Harris County flood control projects worth more than $1.1 billion got a one-year reprieve from the federal government, buying time for stormwater work across the county and potentially in the Clear Lake area.

Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham announced Monday, Sept. 28, that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved what the Texas General Land Office (GLO) called "one final extension" on Hurricane Harvey Community Development Block Grant funds. The extension covers 28 Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) projects, first reported by Community Impact.

Two HCFCD projects sit in the Clear Lake area: the Friendswood Regional Stormwater Detention Basin on Clear Creek near FM 1959 and the Genoa Red Bluff Regional Stormwater Detention Basin in the Armand Bayou watershed, which drains into Clear Lake. The Genoa Red Bluff project is funded through Harvey disaster recovery grants, according to a GLO environmental notice. It is designed to reduce flooding for 706 structures in a 100-year storm.

The extension pushes the spending deadline for 17 flood mitigation projects to March 2029. Eleven disaster recovery projects could get until late February 2028, but only if Harris County submits proof of a "documented need," the Houston Chronicle reported. All 28 projects account for more than $860 million in federal funding, according to the Chronicle.

Without the extension, HUD or the GLO could have moved to reclaim unspent money. As of an August status report, only about one-third of the $322 million disaster recovery allocation had been spent, according to ReduceFlooding.com.

HCFCD Executive Director Marcus Stuckett told Community Impact in a Thursday, Sept. 24, interview that all 11 disaster recovery projects are under construction. He said he plans to present Harris County Commissioners Court with more details at an upcoming meeting.

The flood control district said in a statement that its teams will keep working toward existing deadlines while the new terms are clarified and that the extension does not change the urgency of the work.

Buckingham struck a harder tone. In a letter to county leaders, she wrote of "grave concerns about Harris County continually failing to meet contract expenditure benchmarks."

"No more delays will be tolerated … the time for excuses and missed benchmarks is over," Buckingham wrote. "No more extensions, no more excuses, just get it done."

The projects have a rocky history. Harris County received the grant funds in October 2023 under strict federal timelines. Delays prompted the Commissioners Court to approve a new project plan in June. Former HCFCD Executive Director Tina Petersen resigned minutes after that plan passed.

Previously, six of the 11 disaster recovery projects were expected to miss the old February 2027 deadline. Under the new timeline, only one project, a detention pond along Jackson Bayou, is still projected to finish late, according to the Chronicle.

Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey credited Stuckett's prior experience for helping secure the extension, the Chronicle reported. Buckingham also said the county has not begun to allocate separate HUD funds awarded after Hurricane Beryl in 2024, calling it "another example of Harris County's incompetence," the Chronicle reported.

The next scheduled public update on the project portfolio is the Oct. 15 Commissioners Court meeting.