The proposed Grand Parkway, Segment E (GP), continues to get a lot of press. First, the lawsuit that the Sierra Club filed against the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for an inadequate environmental analysis is moving forward. October 2009 deadlines were set for putting information into the record that will be used to decide the case and for all briefings on the issues.

On the wetlands front, the Sierra Club, Citizens Transportation Coalition, Katy Prairie Conservancy, Houston Audubon Society, and many citizens submitted comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, about the proposed dredge/fill permit and its inadequacies. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service submitted comments that requested denial of the GP permit. The Sierra Club and others also requested a public hearing.

While the proposed GP permit claimed that only about 45 acres of wetlands would be directly affected the Sierra Club and others pointed out that the residential and commercial development that the GP will indirectly encourage or cause will result in the destruction of 100's of more acres of wetlands and Katy Prairie habitat. The GP permit proposal also mitigates (provides replacement wetlands) most wetland destruction not on the Katy Prairie and in the Cypress Creek Watershed but 30 miles away in the Greens Bayou Watershed. In other words, the Katy Prairie is destroyed but gains little benefit from wetlands mitigation.

In addition, the Sierra Club found that another 300 feet of right-of-way (ROW), called a development/developed buffer strip, had been added to the proposed 400 feet of road ROW but was not analyzed for wetland impacts in the proposed GP permit. The exact nature of this additional 300 feet of ROW is not clear but apparently has to do with additional drainage.

The Katy Prairie is a giant sponge that detains water and allows it to soak into the ground, run-off slower, and evaporate into the air. The proposed GP will radically alter these natural wetland and prairie flood control benefits which will result in greater and faster flows that could result in downstream flooding. Developed areas south of the existing Katy Prairie have already suffered record flooding levels that have not been seen before. The Sierra Club believes that this is due to further development and destruction of the natural flood control protection that the Katy Prairie and its wetlands provide.

Harris County announced that it will not seek federal stimulus funds to construct the GP. The county said there is no guarantee that the necessary Corps wetland permit and the state water quality permit will be ready by February 2010 when construction is required to begin if stimulus funds are to be used. This is a victory for the public because political pressure will not succeed in hurrying the Corps. It is important that the Corps take the time to adequately analyze the full effects of the GP on wetlands, flooding, and other environmental issues.

Finally, the Sierra Club requested, via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a copy of the county's wetland delineation report and the Corps jurisdictional assessment of the results of that report. This information is a key in determining how Harris County and the Corps decide how many acres of wetlands will be degraded or destroyed by the GP.

The Sierra Club requested a fee waiver for our FOIA request since a copy of these documents could cost several hundred dollars. After, an initial denial of this fee waiver the Sierra Club, at the suggestion of the Corps Division (Dallas) Office, revised and resubmitted its FOIA request and was granted a fee waiver. The Sierra Club will use this information in analyzing the impacts of the GP on wetlands and the Katy Prairie and how Harris County and the Corps are conducting their analysis. In addition, the Sierra Club will provide information from these documents to the public so that it can learn about this important issue and how government works.

November 2009

Last updated:  10/25/2009.   Content © 1999-2009 by the Sierra Club.