Issue 3
March 2021
Harris County Flood Control District Increases Tree Planting Efforts
Every year, the Harris County Flood Control District plants between 12,000 to 15,000 trees across Harris County. Over the last 20 years the Flood Control District has planted more than 300,000 trees. This tree planting effort is a critical part of the Flood Control District's mission "to provide flood reduction programs that work with appropriate regard to community and natural values." Replacing and replanting trees is part of fulfilling that purpose.
"We've done really well this year. We have planted 15,218 trees. That's the largest number we have done since 2014," said Nic Griffin, Harris County Flood Control District Urban Forester.
High Water Marks: Flood Control District Team Working to Help Increase Future Storm Surge Forecasts
During the historic 2020 Hurricane Season, a small team from the National Weather Service and the Harris County Flood Control District addressed a variety of technical and logistical challenges to collect accurate HWMs both as a fixed datum as well as above ‘ground’ level (AGL) post hurricanes Hanna, Laura, and Delta, and Tropical Storm Beta. The team collected a total of 180 high water marks: Hanna (40), Laura (60), Beta (18), and Delta (62) over 4 deployments for a total of 10 days.
Scouts Test out Stormwater Inlet Makers (SWIM) New Look
The Harris County Flood Control District recently received newly designed Stormwater inlet markers. The markers are part of the (SWIM) program. The scouts above were among the first to use the newly designed makers.
The Stormwater Inlet Maker (SWIM) program is open to any individual, group or community that would like to participate in helping us reach our goal: marking every storm drain in Harris County in order to prevent pollution from entering our local waterways. Developers can also propose installing SWIM markers as part of their Stormwater Quality Management Plan.