Major Paper 3: Fighting Floods at White Oak Bayou

Dylan A. Taheri

Professor Soyeon Lee

English 1304

May 2, 2019

Fighting Floods at White Oak Bayou

My research started with an article titled “Houston’s sprawling drainage project would help hundreds of homes along White Oak Bayou.” The article, written by Mike Morris, discusses a project plan that was proposed in the past that the author believed could “dramatically lower risk of flooding” of homes, roads, and facilities along the White Oak Bayou (“Morris”). This suggested to me that White Oak Bayou had a problem with flooding, a fact that I was not aware of before. This, combined with knowledge on how badly many of my own friends have been affected by flooding, made me wonder how flooding and flood damages can be prevented.

After finding of Morris’s article, I went to the Special Collections of the M.D. Anderson library at the University of Houston in order to do research. Through the UH Library’s website, I was able to do a search on what kind of documents were in the Special Collections. After searching for documents relating to the White Oak Bayou, I found a box containing several papers about a project plan that was carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers in an attempt to prevent flooding. After requesting and gaining access to the box and its contents, I found that the documents contained a list of alternative plans that were being considered but were rejected for various reasons. Some reasons for rejecting a project seemed rather obvious, such as high costs. One of the reasons for rejection that interested me, however, was the presence of people. The document states that several of the proposed projects were rejected as they would cause “social problems,” such as a need to relocate people, disruption of roads and businesses, and “unsightliness… within heavily urbanized areas” (Army Corps. Of Engineers, Galveston District). This suggests that plans to combat flooding do exist, but they cannot be executed because the lives of people would be disturbed.

After doing research at the M. D. Anderson library, I went to the internet and did further research on the effects of urbanization on flooding, this time searching for reasons that flooding is a problem in the hopes that knowing the cause of the problem would allow me to figure out how to fix it. As a result, I came across an article titled “Why is Houston so vulnerable to devastating floods.” The article, written by Professor Phillipe R. Berke of Texas A&M University, discusses some of the reasons that Houston experiences worse floods than other places. One of the reasons that the article discusses is the loss of “wetlands and prairie land,” which were stated by the author to be good at absorbing rainfall (Berke, par 14). These natural habitats were paved over with roads, which are nowhere near as good for absorbing water, which results in Houston becoming “vulnerable to moderate storms” (Berke, par 18). These roads not only result in more flooding by being impervious, but as Berke points out, they also result in “mismatch between spending on flood prevention and roads” (Berke, par 23). This means that roads not only make flooding a bigger problem, but they also use up money that could be used to fix the problem.

From looking at the documents of the Army Corps of Engineers and Professor Berke, a trend of people making flooding and flood prevention harder became apparent. As a result, I conducted research of the effects of Urbanization on Flooding on the University of Houston library website. There, I found a document titled “The impact of urbanization on the streamflows and the 100-year floodplain extent of the Sims Bayou in Houston, Texas.” The document described a study that tested whether roads were responsible for flooding. During the test, it was found that there was a trend between the “ratio of the annual runoff depth … against imperviousness” (Muñoz; Olivera; Giglio; Berke). This suggests that as the amount of impervious land, such as roads, increases, the risk of flooding increases as well, which supports the previous statement of Professor Berke.

Works Cited

Berke, Prof Philip R. “Why Is Houston so Vulnerable to Devastating Floods?” BBC News, BBC, i31 Aug. 2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41107049.

Morris, Mike. “Houston’s Sprawling Drainage Project Would Help Hundreds of Homes along White Oak Bayou.” HoustonChronicle.com, Houston Chronicle, 19 Mar. 2018, www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/Houston-s-sprawling-drainage-project-would-help-12759536.php#photo-15263041.

