GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Relief is on its way to people living in Galveston as construction is set to begin in early 2025 on the first-ever pump station that is meant to help with flooding in the area. This comes after the city council approved the bid for the $67 million project last Thursday.
Flooding is no rare occurrence for people living in Galveston during hurricanes and strong rainstorms. But according to experts, the neighborhoods near Avenue Q, 59th Street, and Sadalia can flood even when there's no precipitation in the sky.
It's an issue called "sunny day flooding" that residents experience between 10 to 20 days a year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projects that by 2050, that number will jump to 170 to 200 days per year.
"When the tides get high, the water basically infiltrates through the storm drain system and ends up ponding in the roadway elsewhere or upstream of that," Robert Winiecke, the city's director of infrastructure and engineering, said. "We're seeing sea levels rise 2.5 to 4 times faster than the rest of the world."
City officials hope that the first-ever pump station that will be built on South Shore and Bayou Shore will help alleviate that problem. Renderings shared with ABC13 show that the station will look like a residential home to blend in with the rest of the neighborhood.
Winiecke said the city has been considering the project since 2017, after the Texas General Land Office (GLO) put out a call for flood mitigation projects following Hurricane Harvey.
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The city engineer explained that Galveston's existing drainage system is set up like a series of straws that go from the Houston Ship Channel, Galveston Bay, or English Bayou to the neighborhoods. Catch basins, or holes, tie to the straw to transport overflow to the open bodies of water.
When the tide is too high, water can't push out and causes flooding to happen.
"By introducing the pump station, we'll have mechanisms on the outfalls of the pipes that actually seal them off, which are going to rely on sluice gates. That's basically a big wall that you put over in front of the outlet that stops the water from coming back as we push it out through pumping," Winiecke said.
It's taken years to draft up a proposal, submit it to the state to get funding, design the project, and get approval from city council to move forward with construction. This comes despite public scrutiny over concerns about the cost, impact to residential neighborhoods, and its effectiveness. Officials said they are confident in its success.
Out of the $67 million price tag, the city engineer said the Texas GLO is funding about $54 million with the rest coming from city funds.
However, Winiecke pointed out that the City of Galveston will eventually need more revenue to keep up with the costs of maintenance for the pump station and has asked to have a rate study conducted to determine the amount. That means residents will likely see an increase in their stormwater utility fee in the future.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2025 and last for approximately two years. Officials said more pump stations are in the works, as the city's stormwater master plan includes seven in total. The city plans to put a second one out for bidding on 14th Street next summer.