By Katie Watkins for Houston Public Media.
Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

On a muggy Monday morning at Exploration Green in Clear Lake, walkers are on trails that meander along natural-looking ponds. Red-winged Blackbirds chirp in the distance and rabbits hide in the tall grasses and reeds.

It’s a public greenspace and nature preserve — it’s also a massive flood detention project.

"What you’ll see most of the time is just a square hole in the ground with a chain link fence around it, and it really doesn’t support much in the way of life," said David Sharp with the Exploration Green Conservancy. "You can see this is nothing like that."

Construction on the $43 million project’s fifth and final retention pond is set to wrap up next year. During storms, the five ponds will each be able to hold 100 million gallons of floodwater. Once they’re full, the water will slowly drain into the bayous.

"The whole design of the retention ponds is to slow down the flow of water so you don’t get that surge of water hitting the local bayous," said Sharp.

When it’s not raining, the site’s ponds contain water to support native plant and animal life. There are six miles of walking trails looping around them, thousands of native trees and 200 different native plant species.

The project is a collaboration between the conservancy and the Clear Lake City Water Authority. It first started in 2005, according to John Branch, the president of the water authority’s Board of Directors.

Branch said flooding was getting worse in Clear Lake, so they hired a consultant who recommended putting in detention ponds. There was an abandoned golf course that seemed like the perfect location, and they wanted to do something unique. So, they held a town hall.

Ideas started piling in: wetlands to help clean the water, hike and bike trails, a bird habitat island.

"We’ve got a lot of talent in the Clear Lake area — rocket scientists and people that are great at coming up with ideas," said Branch.

But not everyone was on board.

"People didn’t think it would work," he said. Some people wanted to develop the land. Others feared the water would turn it into a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Harvey put the project to the test. When it hit in 2017, the first pond was nearly complete.

"I couldn’t wait for the street water to go down long enough so I could hop in my pickup [truck] and come over and see, is it really working?" Branch said.

And he wasn’t disappointed. The pond filled with stormwater, and based on insurance claims that had been filed during previous flood events, Branch said they estimated it saved 150 homes.

Beverly DeMoss lived in one of those homes. She said flooding from a storm in 2015 damaged her house when water seeped under the carpet.

"It was a major mess," she said.

But her house stayed dry during Harvey. Shortly after, DeMoss said she saw John Branch with the Clear Lake City Water Authority at church.

"I went up and hugged him and said ‘John, you saved my house,’" she said.

When all five phases of Exploration Green are complete next year it will be able to hold half a billion gallons of water during storms — enough to save about 2,000 homes from flooding.

Exploration Green is frequently cited as one of the best examples of green infrastructure — both locally and nationally. Unlike traditional gray infrastructure which uses concrete to quickly channel floodwaters into local water bodies, green infrastructure uses or mimics nature to slow down, absorb and filter rainwater where it falls.

Green projects aren’t always prioritized for funding, but that’s changing. Federal agencies like FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the EPA, all have guides on how to incorporate nature-based solutions. And around Houston, nature-based projects have been gaining traction as a way to tackle the region’s flooding issues, while also providing public greenspace.

"We’re seeing around the world, there’s more of an emphasis on these nature-based systems for flood mitigation," said Danielle Goshen with the National Wildlife Federation’s Texas Coast & Water program.

She said with nature-based solutions, the ecosystem is the infrastructure— whether that’s through preserving a big tract of land or recreating nature in an urban environment, like with Exploration Green.

"Nature has an amazing ability to be able to store, slow and soak water into the ground," she said.

Beyond flood mitigation, green infrastructure comes with a lot of co-benefits. It can also be a recreational space and a wildlife habitat. It can improve water and air quality, capture carbon, reduce urban heat, and minimize erosion.

"Unfortunately, through all the development that’s occurred, and the way that it’s occurred in the Houston area, we’ve massively disrupted nature’s ability to be able to provide those benefits," said Goshen.

The Natural Sponge

When settlers first arrived in Southeast Texas, native prairies and wetlands stretched for miles, their tall grasses in an array of colors billowing in the wind, grazed on by herds of buffalo. Nature’s original sponge.

Of the 6.5 million acres of prairies that once existed along the Texas Coast, less than 1 percent remain today, according to Houston Wilderness. From 1992-2010, as the population of Greater Houston skyrocketed, it lost at least 5.5% of its natural freshwater wetlands, according to another study by Texas A&M Agrilife. The researchers say that number is unsustainable.

"Some areas experienced loss at rates that are catastrophic," wrote the researchers. "For example, Harris County lost almost 30 percent of its freshwater wetlands, including most prominently the iconic prairie pothole-pimple mound complexes."

