to include how to mitigate impacts from major rain events, and that focus will be even sharper after Hurricane Harvey.

We need to continue the discussion and planning for storm surge mitigation, but we need to do so with a new realization: Federal dollars that might have been available for our region to construct a hurricane storm surge structure may be limited as there will be even more demand for those dollars for traditional flood control. It's probably time to consider less costly options that would protect the most vulnerable parts of the Houston Ship Channel.

Over six years ago, the Rice SSPEED Center recommended a hurricane storm surge structure that would stretch across the base of the upper Ship Channel that would have theoretically protected most of the infrastructure on the Houston Ship Channel. Its cost was estimated to be $2 billion to $3 billion and it could theoretically have been designed and constructed in a matter of a few years. However, the idea gained little political support because it did not protect people who lived south of the upper ship channel. Since then, much of the local support has centered on promoting the "Ike Dike," a coastal barrier along the entirety of Galveston and Bolivar that could theoretically protect "everyone," but might cost $15 billion or more.

In addition to the capital cost of an Ike Dike, we would also need to generate local tax dollars for its operation and maintenance. One estimate is that it would cost .5 percent of the total cost of the structure to operate and maintain annually, totaling $75 million a year. To date, there has been no proposal put forward on determining who would pay those new taxes. Of note, voters in at least one Louisiana parish have voted down proposals on two separate occasions to increase taxes to maintain their storm protection levees.

A coastal spine seems simple enough, but additional levees and gates would need to be constructed across the region to protect everyone. Even without a hurricane storm surge, there is enough water in Galveston Bay to slosh around and cause flooding as the water gets pushed across the Bay in a big storm. The coastal spine would require a backside levee around Galveston to keep the island  from flooding, an additional gate in Clear Lake to keep that area from flooding, and potentially a mid-bay gate to keep the upper Ship Channel area from flooding.

Because of the proposed cost and complexity of such a structure, the Army Corps of Engineers is conducting a five-year Coastal Texas Protection and Restoration Feasibility Study. The study began in November 2015 and is slated to be completed in April 2021. It is required under law before any federal dollars can be spent. The study will focus both on the proposed costs and benefits of several protection options, as well as the potential environmental impacts.

If the Corps does review the Ike Dike and determine that it is the best option for our region, it will recommend it for federal funding. But it will do no good for us if the cost of the Ike Dike makes it unlikely to ever be funded. The original motivation for constructing a storm surge barrier was to protect our area's vulnerable ship channel infrastructure, which would save Galveston Bay from an environmental catastrophe that might occur should that area be devastated by a large storm surge.

That concept morphed over time to the Ike Dike concept of protecting "everyone." It may be time to look back at a more reasonably priced structure like the Centennial Gate or some other ship channel levee or structure to protect our most important infrastructure and which would have a greater likelihood of being built because of its lower cost. Otherwise, we may be waiting until the next hurricane disaster to generate the federal dollars required to build an Ike Dike.

Stokes is president of the Galveston Bay Foundation.