Muñoz, Leslie; Olivera, Francisco; Giglio, Matthew; Berke, Philip. “The Impact of Urbanization on the Stand the 100-Year Floodplain Extent of the Sims Bayou in Houston, Texas ” Taylor & Francis Online. 12 Sep. 2017 ,https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/doi/full/10.1080/15715124.2017.1372447?scroll=top&needAccess=true

U.S. Army Engineers District, Galveston Corps of Engineers. “Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries, Texas, Upper White Oak Bayou, Flood Damage Prevention, Draft Environmental Statement” Galveston, Texas 1976, Bayou Preservation Assoc. Records, Box R18, University of Houston Libraries Special Collections

Fighting Floods Video

https://spark.adobe.com/video/gN94564BbYMZy

Fighting Floods

Part I

Before coming to the University of Houston for a college education, I attended the same school for 12 years. This school sat next to the White Oak Bayou watershed, meaning that I would see the White Oak Bayou almost every day for 12 years straight. Despite this, I must admit that I shamefully never bothered to learn about the White Oaks Bayou, not even bothering to learn its name. Now, I no longer see this watershed every day on the way to school. However, I became curious about it and decided to attempt to do research on it or at the very least learn what it was called. As a result, I began research and figured out that it was called the White Oak Bayou. In doing so, not only did I discover the name of the water shed, but I also learned that the White Oak Bayou had a problem with flooding. I found this strange, as I have never in my memory see the Bayou to be flood. As a result, I began to ask questions such as how these floods can be prevented and how can we prevent damages?

The first step I took in my journey to find the answers to my question about the White Oak Bayou started at the Specials collection of the University of Houston Library in order to do archival research. During my first session there, I chose a box that appeared to be filled with information on the White Oaks Bayou. In this box, I found three folders which contained information about flooding of the White Oaks Bayou. From reading through the folders I learned of plans that were proposed in order to stop flooding and mitigate flooding damage, but were rejected due to various reasons. Some plans appeared standard, such as a plan to build on the watershed in order to make it more cable of holding water. Other plans, however, seemed more outlandish, such as a plan to buy out the surrounding land and relocate the people in the area. The reasons for rejecting the plans were also varied. Some plans were rejected due to high costs. Other plans were rejected due potential environmental effects. One plan was even rejected due to the negative effects it could have on the aesthetics of the watershed.

Part II

Berke, Prof Philip R. “Why Is Houston so Vulnerable to Devastating Floods?” BBC News, BBC, i31 Aug. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41107049.

In this article, the topic of flooding is discussed as well as the reasons for flooding being frequent in Houston. The author of the article is Philip R. Berke, who is stated in the article to be a “Professor of Land Use and Environmental Planning at Texas A&M University,” which would suggest that the author is more knowledgeable on the topic and therefore more reliable. The first thing Berke points out is the large growth that Houston has had. Berke states that while the large growth itself may not directly cause floods to be more frequent, it has caused Houston to have poor land management, as Houston currently prefers “light touch controls, which has led to haphazard development” (par. 10). In addition to this, the author notes that many of the natural habitats have been lost due to humans building on them, such as the we habitat around the White Oak Bayou, which has” lost about 70% of its original wetlands” (par. 15). These habitats, as Berke explains, soaked up water and mitigated flooding, which means that their loss has resulted in less water being soaked up. Finally, Professor Berke notes the funding for roads instead of flood prevention, which only leads to more growth of Houston and thus even worse land management. These points that the author brings up are important, as they suggest that the poor decisions that people make causes flooding to be a more prominent issue.

The article, written by Mike Morris, discusses a “dormant drainage project” that he believes could save the lives of many people who live by the White Oak Bayou (par. 1). While Morris may not be a notable figure in terms of knowing about watersheds and flooding, he is knowledgeable in both government and politics according to the bio found below the article. As a result, because his article deals with a previous government project, Morris is a reliable source. The project that is discussed involves building a waterway at the area where the Buffalo Bayou and the White Oak Bayou meet, as water tends to build there and result in flooding. There are several problems that prevent the project from continuing, however, such as the need to acquire land. The land that needs to be acquired includes a “a 14-unit condominium building” that still has residents living in it. This information is useful as it not only serves as an example of a possible plan of flood prevention, but also demonstrates how people being near areas at risk of flood can make flood prevention difficult.

