There was an interesting article in the Houston Chronicle, July 11, 2010, which noted that 18 miles of the 19 mile expansion of Sims Bayou, ongoing for 16 years, is nearing completion. According to Travis McGee of Sunnyside Gardens, even though the expansion has kept Sims from flooding over the last 16 years, the the city's storm drainage system is the primary flooding problem in the area at the moment. As he puts it, we've got "a $345 million project with a $5 city drainage system."
Houston Audubon has established 4 "pocket prairies" throughout Houston using rescued native grasses and wildflowers from development sites; one is located at the Sims Bayou Nature Center on River Road. A workday will be held there on August 6 to pull weeds, remove and pot-up native plants that are dominating the site, and add new native plants. The goal is to maintain and increase the diversity of native plants at the pocket prairies by monitoring the plant populations, determine what new plants are needed, remove alien plants, control aggressive natives, and continue to grow out additional native wildflowers and grasses.