Groups like the Coastal Prairie Conservancy have worked to preserve the remaining prairies and restore additional land, according to Mary Anne Piacentini, president of the Coastal Prairie Conservancy.

"Our hope is that it’s wild enough that people understand this might have been what it was like in terms of historic prairie," she said, while standing on their restored Indiangrass preserve in Waller County. "But it’s hard to recreate nature, so it’s never going to be totally pristine."

Piacentini said their goal is to conserve 30,000 acres of the Katy Prairie. So far they’ve preserved about half that.

"The cost of the land has gone up exponentially," she said. "When we first started buying land, it was about $800 an acre. Now the land is anywhere from $10-$15,000 an acre."

Piacentini said they think preserving and restoring prairie should be a key part of the region’s flood mitigation strategy, particularly as development continues to expand westward.

"Our lands cannot eliminate flooding, but they can help reduce flooding," she said.

There are numerous reasons why the prairie landscape is so good at flood mitigation. The roots, the topography, the plants themselves all work together to help slow down and absorb water.

"People think of a prairie as flat, but the truth is, it’s not flat," Piacentini said. Prairies have micro depressions, known as potholes, and small mounds, known as pimple mounds. This uneven topography helps slow down floodwaters.

"As you can imagine, if you were trying to run water through this, it would be a lot harder here than it would be if we were putting water on a flat surface," Piacentini said.

Tall, native prairie grasses also have roots as long as 15 feet. And when those roots go down into the soil they create passageways for water to infiltrate. On top of that, the grasses themselves can also hold water.

"The first inch of rain

sometimes is actually on the plant above the ground," said Piacentini.

The prairie landscape also includes wetlands, which retain additional water. One acre of wetland habitat can store about 1-1.5 million gallons of water, according to the EPA.

Wetlands are also really good at improving water quality and filtering out pollutants.

"Wetlands are called nature’s kidneys for a reason," said Piacentini.

Improving water quality

This ability to improve water quality is particularly important in urban areas, and one of the key co-benefits of using green infrastructure for flood control. When it rains, pollutants like fertilizer, dog poop and other chemicals get into the waterways and can end up in Galveston Bay.

"What we look at is do these nature based solutions enhance water quality by treating bacteria?" said Roberto Vega, an environmental quality section leader with the Harris County Flood Control. "Does it remove that pollutant, from the waterway and when we discharge from our facility is that water coming out cleaner than it came in?"

That’s why Harris County Flood Control is piloting a project to build floating wetlands inside detention ponds. The current pilot is set up at a pond at the University of Houston Clear Lake Campus, where Flood Control has installed three floating structures that can support plant life.

The plants have completely overgrown the man made elements, giving them the appearance of naturally existing islands in the middle of the pond. Turtles, herons, and other wildlife have also taken over.

Vega said when it rains, the islands rise with the water instead of being inundated.

"So the root system, which actually can be 10, 12, 13 feet long, is rising with that, and it’s actually interacting with 13 feet of water column," he said. "So it’s having a better contact that’s treating the bacteria."

And because the structures are floating they can be moved around using canoes and strategically placed to treat water where it’s needed.

"If you only have wetlands at the water’s edge, you’re only getting treatment at that point," Vega said.

He said so far the results show the floating wetlands are highly effective at removing bacteria.

Next, Flood Control plans to test them at a larger detention basin where each floating island will be 3,000 square feet — roughly 10 times the size of the current pilot project.

Small scale solutions

Green solutions can also be scaled way down, and applied at individual sites to reduce street flooding or site-specific flooding issues.

"Rain gardens are probably one of the smallest and cheapest things that you can build to have an effect," said Robert Snoza with the Harris County Flood Control District.

Snoza is heading a pilot project to build five rain gardens on lots across the county that were bought out after the homes there repeatedly flooded. The rain gardens themselves will only take up about 10% of the lots and look like standard flower gardens.

"The area will be mulched and there will be intermittent plants," Snoza said, standing at the site of a future rain garden in Northwest Houston, in the Cypress Creek watershed.

The key is that the garden will be depressed to collect stormwater. The compact soil will also be replaced with looser soil to allow the roots to grow deeper.

"It will in certain smaller storm events just not be a burden on or not add anything to the storm sewer system that everybody else is using," Snoza said.

The topography of the rest of the site will help lead the water into the rain garden. Flood Control also plans to have signage to educate people on how to build a simple rain garden on their own property.

"One rain garden is not going to do much for anything but this right here," Snoza said. "But what if 25% of the people in Houston had a rain garden on their property? I think it would have a pretty big effect."

Ensuring equity

When it comes to green solutions, advocates say involving the community in the planning is key — that’s part of what made the Exploration Green project so successful. And what works for one community might not meet the needs of another.