In this article, the authors discuss a study they performed in order to test whether urbanization and “imperviousness,” or the amount of land that could not absorb water, were related to flooding (par. 2). The article was written by several people, including the previously mentioned Philip Berke, who was established in another article to be a reliable source when it comes to land use. The results of the study discussed in this article found that between the years 1980 and 2000, both the population and imperviousness increased. Alongside this, “annual runoff and peak flows” have also increased, which lead the authors to conclude that increasing imperviousness of the land results in more floods of a more severe level (par. 22). This correlation is useful for me, as it proves that human development makes flooding worse, and suggests that if people were to stop or slow development, flooding would not become worse.

While doing research in the specials collection of the library at the University of Houston, I came across a report which contained information on a previous plan to prevent flooding and mitigate flood damages along the White Oak Bayou. The report was written by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a group of engineers who work under the U.S. government and have a history of working on waterways and helping take precautions against large storms, which makes this source more reliable. In the report, alongside the plan that was carried out was a list of proposed plans that were rejected. These proposed plans included a project to add a “flood detention reservoir” that would hold excess water to be released later, the redirection of excess water through other channels, and the widening of the earthen channel to be able to hold more water. Other rejected plans included the evacuation of people who were at a risk of flooding and the floodproofing of the buildings in the area. Each of these plans were rejected for different reasons, but of them, the plan to evacuate, the plan for widening the earthen channel, and to floodproof buildings were rejected due to “social problems” that would disturb many people. This helps my essay as it not only tells of several different possible solutions to flooding, but also shows how the placement of people near areas at risk of flood makes preventing floods difficult

Part III

In the beginning of my research, I wondered if there was a way floods could be controlled. I wanted to find a way to both prevent flooding and mitigate flood damage. Through my research, I found that there are measures that can be taken in order to make flooding be less of a problem. As Morris points out, a project to prevent flooding was started years ago and could be finished if certain conditions were met. In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has given a plethora of alternate plans that can be used to allow us combat floods, ranging from redirecting and storing excess water to floodproofing buildings. However, many of these plans become more difficult the more people try to move closer to the floodplains where risk of flooding is higher. As professor Berke notes in the article that was posted on the BBC, as people move closer to the bayous, the harder it is to take actions against floods, as more people means more roads and other “impervious” structures, which as his studies show, results in a higher risk of flood. To add on, more people closer to areas at risk of flood means that when action wants to be taken against floods, more people must be moved to make room for building, which is not an easy task to do. As a result of this, it is my belief that one of the first things that people can do in order to prevent flood damages is to stop moving to areas at risk of flooding until proper action can be taken against the floods.

Introversion and Discussion in School

As an introvert, talking can be hard at times. While I do not dislike talking to others, I can sometimes find it hard to bring myself to speak up. Usually, this does not affect me much, but one of the places that an inability to speak can be a hindrance to me is during class discussions in school. In these discussions, students are expected to be able to speak and add in their own thoughts and ideas. However, being able to speak up during these discussions is something that I and many other introverts have found to be difficult. This would not bother me much if it was not for the fact that lack of participation in these discussions can hurt one’s grade. This means that in order to prevent a lower grade, introverts must go out of their comfort zones, which I do not believe introverts should be forced to do. While I understand that being able to communicate with others is a necessary skill, I believe there are other ways introverts can demonstrate this skill outside of a classroom discussion that can keep them closer to their comfort zone.

