Clear Creek Watershed Partnership Meetings – March 3 (Online)

On Thursday, March 3, H-GAC and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will hold two informational meetings to introduce the Clear Creek Watershed Partnership, a new project to address water quality issues impacting communities along Clear Creek. 

More information about this project is available at the Clear Creek Partnership webpage or by contacting Justin Bower. 

Parks and Natural Areas Roundtable – March 14 (Online)

The next Parks and Natural Areas Roundtable will be from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday, March 14. 

This event will be online, and registration is required.

Participants will learn about:

For more information, contact Andrea Tantillo.

River, Lakes, Bays ‘N Bayous Trash Bash® – March 26 (In Person)

The River, Lakes, Bays ‘N Bayous Trash Bash®, Texas’s largest single-day waterway cleanup, is excited to welcome back volunteers to the 28th annual event on Saturday, March 26.

Since its inception, more than 114,000 volunteers have collected over 2,300 tons of trash, 20 tons of recyclable materials, and 11,629 tires. Find out how to volunteer and promote a healthy Galveston Bay watershed at one of their many cleanup locations on March 26. Trash Bash hopes you will come out and help “Clean it like you mean it!” ®

Find more information, including registration links and public health guidelines, at www.trashbash.org.

H-GAC's Regional Conservation Initiative - March 30 (In Person)

Join H-GAC from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 30 at H-GAC Conference Room 2B, Second Floor, for a celebration of conservation in the Houston-Galveston region.

Space may be limited, and registration is requested.  

For more information, email [email protected].

Bringing Back Main Street Roundtable – April 26

Save the date for the next Bringing Back Main Street Roundtable Tuesday, April 26.

The time, location, and topic will be announced.

The Bringing Back Main Street initiative offers local communities a place to share best practices and engage in a regional dialogue about revitalizing and supporting vibrant downtown spaces. Each quarter, community leaders gather for a roundtable on topics ranging from small business support to sidewalk infrastructure.

For more information, contact Sarah Torresen.

The Community Cleanup Challenge Toolkit provides resources to assist local and regional governments, nonprofit organizations, and other entities interested in hosting litter cleanup events. While the resources are designed for a competition-style cleanup, many are helpful for planning and implementing standard litter cleanup activities. 

The Local Government Trash Reduction and Education Toolkit is a consolidation of resources developed to assist local and regional governments, nonprofit organizations, and other entities who are seeking to engage and educate their communities on the topics of watersheds, litter, aquatic debris, and cleanup initiatives. The toolkit includes videos, reports, infographics, links to existing campaigns, and more. 

For more information contact Kendall Guidroz.

If you are interested in participating, contact Crysta Guzman or Kendall Guidroz at any time during the pilot period. 

Eighteen projects across the Houston-Galveston region were honored for serving as models for best management practices in parks, natural areas, and water quality as part of the H-GAC's annual Parks and Natural Areas Awards recognition ceremony. The event was held online on February 11 on Zoom. 

More details about the awards, including categories and eligible project types, will be available on the Houston APA website when the call opens in mid-March. The call for awards applications will be open through the end of April. 

Congratulations to Bryson Magee, a student at George Bush High School, Richmond, for wining first place in the 8th-12th grade category of the annual Take Care of Texas Video Contest. Hundreds of Texas students in grades 6 – 12 created 30-second videos about how they take care of the environment, using data from the website. Contest partner Waste Management of Texas, Inc. provided the prizes: scholarships totaling $4,500 and photography equipment prizes totaling $1,800. See all the winning entries at takecareoftexas.org. 

Fix-A-Leak Week Webinars – March 15, 17

As part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense Fix-A-Leak Week (March 14-20) the City of Houston and other cities are hosting two free online workshops to help residents and business owners learn how to identify and repair minor plumbing leaks.

Workshop One from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, will cover indoor plumbing leaks. Workshop Two from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 17, will cover outdoor/irrigation plumbing leaks. Both workshops will include tips and tricks for saving water and money all year long. 

H-GAC has compiled a list of local, regional, state, federal, and private funding sources for local governments and other organizations. H-GAC also maintains a list of ongoing funding opportunities for parks improvements, conservation projects, and economic recovery resources.

If you know of a funding opportunity, forward it to Andrea Tantillo.

Looking for interactive applications or GIS data related to the H-GAC Community and Environmental Planning Department? Visit H-GAC's interactive applications web page.

H-GAC has a Facebook page where information about current and upcoming events is posted. Please visit and like H-GAC's page. While there, visit other H-GAC pages on Facebook, including Recycling, Trash Bash, and Regional Data Lab.