Improving existing structures, including the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs;
Improve existing flood control structures, including the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs.
Occurrences
Expediting the projects recommended following the Buffalo Bayou Resiliency Study;
Identifying additional detention areas;
Revising the floodplain maps;
Devising and installing a system for coastal surge protection;
Incentivizing public-private partnerships;
Ensuring federal projects are completed on time and on budget.
Evidence
The campaign issue page says, under Flooding, that Fletcher wants to improve existing structures, including the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs.
Fletcher announced $36,717,825.60 in FEMA funding to repair Addicks Reservoir channels damaged by Hurricane Harvey and restore them to pre-Harvey levels of conveyance.
Fletcher announced nearly $9.8 million in FEMA funding to restore channels flowing into Barker Reservoir to pre-Harvey capacity by removing sediment and repairing the drainage system.
The House passed H.R. 7776, the Water Resources Development Act, and Fletcher voted yea; her office later said the bill authorized technical assistance for removing sediment obstructing inflow channels to the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs.
USACE said the BBTRS was intended to identify and recommend actions to address changed flood risks around the Addicks and Barker reservoirs and evaluate structural and non-structural measures, including tunnels, spillway modifications, levees, channel modifications, and changes in operations.
The USACE Galveston District page says the Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries Resiliency Study now has both a Chief's Report and a Report of Findings, indicating the study process Fletcher advocated for reached completion in 2025.
USACE's May 2025 Report of Findings says the best structural alternative is a tunnel system and recommends completing 35% tunnel design, a dam safety modification study for the emergency spillways, interim Water Control Manual updates, and authorization to acquire additional upstream real-estate interests around Addicks and Barker.
USACE's July 2025 draft Chief's Report says BBTRS feasibility work had been suspended in December 2023, an additional study-time exception was granted in July 2025, and the final Chief's Report was due by December 31, 2025.
Assessments
Fletcher did materially advance improvements to Addicks and Barker through congressional support and federal funding: she voted for WRDA 2022 technical-assistance provisions and announced FEMA repairs for both reservoirs’ channels. But the evidence shows study, planning, and repair funding rather than full completion of the promised structural improvements, so the commitment was only partly fulfilled.
Fletcher appears to have materially advanced this promise but not fully delivered the broad outcome. The record shows concrete same-term progress tied to Addicks and Barker, including FEMA funding for repairs to inflow channels and drainage systems and her support for WRDA provisions authorizing technical assistance related to the reservoirs. Federal Corps studies also advanced to final-report stage and recommended further structural changes. But the evidence does not show that the larger promised improvements to the Addicks and Barker flood-control system were fully completed; much of the later record remains at funding, study, authorization, or recommendation stage rather than finished implementation. That supports partial credit rather than full delivery.
Fletcher materially supported and announced federal actions related to Addicks and Barker flood-control work during her time in Congress, including FEMA funding for Addicks and Barker channel repairs, support for WRDA authorization affecting reservoir inflow channels, and advancement of the USACE Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries Resiliency Study. These are concrete same-term steps toward the promised outcome. However, the evidence shows repairs, sediment removal, technical assistance, and planning/study completion rather than full implementation of broader improvements to the existing flood control structures themselves, so the promise is best credited as partially fulfilled rather than fully delivered.
Fletcher promised to improve existing flood control structures, specifically including Addicks and Barker Reservoirs. The evidence shows concrete same-term progress: FEMA funding was announced for repairs to Addicks channels and Barker watershed channels, WRDA language authorized technical assistance for sediment removal affecting the reservoirs, and USACE advanced the Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries Resiliency Study through later final-report stages. These are real repair, restoration, funding, and planning actions tied directly to the promised structures. However, the record does not show that broader reservoir improvements were fully constructed or completed, so the promise is best rated partial rather than delivered.