Before discussing how to help introverts, it is important to discuss what an introvert is. While many people have a general idea on what how an introverted person might act, many people also confuse introversion with shyness. As Susan Cain notes in her article “Shy, Introverted, Both or Neither?,” shyness involves a “fear of negative judgement” (par. 3). This does not necessarily mean that shy people do not like being with others, but it does mean that they do not like being the focus of attention out of fear of being judged. On the other hand, Cain states that introverts have a preference for “quiet, minimally stimulating environments,” which means that they find extended interactions or interactions with a large number of people overwhelming (par. 3). While it is possible for a person to be both shy and introverted, it should be noted that by these definitions, it is possible for a person to be only introverted or only shy. For the remainder of this essay, the struggles of introverted people, or those become overwhelmed by large amounts of stimulus, will be discussed as well as ideas on how to help them, will be discussed. However, this is not to say that shy people cannot face the same struggles introverts have and cannot benefit from the solutions that will be proposed.

Class discussions are commonplace in many classes. In this activity, the class is given a topic of interest and the students discuss the topic with the teacher guiding the discussion and occasionally commenting. Students being given grades based on their ability to participate and contribute to these discussions is not uncommon. However, these grades can often be the bane of introverted students. Classes are often made up of 20 or more people, which means that during class discussions, introverts can become overstimulated and have a hard time speaking up. This can be especially harmful to the grades of introverted students, as noted by writer Emma Tranter, who states in her article “Points for Participation? It’s not so easy for introverts.” that grades given based on participation “may account for a quarter or more of a student’s final grade” (par. 3).

While many parents have complained to teachers who give grades based on participation in class discussion, some remain firm on their stance that the grade is necessary. In her article titled “Introverted Kids Need to Learn to speak up at School,” writer and teacher Jessica Lahey argues that participation grades for class discussions are important as they teach students “self-advocate by communicating with parents, educators, and the world at large” (par. 7) Lahey makes a valid point in the fact that the having the ability communicate with others is important. However, what the argument fails to recognize is that being able to communicate with a large group of people is not the same as being able to communicate with a single person. As previously mentioned, introverted people have a preference for less stimulation. This means that while an introvert may be uncomfortable speaking with a large number of people, like that of a typical class, the same introvert may be comfortable speaking with just one person, or maybe a small group of people. Class discussions, however, expect the participants to be able to communicate with a large group of people, which is not as necessary as being able to communicate with a smaller group of people. As a result, classroom discussions are biased against introverts and not only hinder their ability to get a grade, but also their ability to practice communication skills.

One solution to help introverts feel more comfortable during group discussion is to allow them to participate through an online medium. In a study conducted by Ina Blau and Azy Barak titled “How Do Personality, Synchronous Media, and Discussion Topic Affect Participation?”, Blau and Bark found that introverts showed more readiness to participate in an online text chat and “medium(s) low in transmitting social communication cues” (par. 20). Using this knowledge, teachers can implement discussion assignments online using a group chat or a forum. This could be considered just as good in-class participation, especially in today’s world where communication through technology is commonplace and an import part of many of our lives. As a result, were a teacher to allow discussion assignments to be conducted through an online chat or forum, introverted students would more likely be able to contribute to the discussion and could still be taken for participating in the discussion.

One possible argument to participation through an online medium is that communication online is different than communication face to face, the latter of which being important even in a world of technology. To teachers who worry about this, an alternate solution could be to allow students to discuss in small groups of people. As previously mentioned, one of the main reasons many introverted people become overwhelmed in class discussions is because of the large number of people participating in the discussion. However, by splitting the class into multiple groups, introverts can focus on communication with only a few people, which is less likely to overstimulate them. This not only allows the students to practice communication skills in a more comfortable manner, but it also allows them to practice communication face to face with another person.

I agree that even introverts need to learn to speak to others. It is hard to imagine someone living with other people and being unable to communicate with them. However, classroom discussions grades require introverts to perform under conditions that are not desirable for them. Not everyone is going to need to be able to talk to a crowd of people, which tends to be a task more difficult than talking to small crowds or individuals. Even if it were a required skill, asking introverts to change in order to be able to perform an extrovert favored task without asking extroverts to change is unfair. Both introverts and extroverts need to work together to find a solution that can work out for everyone, and grades for class discussions do not work for everyone.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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