My expectation is that the solution won't work as well as planned, and add serious unforeseen problems as well.

I know that wetlands removal was a huge problem in Louisiana. Maybe similar in Houston? I know the area very well. All of my immediate family live in/near Houston, and I used to as well. For sure subsidence due to groundwater pumping has been a problem coming for decades. Flooding has been getting worse, but that is a serious lack of planning as well as global warming.