Ike Dike finally gets some federal funding
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A pier damaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Texas' storm coastal barrier project, dubbed the Ike Dike, has received its first installment of federal funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Why it matters: The Ike Dike, nicknamed after the 2008 hurricane that left more than 70 dead in Texas and caused more than $30 billion in damage in the U.S., has had slow progress despite receiving congressional approval in 2022.
- The long-awaited Ike Dike aims to protect the Houston-Galveston region from hurricane storm surge.
Driving the news: The Corps of Engineers announced last week that it had allocated $500,000 to begin the design process and engineering to "prepare the project for construction," per the Gulf Coast Protection District.
Reality check: $500,000 is a small dent in the projected $34.4 billion Coastal Texas Program — one of the largest projects in the history of the corps.
- The corps has since indicated that inflation could push project costs to $57 billion.
- Additionally, the corps expects the project could take nearly another 20 years to complete, particularly if the funding continues to come in small increments, the Houston Business Journal reports.
State of play: The funding announcement comes just before the start of hurricane season, which is expected to be "extremely active."
What they're saying: "Projects of this scale and magnitude require ongoing funding and long-term partner collaboration, but we cannot discount the critical importance [of] quickly moving forward with the design and construction of initial segments of this transformational project," said Gulf Coast Protection District President Michel Bechtel.
- "It is imperative that we get the Coastal Texas Project completed as soon as possible, ideally before the next big storm comes barreling at the upper Texas Gulf Coast, and this is a great step in the right direction," said U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland.