Judge Lina Hidalgo, HCA August Luncheon Speaker

Judge Lina Hidalgo was the honored guest speaker for the Houston Contractors Association’s August 2019 luncheon.  The newly elected Harris County Judge shared with HCA her strategy for addressing the defining issue of her term thus far, focusing primarily on flood control. 

Judge Hidalgo stated that her newly created website “Harris Thrives” initiative is working to address flooding in a way that is fast, fair, and smart.  Judge Hidalgo stated that the approach begins with working as quickly as possible to deliver what was promised to the residents regarding flooding.  She stated that we are working to complete the county’s drainage projects in roughly half the time, the Judge stated that $60 million of local funds was spent to expedite the efforts.  With this, Hidalgo hopes to protect tens of thousands of homes from flooding and to break Houston’s historic cycle of flooding and recovery.   

Next, the Judge stated that with the many flood projects in Harris County, the prioritization of flood projects will be focused on addressing the areas of the county where the chances of flooding are the greatest.  She stated that the county is using a federally created “Social Vulnerability Index” to determine the schedule of projects.  She emphasized the importance of protecting the more at-risk areas of town as opposed to the more affluent neighborhoods with the political connections.    

Lastly, she stated that the county is relying heavily on science to determine the best plan of action.  In addition to redrawing the county’s flood plain, the Judge stated that having new detention requirements for development is just as important.  With Harris County’s ever-expanding boundary, the possible impacts of water runoff need to be addressed and offset. 

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