In low-income communities, in particular, it’s important to talk about the many years of infrastructure disinvestment, according to Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud, the Executive Director of Bayou City Waterkeeper.

"You first have to acknowledge that there’s inequities around gray infrastructure, particularly around stormwater planning and flood infrastructure," Mccloud said. "If you come and try to solve the solution around green infrastructure without acknowledging inequities around gray infrastructure, then it’s not a holistic approach."

Mccloud said it’s important to have both gray and green solutions be a part of the conversation.

"So often it’s either we have to advocate for gray infrastructure, or we have to advocate for green infrastructure. But in a city like Houston, I believe that has to be both," she said.

Mccloud also said nature-based infrastructure doesn’t always have a positive connotation for all communities. She grew up in Houston and said in her neighborhood people associated open-ditch drainage with nature-based infrastructure.

"Unfortunately, usually that natural infrastructure is in predominantly Black and Brown communities, and it creates a lot of health issues in those communities," she said. "We have to rethink the framing so that it can be more inclusive, and then we can center more community voices."

Mccloud also said it’s critical to ensure green solutions don’t lead to green gentrification, which is what happens when green amenities raise property values and push out long-time residents.

But even with the challenges, she believes Houston’s diverse ecosystem offers the opportunity to be creative with green solutions.

"Because we are on the frontlines of climate change, we have to really think innovatively and work with nature in this way," she said.

Hurricane Harvey already showed just how powerful climate change is making storms. Some areas got 50 inches of rain, and studies show heavier rainfall is one of the hallmarks of climate change.

And with more and more water, many experts say we will need to create additional greenspace and move people out of harm’s way.

"I think we will learn to live with more water moving through the city. Eventually we’ll have to make more space. The rivers, the bayous and streams are just going to demand more area to convey more water," said Jim Blackburn, the co-director of Rice’s SSPEED Center, which studies flooding in the region. "As part of this making room for water, we just ought not to be living that close to the waterways."

Katie Watkins wrote this article for Houston Public Media.



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When the Champlain Towers South collapsed in Surfside in 2021 taking 98 lives, it sent shock waves across South Florida. The tragedy has left lingering questions about the safety of coastal high-rises and whether the ground beneath them is as solid as once thought.

A new study by scientists from the University of Miami uncovered a troubling pattern: 35 buildings along the coastline from Miami Beach to Sunny Isles Beach are sinking, some at rates of up to eight centimeters in the past seven years.

Farzaneh Aziz Zanjani, a postdoctoral researcher at Washington University in St. Louis and the study's lead author, called the findings significant.

"We saw a correlation between the start of the subsidence and the nearby construction activities and we also found some correlation between the geology," Aziz Zanjani explained. "As we move from Sunny Isles to Miami Beach, the amount of subsidence is less."

Using satellite-based technology, the team tracked subtle ground movements which are otherwise invisible. Sunny Isles Beach, known for its luxury high-rises, showed the most dramatic rates of subsidence. The researchers believe the southern Florida geology with softer sandy layers within the limestone may be a factor.

For longtime residents, the study is unsettling. The idea some buildings may be sinking in a region already grappling with rising seas and stronger storms adds concerns about the future. Aziz Zanjani cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that these buildings are unsafe," Aziz Zanjani pointed out. "This is beyond the scope of the study we had. It just shows that there is something happening under these buildings and it's related to geology and a lot more factors that we don't understand, and we need to do more research."

The research was motivated by the Surfside collapse but scientists found no evidence subsidence contributed to the tragedy. Still, Aziz Zanjani emphasized the study highlights the need for transparency and better monitoring of structural stability across the region. Aziz Zanjani's paper is open-access to the public.


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The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is training operators of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on the safest ways to apply manure to their fields and what to do if a spill happens. It is part of the state's effort to help reduce accidents and protect the environment.

Iowa produces about 50 million tons of manure every year or enough to fertilize roughly 17% of the state's cropland.

Jeff Prier, senior environmental specialist for the Iowa DNR, said the state is teaching commercial and smaller operators how to apply it safely by following a required manure management plan.

"When they go out to do their application, they need to comply with any separation distances to residence, church, business, school, public use area, water sources," Prier outlined. "Dependent on their application method."

Manure from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations is known to pollute air and groundwater when it is not properly applied. Commercial operators said they are looking for more environmentally friendly ways to operate while trying to meet consumer demand for high quality meat. The deadline to apply for the DNR training is next week.

The DNR charges commercial operators $225 for a manure application permit and $175 for smaller operators. Prier noted it is a small price to avoid fines of between $3,000 and $5,000 for applying fertilizer without state certification.

