17 Protect Riparian Areas and Floodplains In some locales, riparian areas have been replaced, destroyed, or negatively impacted by development and redevelopment projects. Green infrastructure practices such vegetated buffers and living shorelines can be used to protect and restore riparian areas and floodplains. Case Study: Restoring Natural Drainage in Gene Green Beltway 8 Park Houston, Texas Gene Green Beltway 8 Park, 230 acres of park land in Houston, was created in 1997 by Harris County Precinct Two and the Harris County Flood Control District in an area that was previously underserved by parks. Phase I construction included the core of the park, which was completed in August 2008 at a cost of $5.5 million. The park serves dual functions of flood control and recreation and is a buffer between Liberty Lake subdivision and Carpenter’s Bayou. Approximately two-thirds of the park is a detention basin that can withstand periodic flooding. Other features include: • An amphitheater stage and seating • A BMX track • Trails • Sports fields • Wetland plantings that filter stormwater • A meandering stream Figure 9. Gene Green Beltway 8 Park. (Source: Landscape Online) The park design includes stormwater filtering with native prairie grass, recycled concrete riprap berms, a meandering stream with native vegetation, and bioswales in the parking lot. The stream runs through the park and detention basin to Carpenter’s Bayou and filters and dissipates stormwater from the adjacent Liberty Lakes subdivision and the park facilities. The detention basin area has flooded several times—including during Hurricane Ike in 2008—but the features within the basin have survived intact, despite the assault by the “costliest hurricane in Texas history.” Future master plan activities include excavating a lake/wetland for additional stormwater filtration within the detention basin, and preserving a pristine stand of old-growth cypress within the Carpenter’s Bayou oxbow.
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