The State of Houston Flood & Stormwater

Russell “Russ” Poppe, P.E., is the Executive Director for the Harris County Flood Control District in Houston, Texas. Under his direction, the District carries out its mission to devise countywide flood damage reduction plans, implement those plans, and maintain the infrastructure. That mission is executed in the third most populated county in the United States, with a population in excess of 4.5 million, which includes the City of Houston, the nation’s fourth largest city. The District has jurisdiction over the primary stormwater facilities in the county, which consist of about 1,500 channels, totaling 2,500 miles in length, as well as more than 60 regional stormwater detention basins and a 2.5- square mile wetlands mitigation bank. After graduating from Texas A&M University in 1999 with a civil engineering degree, Russ successfully practiced engineering in the private industry before joining the Harris County Architecture and Engineering Department in September 2005. Since then, Russ has held various leadership positions within both Harris County and Harris County Flood Control District, with project responsibilities spanning from roadway, park, and water quality projects, to multi-story buildings and complex flood risk reduction projects in highly urbanized areas. His tenure in the public service sector includes a collective project portfolio that exceeds $1 billion in value on very diverse projects that has allowed him to gain a unique skill set and develop a solid track record focused on producing efficient and effective public projects.

Nick Russo is the Environmental Compliance Officer for Harris County Engineering Department as a member of the department’s executive leadership team. Nick is responsible for coordinating various environmental and regulatory programs with local, state, and federal agencies. He has implemented Green Stormwater Infrastructure & Low Impact Development on many County projects, including the development of storm water criteria for green infrastructure across the county and currently oversees several large storm water projects. Nick has worked numerous federally declared disasters including Hurricane Ike, the Tax day flood, Hurricane Harvey, and Tropical Storm Imelda where he has conducted damage assessments and debris removal in coordination with FEMA and other agencies. Mr. Russo has more than seventeen years of experience in water management, environmental resources, and disaster recovery. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas State University and a Master’s Degree from Texas A&M University. Nick is currently assigned to a county task force assisting in the county’s response to COVID-19.

Carol Ellinger Haddock is Director of Houston Public Works, the largest American Public Works Association accredited agency in the nation. Carol leads almost 4,000 employees in transforming the culture and operations of the Department, with the purpose: “Together we create a strong foundation for Houston to thrive.” Houston Public Works includes water and wastewater systems; street and storm drainage systems and regulation of both public and private development. The Department has an annual operating budget of $2.1 billion and an annual capital budget of nearly a billion dollars. Carol has been at the City for fifteen years and was promoted to Director in 2017. She has led the organization through a cultural transformation by providing resilience training for all employees. Streamlining operations and equipping employees with new skill sets, has allowed the Department to move forward from Hurricane Harvey, set records for treatment of drinking water in a day, reduced environmental impacts in both the wastewater and stormwater systems, maintain a next-business-day pothole repair program 99% of the time and support more than $6 billion in development. Through Carol’s leadership, Houston Public Works employees have been empowered to take on additional leadership roles in the Department and throughout the country in professional organizations. When other cities or agencies have complex problems to solve, they often turn to Houston for advice and guidance. Carol is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas with a Civil Engineering Bachelor’s degree from Rice University and has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Houston. Prior to joining Houston Public Works, Carol worked in private consulting, for the Harris County Flood Control District, and as a Congressional Fellow for the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. She is married to Will Haddock, a Houston bankruptcy attorney.

Having been an engineer at Walter P Moore since 1980, Charlie is widely recognized for his contributions to the profession and his advancements in research and education related to storm water management, storm preparedness, and flood risk mitigation. Throughout his career, he has managed complex projects spanning large campuses and municipal districts, emphasizing sound master planning, community collaboration, and low-impact development (LID) strategies. Charlie specializes in hydraulic design, hydrologic analysis, flood protection, and LID, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas, Kentucky, and Illinois. It is perhaps because of this specialized expertise that Charlie is regularly sought by a variety of professional, industry, and educational organizations — both across the United States and in Europe — to share and expound on critical topics such as flood protection design, flood risk, and emergency preparedness. He regularly guest lectures at Rice University, speaking on the topics of floodplain mitigation, Low Impact Development and Storm Surge Barrier Design. Charlie also teaches the Civil and Environmental Department’s Senior Design class at Rice. Charlie has served on the Harris County Flood Control Low Impact Development Guidelines Committee and the Houston Land and Water Sustainability Forum. He has also been active on the Board of the Houston Water Authority Corporation, the American Council of Engineering Companies, the Environmental Committee of EWRI, and is a member of the SSPEED Center research collaborative at Rice University.

Matthew Smith received his Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife and Fisheries from Texas A&M University. He spent four years handling, managing, and rehabilitating wolves and wolf dogs at Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary. During this time, he worked as a Wildlife Biologist for a local Wildlife Control Company. His passion for wildlife has driven him into the stormwater industry to promote Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development in Harris County and the City of Houston. Since joining Construction Eco Services, Matthew has begun volunteering with Houston Land Water Sustainability, Houston Trash Bash, and United States Green Building Council. Currently he manages the design and sustainability stormwater infrastructure in the Greater Houston Area., where he has assisted or completed 100's of Low Impact Development designs.

Kim was born in Flushing, New York and come from many generations of New Yorkers. It was a culture shock when she first moved to Houston, Texas in the late 70's but can now say Y'all with the best of them. Kim graduated from the University of Houston with a BBA in Marketing and has worked in media her entire life. Kim played and coached soccer for many years and even spent a summer in England playing in tournaments. The oldest of three girls, she now has two sons (the first born Texans in her family), a husband and three male rescue dogs.