Reclaimed Prairie

In 1975, the Brays Bayou Association (BBA) proved that a large stormwater detention basin was needed in the Brays Bayou Watershed east of Gessner Rd. Over the next few years, after the Harris County Flood Control District had begun work on Project Brays, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the City of Houston, and the Westbury Area Improvement Corp (WAIC) joined the BBA in searching for a location for the basin.

Finding the site

In 1996, WAIC identified a potential site along Willow Waterhole Bayou near the Westbury neighborhood. The properties included dilapidated and obsolete buildings as well as several abandoned industrial and commercial properties with hazardous materials. In 2001, the Flood Control District began buying these properties, eventually acquiring 291 acres. The various groups eventually focused on a dual-use flood detention basin and park, and they began to plan.

Discovering the flower

The original stormwater detention project called for excavating 74 acres of the property that now contains Prairie Lake (east of South Post Oak Rd. and north of South Main St.). Before digging could begin, the Flood Control District was required by a national law to assess the entire 291 acres for endangered and threatened species.

During the 1999 survey, biologist Larry Brown, Ph.D., discovered an endangered plant species, Hymenoxys texana, or Texas prairie dawn-flower, in the Prairie Lake compartment north of a pipeline easement. Today this tiny plant, about the size and shape of a 4-inch Q-Tip cotton swab, grows almost exclusively in very small, widely scattered patches of coastal prairie in highly alkaline, salty soil, where vegetation is always sparse. This unexpected finding meant that the Flood Control District would have to protect the plant and its habitat.

Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy

The BBA, with the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, more than 50 local volunteer organizations, and hundreds of individuals, eventually adopted the overall landscape design that characterizes the Greenway today. The Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy was established in 2001 and was recognized as the steward of the prairie conservation and flood detention site. Stewardship has involved working with governmental and advocacy groups, community volunteers, and scouts to restore the native prairie, plan and maintain trees, stock the ponds, mow the green areas, protect wildlife and habitats, eradicate invasive flora and fauna, and educate the public about flood water detention.

Making a plan 

While the individual lakes were being excavated, the Flood Control District and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service developed a conservation plan (the first edition in 2013) for a native coastal prairie preserve. The goals were to conserve the remnant of coastal prairie and endangered plant sites, re-establish degraded prairie habitats, and then monitor and manage the newly reclaimed prairie area.

Restoring the prairie

The plan to restore the prairie involved removal of certain trees and all invasive vegetation. This thinning out allowed more sunlight to reach the ground and germinate seeds in the soil. Fences were constructed around the endangered flowers. Eventually, additional native prairie plants, including rare wildflowers, were transplanted to the Prairie Management Area, and seeds of other native coastal prairie species were planted. Today, most known coastal prairie plants grow in this area.

Managing the site

In 2015, Prairie Lake was completed, and in 2020, the Flood Control District completed work on the 15-acre Prairie Management Area. Site management now includes regular mowing and spot treatments of herbicides to control the growth and spread of woody vegetation. Habitats and plant diversity are regularly monitored, with regular maintenance to preserve the reclaimed habitat. The slopes of the six lakes are moved only three times a year. Periodic volunteer work days encourage the community to get involved in their unique park.

In the fall of 2023, the Flood Control District launched an eco-friendly, short-term vegetation management project at the Prairie Management Area. Approximately 300 goats are helping control overgrown areas by eating vegetation and invasive plant species—quietly and economically. The goats stay onsite 24/7 with a herder.