The Sugar Land City Council has approved $1.3 million toward a $2.7 million project with the Fort Bend County Drainage District to improve drainage along Oyster Creek and surrounding areas.
The funds will be used to construct a railroad bridge over Ditch H, the first phase of a project extending the drainage ditch north of U.S. 90A to connect and divert water from Oyster Creek.
Ditch H currently conveys stormwater from south of U.S. 90A to the Brazos River.
Phase II will include the construction of a “control structure” just north of the railroad to divert floodwater from Oyster Creek to Ditch H when the creek rises and to maintain normal levels in the creek when it’s not raining. When complete, the Ditch H extension is expected to lower 100-year surface elevations in Oyster Creek by as much as 2 feet in some areas, as well as improve overall drainage along Oyster Creek.
Phases I and II of the Ditch H extension project total approximately $6 million; Sugar Land has agreed to pay for half of the project.
The extension of the drainage ditch was recommended in the Upper Oyster Creek and Ditch “H” Drainage Study and Improvement Plan, which was prepared in 2002 for Fort Bend County, Sugar Land and Levee Improvement District No. 2.
Phase I construction is expected to begin during the fall.
