Sunstar Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Streams change course over time. That's just what they do. Most of the rainwater runoff goes into the bayous eventually. That runoff includes fertilizer from lawns plus all sorts of other organic materials like leaves and bird dookie and what have you. All that stuff feeds algae and other suspended microbes that get together with some suspended dirt (and tire dust and whatever other nasty stuff washes off the roads) to cause turbidity. Sure, the bayous were kinda clear 100 years ago upstream of the sewers. But their clay bottoms have since been destroyed by the Corps of Engineers channelization projects that are now slowing getting undone, and we have about five or six million extra people in the watersheds. tl;dr: No, the water's not going to be even somewhat clear without some sort of miracle. The original master planned included adjoining wetlands that would serve as natural filtration for runoff. These didn't make it into the final design for some reason. As the park extends to the east side, they envisioned transforming industrial sites into wetlands and nature preserves that would significantly lessen the impact of runoff. I don't know if that is still the plan. As far as I know, there are only two examples of this to date: Buffalo Bend Park way out by the turning basin, which includes 3 storm water retention ponds, and Japhet Creek, which is one of the last natural tributaries to the bayou. It is currently protected as part of the Federal Green Fingers initiative. All the others have presumably been paved over. I think the work they've done so far is great, but without the ecological aspects, the project will fall short of it's ultimate vision. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryDierker Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Is there anything alive down there in the bayous? I haven't seen any pics of people fishing off the side. You can see large schools of fish in the bayous. I've seen people fishing in Brays Bayou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerNspace Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I lived near Briarbend park (near intersection of Westhiemer and Voss) a couple years ago, and it wasn't unusual for the water to be extremely clear, like drinking water clear, right there. Usually when it hadn't rained for awhile and wasn't raging from runoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkultra25 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 You can see large schools of fish in the bayous. I've seen people fishing in Brays Bayou. Likewise, in White Oak Bayou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchFan Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 This is an interesting question. As far as personal observation, I have seen guys successfully bow-fishing for carp in the upper reaches of Buffalo Bayou. However, that was years ago. Also, I used to see people fishing on the bayou below the Barker spillway. Also years ago, after the 70s-era cleanup, there were reports of shrimp returning to the ship-channel portion of Buffalo Bayou. Perhaps that was a fluke or just wishful thinking. I don't know about fish, but in any case, there are certainly plenty of reptiles and amphibians in all the bayous. Also a lot of bird and mammal life. I live and work not far from Buffalo Bayou and I still see large predatory birds looking for food. Once one perched on my balcony railing and it was impressive to see close up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 This is an interesting question. As far as personal observation, I have seen guys successfully bow-fishing for carp in the upper reaches of Buffalo Bayou. However, that was years ago. Also, I used to see people fishing on the bayou below the Barker spillway. Also years ago, after the 70s-era cleanup, there were reports of shrimp returning to the ship-channel portion of Buffalo Bayou. Perhaps that was a fluke or just wishful thinking. I don't know about fish, but in any case, there are certainly plenty of reptiles and amphibians in all the bayous. Also a lot of bird and mammal life. I live and work not far from Buffalo Bayou and I still see large predatory birds looking for food. Once one perched on my balcony railing and it was impressive to see close up.Used to work at a shipyard just inside the loop 15 yrs ago that had drydocks, when the drydock came back up we occasionally had shrimp on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Purify Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 (edited) Among other fishes, there are alligator gar and catfish in Buffalo Bayou. To add to this, name one major city on earth that has clear water running through it. Venice, of all places, smells AWFUL for the majority of the year. Same with Bangkok, London, Vienna, Cairo, etc. I appreciate the response. However, I don't want to get into the "...name one..." trivia game because, no matter how many cities I name, no two waterways are the same. For instance, I don't have to travel across the Atlantic to point out that the San Antonio River looks 10x cleaner and clearer than Buffalo Bayou, but it would be silly of me to compare the two for a lot of reasons (population, elevation, sediment, etc.). If the City of Houston wanted a clearer Buffalo Bayou, at all costs, then I'm sure they could accomplish that. It's just a question of what would have to be sacrificed. Edited March 16, 2015 by Gator Purify Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdog08 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Buffalo Bayou Master Plan by marclongoria, on Flickr What is this? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Going to be The Dunlavy, Pavilion at Lost Lake. Event space and Café (I think) and will have Kayak/Canoe Rental. Went in last weekend to explore. Its really going to be great! Love the Water Feature which leads from the Street level to the lake itself. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Going to be The Dunlavy, Pavilion at Lost Lake. Event space and Café (I think) and will have Kayak/Canoe Rental. Went in last weekend to explore. Its really going to be great! Love the Water Feature which leads from the Street level to the lake itself. It really is. If I remember correctly it is designed by Perkins & Will (a pretty good architecture firm). