Hooray for all of you who responded to the call on the HCC General Forum to submit comments on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plans to address flooding on Buffalo Bayou.
An article in the Houston Chronicle’s November 24 online edition reported that:
“Army Col. Timothy Vail said staff has since received enough public feedback to warrant a second look.”
Here are a few other very encouraging quotes from the article:
“Advocates believe the Corps’ interim Buffalo Bayou and Tributaries Resiliency Study took an outdated approach, giving short shrift to nature-based options. The study suggested pursuing projects such as digging Buffalo Bayou wider and deeper and building a third reservoir over the Katy Prairie, ideas that advocates believe would harm natural spaces that residents value.”
“In her own letter Friday, [U.S. Rep. Lizzie] Fletcher reiterated what she described as ‘the importance of building consensus on the path forward.’ She said she hoped the Corps will continue to accept public comment outside of the formal review period.
‘It is a priority of my constituents, and of the Congress, to include natural infrastructure and nature-based solutions,’ she wrote. ‘It is also the strong preference of my constituents to preserve the natural beauty and environment of Buffalo Bayou in any path forward.’ ”
You can read the whole Houston Chronicle article by clicking here. If your voting address is in U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher’s district, please send her a note of thanks by visiting her website at https://fletcher.house.gov/contact/.
Even as we celebrate this very positive development, we need to keep in mind that this issue will likely require a sustained effort on our part.