Looking for Holiday Gifts? Buffalo Bayou Art Now Available Online

Support Save Buffalo Bayou and Friends of Don Greene

Dec. 18, 2021

Now you can easily purchase photographs and artwork online from the fabulous exhibit, “Buffalo Bayou: River of Life,” curated by Geoff Winningham. The benefit exhibit ended Nov. 28, but sales continue to raise much needed funds for Save Buffalo Bayou and Friends of Don Greene.

Here is a link to view and purchase the photographs and artwork.

We need your support! And still available at very reasonable prices are prints from Winningham’s acclaimed book, Along Forgotten River, which documented Buffalo Bayou from the ship channel to its source in the Katy Prairie.

Buy Buffalo Bayou Art. Support Nature in the City. Just in Time for the Holidays!

In addition to photographs by Winningham, there are stunning photographs of Buffalo Bayou by Houston photographers Jim Olive and George O. Jackson available, as well as historic photographs, maps, and prints discovered and printed by Winningham.

Artwork about the bayou by Janice Freeman and Houston schoolchildren can also be purchased. The latter participated in a photography and drawing project organized by Winningham, with the help of Freeman, that resulted in the 2017 publication of the book, In the Eyes of Our Children: Houston, an American City. The prints and photographs the children produced are astonishingly inventive and creative.

All proceeds, other than a share going to the young artists, benefit Save Buffalo Bayou and Friends of Don Greene, both 501c3 nonprofit organizations.

Or Just Donate!

Don’t want to buy anything? Just donate to Save Buffalo Bayou. Your gift is tax deductible. And we need your support. Save Buffalo must raise another $4,000 in individual donations of less than $1,200 by Dec. 31. Help us meet that goal!

Reilley Jones (4th Grade, Mark Twain Elementary School), “The Original Bayou,” 2016. Signed, archival pigment print from an original monoprint. 32”x40” $500

Geoff Winningham, “Buffalo Bayou from Green Tree Road,” 2003. Signed photogravure print, #4 print in an edition of 5. 11″x 14″ $1,500.

Harris County Flood Task Force Looking for New Member

Applications due by Jan. 31

Dec. 18, 2021

The recently formed Community Flood Resilience Task Force is looking for a new member.

The task force, a project of Harris County Commissioners Court, is looking for “multi-disciplinary members who are committed to serving the community and represent the geographic, gender, age, racial, and ethnic diversity of Harris County,” according to an announcement emailed Friday.

The task force is especially interested in candidates from the Greenspoint and Aldine areas. However, all Harris County residents are invited to apply, according to the email from task force facilitator Leah Chambers.

Deadline to apply is midnight Jan. 31, 2021.

The task force has seventeen positions, of which five are appointed by commissioners’ court. Those five are responsible for appointing the remaining twelve members.

The task force was created in August of 2020 to replace the Harris County Flood Control District Task Force. Established nearly fifty years ago, the old task force was criticized for being engineer-dominated and do-nothing.

The new task force is charged with working with the county Infrastructure Resilience Team to develop “an inclusive and equitable Flood Resilience Plan for Harris County.  This plan is intended to be data-driven, nature-based, and identify specific projects and initiative as well as policy and guidance,” according to the county website.

Regional Flood Planners Seek Small Business Rep

Group is Developing Flood Management Strategies, Also Seeks Public Input

Dec. 13, 2021

The group developing a regional flood management plan is seeking a member to represent small business.

The San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group is one of fifteen volunteer organizations formed by the Texas Water Development Board to help identify specific flood risks around the state and develop strategies to reduce them.

The San Jacinto Region includes all or part of eleven counties and extends from Galveston in the south to Huntsville in the north.

Also known as Region Six, the group includes 15 voting members and 11 non-voting members. The voting members represent municipalities, the environment, water and electric utilities, industries, agriculture, and more. The non-voting members are drawn from various public agencies such as Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Houston Galveston Area Council, and Port Houston.

The ultimate goal is to develop a regional flood plan and deliver it to the state water board by Jan. 10, 2023. The official description of the process so far has been to gather and analyze existing data, identify existing and future flood risks, review floodplain management practices, and evaluate flood management strategies.

The group has hired the engineering firm Freese and Nichols as technical consultants and to oversee public engagement. The firm is also working with several other regional groups around the state. A “technical memorandum” is due to the state board by Jan. 7, 2022. Here is the draft technical memorandum presented at the last meeting of the planning group on Dec. 9.

The firm has developed a website to encourage public input. At the December meeting the environmental representative, Rachel Powers, executive director of the Citizens Environmental Coalition, voiced concern about the lack of public response. As of the meeting, 31 people had responded to the survey.

Here are links to all the planning documents and meetings so far.

Here is a link to the nomination form for the representative of small business.

The next meeting of the planning group is Jan. 13, 2022.

Slide showing public engagement data and map of Region 6 from presentation by Freese and Nichols at San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group meeting on Dec. 9, 2021.