The Brays Bayou Watershed is one of the larger of the 22 watersheds in Harris County. It is also one of the more highly developed ones, containing over 700,000 citizens, and with limited undeveloped land remaining. The Bayou, located in the Southern part of Houston, between the Sims and Buffalo Bayou watersheds, extends 31 miles from the Ship Channel, westward to beyond Highway 6. Within it are parts of the City of Houston, the Cities of Bellaire, West University, Southside Place, Meadows Place, Missouri City, and beyond. Also located within are Houston Baptist University, Rice University, Texas Southern University, University of Houston, Hermann Park, and the Houston Zoo.
The Bayou running principally from West to East was concrete lined in the 50's from roughly MacGregor Park in the East, upstream (westward) to about Gessner. The remaining portions are principally grass lined.
Like other watersheds, Brays has been subjected to many local storms, resulting in a long history of flooding. In 1996, with contributions from HCFCD, the Federal Water Resources Development Act of 1996 (WRDA '96) was passed, permitting flood control projects, formerly designed and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to be undertaken by a competent local authority such as the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD). Brays, along with Green's and Hunting Bayous were listed in the Act as "Demonstration Projects". Due to extensive prior study work on Brays, it was considered further along than the others and was chosen as the first demonstration project, now called Project Brays. At $450 million, it is the largest undertaking of HCFCD. In May of 2000, Commissioner's Court formally authorized the project.
Project Brays involves three design approaches in its goal of reducing the risk of flooding: (1) widening the channel about 60 feet above the concrete lining up to Fondren, (2) replacing or modifying about 32 bridges to account for the increased width, and (3) developing 4 major stormwater detention facilities to slow down the release of storrmwater to stay within the in-bank flow capacity of the channel.
There are at least two active organizations in the Brays Watershed working to reduce the risk of flooding and to develop a park on one of the stormwater detention sites. The Brays Bayou Watershed reporter is a member of both.
The Brays Bayou Association (BBA) was established in 1984 following a tropical storm in September 1983 (two weeks after a hurricane) which caused extensive flooding - 1800 homes - in the watershed. The BBA has had the opportunity to work closely with the Harris County Flood Control District on issues affecting Brays ever since. We appreciate very much the courtesies extended to us by the District as Project Brays was studied and defined. We know there will be periodic efforts by people in neighborhoods that flood, to seek relief from flooding. We support these efforts but watch carefully to make sure these "improvements" do not place those downstream at risk.
The other of the two organizations is the Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy whose interest is to emplace a park on the Willow Waterhole Storm water Detention Facility. This dual use facility is to be a nature preserve. While still under construction, it already attracts quite a variety of birds. Over a hundred identified species have made it a destination. HCFCD is to be congratulated for their efforts to redevelop habitat and enhance the environment. The City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department is partnering with HCFCD and already has designated WWH Park as one of their eight Signature Parks. We are encouraged as we see this partnership expanded to other parts of the City.
This constitutes an introductory report. We will deal with construction progress, interesting items, and a variety of issues in the future. There are two links to the internet to pursue more information: (1) www.projectbrays.org and (2) www.wwgc.org .
Thanks to Raouf Farid of HCFCD, Program Manager for Project Brays for the following Construction Activities Update(PDF).
