League City's decades-old switch to surface water has spared the city from the worst land subsidence hitting communities farther northwest, but local homeowners still face foundation risks from the region's expansive clay soils.

KPRC 2 reported Wednesday, Sept. 16, that land subsidence across Southeast Texas is causing cracked walls, sticking doors and worsening flooding. The primary driver: decades of groundwater pumping that permanently compressed soft clay layers beneath the surface. Foundation repairs can cost more than $20,000.

League City sits in the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District's Regulatory Area Two, which converted to alternate water sources in the 1980s and early 1990s, according to the district's 2025 annual groundwater report. Water levels in the area's aquifers have since risen more than 200 feet. Subsidence rates in areas that completed the transition are now stable or showing slight uplift, the report found.

The fastest-sinking areas are farther northwest. GPS stations near Katy and Fulshear recorded subsidence exceeding 3 centimeters per year. One Katy-area station measured nearly 14 inches of total sinking between 2007 and 2025.

Foundation problems are not limited to the worst-hit zones. Shannon Araya, a realtor with Keller Williams Realty Premier Properties, told KPRC she sees 100 to 200 homes per year in the Houston area. She said she is encountering more foundation issues now than in her 14 years in real estate, including in new construction.

"The second you see any crack, any movement, a door that's not closing properly, give an expert a call," said Alex Lopez, owner of Safe Lift Concrete Leveling. Lopez said Houston's expansive clay soils expand and contract with weather changes, and poor drainage can wash soil away from a foundation.

Maria Lee, also a realtor with Keller Williams Realty Premier Properties, said foundation repairs are almost never covered by homeowners insurance. She recommended buyers hire a structural engineer, at a cost of $600 to $800, rather than relying on a foundation company's free assessment.

Under Texas Property Code Section 5.008, sellers of previously occupied single-family homes must disclose known foundation repairs and defects on the TREC Seller's Disclosure Notice before closing. Araya said in the current buyer's market, sellers with foundation issues are more willing to negotiate repairs or split costs.

Groundwater dropped from about 61 percent of total water demand in 1976 to about 21 percent in 2025, according to the district's annual report. Mike Turco, general manager of the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, said the district aims to reach 20 percent by 2035. The Texas Legislature created the district in 1975 after the Brownwood neighborhood in Baytown sank as much as 10 feet, displacing more than 400 families.

League City Mayor Nick Long said in an April 2026 post on X that the city has been working with Galveston County and regional partners to secure federal funding for flood mitigation projects. Long said the city has completed millions of dollars in local projects aimed at reducing water levels. That post addressed flooding broadly, not subsidence specifically.

The Harris-Galveston Subsidence District maintains a free interactive map where residents can search by address and see how much the ground has moved over time.