Humble ISD construction project causing flooding concerns with murky water pouring into storm drains

KINGWOOD, Texas (KTRK) — Murky water from a Humble ISD construction site has some neighbors in a flood-prone community worried about what's flowing into storm drains.

Despite the predicted drought, a street in the Kingwood neighborhood filled with water Tuesday after water was pumped out of Humble ISD's Foster Elementary School project.

It wasn't the crowd that worried Chris Summers, but the color emanating from the crews.

“I should have asked him if he wanted to drink some of that water because it was muddy brown,” Summers said.

Summers lives near the construction site near Trailwood Village and Woodland Hills in Kingwood. He remembered noticing dark colored water at Christmas time.

“It was like a muddy river flowing off the property,” Summers remembers. “I mean, thousands of gallons of muddy water.”

Not just on the street, but also in the sewers. The EPA said construction sediments can clog storm drains to prevent flooding.

“From here, go west and down to the river, and this area is completely under water during floods,” Summers explained.

The old campus was the first school Humble ISD built in Kingwood in 1971. It was demolished to open a new building for the 2026-2027 school year.

The original school had to be demolished and construction workers only recently began work on the new building. Shortly after, Humble ISD heard complaints from neighbors about the dark-colored water.

“The district took immediate action by contacting the contractor and the contractor took some action,” Humble ISD Chief Communications Officer Jamie Mount said.

One of these items is called a Gator. The company said that while you can see water running underneath, it keeps things from entering the sewer system.

John Marshall, executive vice president and chief revenue officer of Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, spoke with ABC13 about what will happen next.

“The basic steps were there,” Marshall explained. “Now we are going above and beyond to protect this site and the surrounding community from flooding of any kind.”

ABC13 reached out to the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality. A spokesman said the agency was reviewing the matter.

The project is in Councilman Fred Flickinger’s district. He called on Public Works to investigate.

Flickinger said there are problems but the company is back in compliance.

“Many of us have seen our insurance, our homeowner's insurance, go up, even though we may not have been flooded, but because of the risk in the area and the rising rates,” Summers said. “If this leads to more flooding, it certainly won’t help.”

That project will create a new elementary school for the 2026 school year, but also brings murky water that neighbors hope won't cause flooding problems.

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