"When they hear the numbers, they tend to open their eyes pretty big and think that's a pretty big number," Prier observed. "But the best reason is being in compliance with the rules and regulations and knowing what to do if there is a spill."

Prier, who has been overseeing training for 26 years, added given the amount of manure spread on Iowa farms every year, the number of spills is relatively small.


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By Ilana Newman for The Daily Yonder.
Broadcast version by Eric Galatas for Colorado News Connection for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collaboration

Recycling may be a given in metropolitan areas, but in many rural communities, it is more complicated. Without the infrastructure and funding to reach isolated homes outside of city centers, it falls on individuals to try and dispose of their waste responsibly. 

In Montezuma County, Colorado (population 26,248), the main issue with recycling is the remote location. Located in the far southwest corner of the state, the Four Corners region sits nearly 400 miles from Denver and Salt Lake City, and 250 miles from Albuquerque. 

The isolation means that there is no backhaul trucking to the region — which is when a commercial truck can bring a load on the return trip — which would cut costs dramatically for recycling in the area. 

However a new law signed into law in 2022 is supposed to increase access to recycling infrastructure in rural communities of Colorado in the coming years. The law wants to promote circular economies that cut down on waste and support recycling in rural parts of the state. A circular economy looks at the end of life of a product and helps it to be revitalized, recycled or reused instead of trashed. 

The Producer Responsibility Program for Statewide Recycling Act was signed into law in 2022 and a needs assessment was published in early 2023 to assess the current state of recycling services in Colorado. Currently, Circular Action Alliance, Colorado’s Producer Responsibility Organization is working to create a program plan which is due by February 1, 2025.

But many people have already been working on the ground before to manage trash and recycling for their communities. Take Colby Earley, superintendent of refuse and recycling for the City of Cortez, Colorado, as an example. “There’s no magical place called ‘away,’” he said. Once your waste leaves your home, it has to go somewhere. Many people are doing their best to make sure that waste is disposed of responsibly.

Recycling in Montezuma County happens in a few different ways. The City of Cortez (population 8,909) has a curbside pickup program, which is free for residents. But for the rest of the county, recycling is much trickier. 

In 2009, the nonprofit Four Corners Recycling Initiative stepped up to fill the gaps in recycling infrastructure for Montezuma County, with three dropoff bins around the county that, when full, get brought to the Montezuma County Landfill for processing. 

Casey Simpson, president of the board for Four Corners Recycling Initiative, said that the nonprofit was not designed to exist forever. It was created to get the grant to pay for the bins because the small towns of Dolores and Mancos did not have the funding to support municipal recycling programs. 

The Producer Responsibility program in Colorado will require companies to pay for the eventual recycling of their packaging which will fund recycling around the state. Other states like California, Oregon, Minnesota, and Maine are beginning to implement similar extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs. 

Now, Simpson is working in collaboration with the circular economy work that is happening on a state level because of the Producer Responsibility Program. One of the ways that recycling could be increased in rural areas would be to incentivize businesses that use recycled material. 

“If there was a plastic company that was taking plastic and turning it into rain gutters in Montezuma County, you would have a high demand for recycled plastics, and it would be really cheap because it would be more lucrative. You wouldn’t have to transport that plastic anywhere,” Simpson said. 

Transportation is currently a big factor for Montezuma County recycling. According to landfill manager Mel Jarmon, number one plastics are currently sent to Georgia to make carpet backing. He sends out a semi-load of these every year. Number two plastics he can only send out every 15-16 months, to California. He sends cardboard and electronic waste to Oklahoma. The landfill can only recycle what they can make money off of. 

“We’re a business just like anybody else in town. We’re not taxpayer-funded. We make our money on what we do here. If it’s so contaminated that we can’t at least break even or make a little bit, then we can’t do it,” Jarmon said.

For one load of e-waste sent to Oklahoma, Jarmon said it costs the landfill over ten thousand dollars. 

Glass is one thing that currently does not make financial sense to recycle. Jarmon said there’s no market for it close by. But Earley at the City of Cortez continues to collect it because he hopes there will someday be a market closer to the Four Corners. For now, Earley crushes the glass himself, mixes it with street sweepings, and sells it to the landfill to create cover for the landfill itself.

Earley said that it remains to be seen what impact the Producer Responsibility program will have on Montezuma County and Cortez, but he hopes it will make it easier and cheaper to recycle in the area.

Simpson has personal reasons to continue to fight for increased recycling in his rural community. “I love where I live and I don’t want to see it all turn into a landfill. I would much prefer seeing the wild and open spaces that we have and keep the landfills as small as possible.”


Ilana Newman wrote this article for The Daily Yonder.


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