|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
The lower Brazos River lies amid some of the largest old-growth bottomland hardwood forest and coastal prairie expanses on the Gulf Coast, sustaining a wealth of native plants and animals. This extraordinary habitat lies adjacent to Houston, one of the largest and fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. The Conservancy’s Lower Brazos River Project, launched in 2008, provides outreach to landowners and local communities to help conserve the beauty and natural history of this region for people and wildlife.
The ecological features of the lower Brazos River provide and protect fresh water in the region and help reduce damage from flooding. Flows of fresh water from the river are critical to biodiversity and the health of our coastal waters. Conserving this important habitat for wildlife also provides economic stimulus from hunting and fishing, ecotourism, and canoeing and kayaking.
Bottomland hardwood forests and coastal prairies along the lower Brazos River play a critical role in the continued survival of migrating and grassland birds. With the loss of their natural habitats, these birds are declining in numbers. Preserving the diverse habitat that remains along the lower Brazos River is essential to secure their future.
Maintaining ecologically healthy water flows into Caddo Lake by releasing water from Lake O’ the Pines Reservoir into Big Cypress Bayou has been a significant part of the Conservancy’s freshwater initiative for the past several years. As part of the Sustainable Rivers Project, the Conservancy has entered into a partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to find ways to restore and maintain these ecological flows throughout the United States.
The Conservancy has partnered with the Caddo Lake Institute and the Corps to address implementing environmental flows at Caddo during workshops held with scientists, water managers, representatives from state and federal agencies, local community members and others. With the third of these workshops in December 2008, we are moving closer to realizing the goal of ecological flow restoration.
Because wildlife originally evolved with wild rivers, many species of plants and animals depend on natural high- and low-water events in their habitat for food, reproduction and dispersal. The Conservancy’s work with the Caddo Lake Institute and the Corps is helping change the way water is released from Lake O’ the Pines to match flow recommendations from the workshop series based on field research, data analysis, experimental water releases and flow models.
To support this work, the Conservancy recently completed the Caddo Lake Data Atlas, a comprehensive compendium of data on the water systems of Caddo Lake and Big Cypress Bayou that will be used to inform the way environmental flows are implemented.
 |
 |
Nature picture credits (left to right, top to bottom): Photo © Lynn Mc Bride/TNC (Caddo Lake); Photo © Jeremy Pryor/TNC (Brazos River); Photo © Austin Business Journal (Laura Huffman); Photo © Rebecca Flack/TNC (Frio River); Photo © Danny White/TNC (Oysters); Photo © Clay Carrington/TNC (Attwater's prairie chicken); Photo © Will van Overbeek (Richard Garriott); Photo © David A. Williams (prairie grass); Photo © Janet Haas (pronghorn); Photo © TNC (Lennox Woods Preserve); Photo © Lynn Mc Bride/TNC (Caddo Lake); Photo © Insite Architects (Pearl Brewery Design); Photo courtesy Dick Bartlett (Dick Bartlett)
Join The Nature Conservancy on
Facebook
Flickr
Twitter