Houston Sierra Club Outings

Link to register:
Meeting Registration - Zoom

What happens when a fast-growing Texas coastal city decides a detention pond should do more than hold water? This session will trace League City's three-part journey in smarter stormwater management: from a 3.75-acre green infrastructure teaching park built with Clean Water Act 319(h) funding, to a post-Hurricane Harvey ordinance overhaul that raised the City's flood protection standards well beyond NFIP minimums, to a newly adopted development code that ties parkland dedication credits to the ecological quality of detention facilities. Along the way, the story includes a 100-year-old live oak tree moved by four cranes in the middle of the night and what that moment says about a community's values. League City's experience offers a practical look at what works, what Harvey forced us to rethink, and how League City is trying to get ahead of development rather than clean up after it.

Speaker: Christopher Sims, PE, is the Executive Director of Development Services for the City of League City, Texas, the largest municipality in Galveston County

About Clean Coast Texas: Clean Coast Texas | Texas General Land Office

Clean Coast Texas webinar recordings: Clean Coast Texas Webinars - YouTube and for 2025 also here: Harte Research Institute - YouTube

Sierra Club: Water for People & Environment
Virtual: Impacts of Seawater Desalination on Marine Ecosystems in Texas
Monday, June 8, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Link to register: June Water for People & the Environment Committee: Seawater Desalination In TX

This is the Water for People & Environment Committee's meeting for all Texans interested in water issues, advocacy, organizing and networking.

Speaker: Dr. Jim Tolan, former Marine Biologist at Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

Join us for a discussion on the impacts of seawater desalination on coastal ecosystems in Texas. While conversations around desalination often focus on brine discharge and salinity, this presentation will explore another side of the issue that receives far less attention: seawater intake and its potential effects on plankton and the broader marine ecosystem.

The link below has the Sierra Club participant sign-in agreement/liability waiver. Read this before the outing. We’ll sign-in quickly at Exploration Green and proceed with the outing. Sign-Up Sheet 2-2020.pdf (sierraclub.org)

If anyone has COVID symptoms or is sick don’t come! We want everyone to be safe. Going on this outing you’ll be with individuals who are vaccinated or unvaccinated. It’s your choice to participate on this outing.

Bring your daypack, 2 qts of water, umbrella (it will be hot), lunch money, hat, sunscreen, camera, and field guides. Wear clothes and shoes that are comfortable and cool. We will eat lunch at a nearby restaurant after we finish walking. This outing is limited to 20 people. No pets, firearms, or radios. We’ll put cell phones on vibrate and enjoy the solitude/quiet/natural sounds of Exploration Green.

For those who want to carpool/caravan we’ll meet at 7:30 am in the parking lot just west of Starbucks in Meyerland Plaza. I have a gray Honda CRV hybrid (WMP 3632) and will be parked just west of Starbucks. My phone number is 281-570-7212. Don’t’ be late!

Contact your leader, Brandt Mannchen, if you have questions, at the Houston Sierra Club Outings Meet-Up Site or at brandt_mannchen@comcast.net. Directions to Exploration Green are:

1. Go S on I-45 and exit at Bay Area Blvd.
2. Turn lt (east) onto Bay Area Blvd and go to El Camino Real.
3. Turn lt (north) onto El Camino Real and go 1 block to Ramada Dr.
4. Turn rt onto Ramada Dr, go 2 blocks, turn lt onto Diana Ln.
5. Go about 1 block and turn into the parking lot at 16306 Diana Ln.