Willow Fork Drainage District officials are seeking public investment for a $24 million drainage improvement and community park project.

District officials said Project Barker increases flood storage capacity in the Barker Reservoir. They discussed the project at a town hall meeting Monday at the Cinco Ranch Golf Club, 23030 Cinco Ranch Blvd.

Harry Holmes Thompson, an attorney with Allan Boone Humphreys Robinson, said district officials met with officials in 24 local municipal utility districts near the reservoir. The law firm is general counsel to the district.

“We’ve been doing the dog and pony show,” Thompson said, adding that the district will soon approach the entities again.

“We’re gonna start bringing our hat around and say, let’s fill ‘er up,” Thompson said.

Wendy Duncan, Willow Fork Drainage District president, said discussions have also taken place with both Fort Bend and Harris counties. She said Harris County officials have expressed interest in expanding the project and talks remain active with both counties.

Thompson said district officials have spoken with the Harris County Flood Control District, and the Katy Independent School District. Two school board trustees, Rebecca Fox and Dawn Champagne, were at Monday’s meeting.

Despite the discussions and “very good, positive feedback,” Duncan said no other entities have made financial commitments.

Of the $24 million, the state has issued a $1.9 million grant and a $22.1 million flood infrastructure fund loan with a 30-year term. The district has committed to providing $10 million against that loan. The district is asking the other entities to contribute to cover the remaining $12 million.

Thompson said district wanted to think big.

“We wanted to do the biggest project possible,” Thompson said, adding that the $22.1 million figure represents the extent of authority from which the district can issue bonds.

“It’s sized based on bonding capacity,” Thompson said.

Duncan said entities can contribute through a single payment or an installment plan that the district would finance.

The plan is for construction to begin in 2023 and end by 2024.

Monday’s presentation featured remarks from Duncan, Craig Kalkomey, and Stephen Robinson. Kalkomey is a senior project manager with LJA Engineering of Katy. Robinson is a partner with Allen Boone Humphries Robinson.

In the presentation, they showed a map of Houston, circa 1940, with two projects that were to help with floodwaters but were never built. One project was building a reservoir north of Katy, near Clear Creek. The other was a diversion channel that would move floodwaters from north of Katy to around Houston and through Fort Bend County before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.

District officials envision Project Barker as a “first domino.” The idea is that successful implementation makes it easier for similar flood mitigation projects to happen in the future.

“This project started as a pilot project,” Duncan said. “Its purpose is to go through all the process and identify what must be done.”

Duncan said Project Barker, by itself, creates a localized effect, with a regional effect happening as more projects are completed.

According to materials distributed by the district, if Project Barker were in place, the Barker Reservoir flood pool following 2017’s Hurricane Harvey would be 0.8 inches deeper. With a full set of reservoir projects implemented, the district said the flood pool would be 6.5 feet lower.

According to the Texas Water Development Board website, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers developed both the Barker and Addicks reservoirs to prevent downstream flooding of Buffalo Bayou. Construction of the Barker Dam began in 1942 and ended d in 1945. Barker Dam is a rolled earthen embankment of 71,900 feet long. Its greatest height of 36.5 feet above the streambed.