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNAguy Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 http://houston.culturemap.com/news/home-design/04-30-15-party-on-the-bayou-new-glassed-in-event-space-offers-opportunities-for-unique-celebrations/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Anyone have pics of the concert pavilion? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Anyone have pics of the concert pavilion? Here is the older concert pavilion that was finished last summer and some pics of the almost completed one over the old cistern. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hindesky Posted May 3, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted May 3, 2015 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Niiice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Took this picture of the Sunset Coffee Building this past weekend. I'm kind of surprised they haven't started working on the plaza yet. I believe the plan is still to open in June. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 wow great pics everyone!!! thank you for the awesome updates!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I read an article on the Dallas Morning News. It was about Houston Has A Park? They did a write up about Buffalo Bayou Master Plan. How nice it was with bike trails, jogging, the dog park lake. Also the other lake with a restaurant, and all the bridges. Cleaning all the brush and planting nature plants, and over 1,000 trees. There point is they want to do the same to the Trinity River. But instead they are building a Trinity Tollway right down the center of it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I read an article on the Dallas Morning News. It was about Houston Has A Park? They did a write up about Buffalo Bayou Master Plan. How nice it was with bike trails, jogging, the dog park lake. Also the other lake with a restaurant, and all the bridges. Cleaning all the brush and planting nature plants, and over 1,000 trees. There point is they want to do the same to the Trinity River. But instead they are building a Trinity Tollway right down the center of it. The awesome architecture firm, OMA (the firm of Rem Koolhaas) did this little guy as part of a competition for Connected Cities. http://www.oma.eu/projects/2013/dallas-connected-city/ I'm actually surprised this hasn't really been mentioned before because it's pretty epic in scale and would be an incredible vision to put forward. We are starting to see big ideas like this move forward here in Houston such as this Buffalo Bayou Master Plan and the reroute of I-45, but this thing is colossal. Many forget that the Trinity River used to be a very nice little river, but because its tributaries have been damned up so much it has been reduced to a small trickle through the heart of downtown Dallas which is a real shame. Not to mention you had Dallas doing the same thing we did here in Houston where tried to help water flow by straightening the river. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Yes I was very surprised they great article on Houston. To be honest I like their newspaper better than chron.com! The article said that the Trinity River has different departments and cannot agree with to do with the river. Does that sound familiar? Once Buffalo Bayou Park is completed it will turn heads across the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate4l1f3 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I read an article on the Dallas Morning News. It was about Houston Has A Park? They did a write up about Buffalo Bayou Master Plan. How nice it was with bike trails, jogging, the dog park lake. Also the other lake with a restaurant, and all the bridges. Cleaning all the brush and planting nature plants, and over 1,000 trees. There point is they want to do the same to the Trinity River. But instead they are building a Trinity Tollway right down the center of it.Do you have a link? I would like to read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Trying to find it. On 05/01/2015 the Dallas Morning News are debating whether the Tollway will have 6 or 8 lanes. Seems they will not build a park. I'm going to Dallas Morning News and searching for Buffalo Bayou. There is a video of it also still looking while working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 It had picture with the Bank of America viewing Buffalo Bayou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spacecityroller Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I found this article.http://res.dallasnews.com/interactives/buffalobayou/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate4l1f3 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Thanks guys, will check it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUCAJUN Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Absolutely great pictures hindesky! Can you imagine what the experience will be for visitors of our city when this is complete? The 4th of July, anyone?Btw, the article was great...We know now people are watching. Great job Buffalo Bayou Partnership! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Thanks for finding it. It is a great article.http://houston.culturemap.com/news/home-design/04-30-15-party-on-the-bayou-new-glassed-in-event-space-offers-opportunities-for-unique-celebrations/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I found this article.http://res.dallasnews.com/interactives/buffalobayou/ Ops wrong link this is the correct one, sorry need more coffee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ozone Files Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I found this on Swamplot this morning. I don't believe it has been linked here yet.http://urbanland.uli.org/industry-sectors/bayou-city-reclaiming-houstons-signature-waterways/ It's an interesting read. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I found this on Swamplot this morning. I don't believe it has been linked here yet.http://urbanland.uli.org/industry-sectors/bayou-city-reclaiming-houstons-signature-waterways/ It's an interesting read. Another great article! Thanks for finding it. This confirmed what I've heard in the past, that the 2020 initiative will begin to remove the concrete channels on some of bayous, which will enhance their natural beauty and provide better protection from flooding and erosion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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