Gulf-Houston Regional Conservation Plan
For More Information Visit GulfHoustonRCP.org
Recent News for Hurricane Harvey Funding in the 8-County Region
Harris County Bond Program:
Harris County Commissioners Court has called a bond election for August 25, 2018, for the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD). Registered voters in Harris County will be asked to vote on $2.5 billion in bonds for flood risk reduction projects throughout the county.
The proposed Harris County Bond Program Projects, if funded, will be 50% - 75% nature-based infrastructure projects. This will add significantly to the 24% by 2040 Strategy.
For more information on the Harris County Bond Program see links below:
HCFCD Bond Election Page
HCFCD 2018 Bond Proposed Projects List (PDF)
HCFCD Project Interactive Map
HCFCD Bond Program FAQ Sheet
Fort Bend County:
Fort Bend County Commissioners voted on May 1st to look for a firm to study how water flows across the jurisdiction and to consider how future development could affect that. The county plans to use the information from the study to shape a potential $250 million bond election.
May 11, 2018, Houston Chronicle: After Harvey, Fort Bend County residents push for action to prevent future flooding
8-County RCP Area:
1. Click here for the H-GAC draft Method of Distribution for the Hurricane Harvey Community Development Block Grant Disaster Funds
2. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announces nearly $5 billion in funding for nature-based projects including levees for coastal spine and flood damage reduction projects in partnership with HCFCD. See U.S. Army Corps of Engineers press release below for more information.
JULY 6, 2018, PRESS RELEASE: Disaster Funding Work Plans Scheduled by Galveston District
3. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in partnership with NOAA announces the National Coastal Resilience Fund. NFWF will award up to $30 million in grants to create, expand and restore natural systems in areas that will both increase protection for communities from coastal storms, sea and lake level changes, flooding, and coastal erosion and improve valuable habitats for fish and wildlife species. Full Proposal Due Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2018 11:59 PM Eastern Time. Click here to learn more.
Executive Summary
Since 2013, a consortium of conservation and environmental groups have worked together to create the first-ever 8-county Gulf-Houston Regional Conservation Plan (Gulf-Houston RCP), comprised of every known environmental/conservation project in this region (see RCP packet and maps below). The Gulf-Houston RCP collectively identifies our region’s conservation needs and explores collaborative projects and initiatives that will bolster the environmental and economic health of the upper Texas coast, specifically this 8-county Houston-Galveston region, which represents close to 10 percent of the nation's 40 million acres of coastal wetlands. Despite a population of over 6 million people, this Region still contains acres of pristine and diverse ecologic habitats. As the population grows to 10 million by 2040, these intact ecological areas will become increasingly threatened and fractured due to land and water development, expansion of the region, and built infrastructure to accommodate this growth.
On May 15, 2018, the Gulf-Houston RCP launched the 24% by 2040 Nature-Based Infrastructure Strategy to improve our region's quality of life while enhancing ecological and economic resilience in the 8-county region. The Strategy targets 24% in nature-based infrastructure (NBI) by 2040, an additive 15% over the current 9% in preserved/protected land. Achieving 24% of nature-based land capacity allows for larger tracts of riparian corridors protected, additional prairie and forest lands acquired and preserved, and wetlands restored and enhanced for coastal protection. If the exisiting NBI plans and projects currently being circulated & implemented in our region receive the needed funding to complete, the 8-county region could achieve 24% in nature-based infrastructure by 2040 (see Continumm & Action Agenda below).
Key Initiatives
The Gulf-Houston Regional Conservation Plan highlights four (4) ecologically significant areas (“Eco-Areas”) and contains two phases. The Initiatives are part of the Gulf-Houston RCP - Phase One and, when fully funded, will include 300,000 acres of land acquisition, 22,000 acres in land easements and restoration, and development of over 250 recreational trail miles.
- Riparian Corridor Protection Initiative – protect riparian corridor within the nearly 50 watersheds that feed into Galveston Bay, including the Brazos, San Jacinto and Lower Trinity rivers.
- Bayou Greenways Initiative - collaborative trail and open space projects (riparian forests and wetlands) along entire 250+ mile stretch of 10 bayou arteries from Spring Creek south to Clear Creek.
- Headwater to Baywater Initiative - connecting bayous and the bay in the San Jacinto River watershed through riparian protection and restoration.
- Lower Trinity River Project - connecting ecotourism to riparian conservation by protecting riparian corridors along the Lower Trinity River in the five counties which encompass the LTR watershed leading towards Galveston Bay.
- Columbia Brazos Corridor Project - protecting and enhancing riparian habitat along the Brazos River and Columbia Bottomlands Corridor.
- Prairie Conservation Initiative – restoration and preservation of tens of thousands of acres of coastal prairie remnants that comprise the One Prairie throughout the eight counties in the RCP.
- Galveston Bay Habitat Acquisition & Easements Initiative - restoring habitat (coastal wetlands, bottomlands and estuaries) from multiple counties leading into the Bay & Gulf Coast, including Galveston Island and other nearby barrier islands.
- Galveston Bay Oyster Reefs & Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative - restoration, creation and preservation of Galveston Bay oyster reefs, inland rookery islands and other bird habitat within the lower Galveston Bay watershed.
Related Initiatives:
- Gulf-Houston Monarch Flyway Strategy - is a collaborative effort focused on the preservation and creation of monarch butterfly and other pollinator habitat in the region.
By investing less than $1 billion now to acquire, restore and maintain these vital Eco-Areas, this Region will receive over $3 billion in economic development dollars.
[1] The Gulf-Houston Regional Conservation Plan includes 8 counties: Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Fort Bend, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller County
