Annual Debris Workshop – May 5 (Hybrid)

Make plans to attend H-GAC's Annual Debris Workshop on Thursday, May 5.

The event is from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at H-GAC, second floor conference room, and on Zoom.

Registration is requested to attend in person and required to attend online.

Topics for discussion include information on best management practices for disaster debris management and information on current state and federal regulations.

For more information, contact Erin Livingston.

Natural Resources Advisory Committee Meeting – May 5 (Hybrid)

The Natural Resources Advisory Committee will meet on Thursday, May 5. The meeting is from 2 to 4 p.m. at H-GAC, second floor conference room, and on Zoom.

Registration is requested to attend in person and required to attend online.

The Natural Resources Advisory Committee (NRAC) serves as a forum to advise the H-GAC Board and local decision-makers on policy issues affecting natural resources in the 13-county Houston-Galveston region.

For more information, contact Rachel Windham.

Oyster Creek Stakeholder Meeting – May 11 (In Person)

H-GAC invites residents, local governments, businesses, and non-profits within the Oyster Creek Watershed in Brazoria and Fort Bend counties to attend a stakeholder meeting from 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 11. The meeting is open to the public and will be at Angleton Public Library, 401 E. Cedar, Angleton.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss water quality issues affecting communities in the Oyster Creek watershed south of Sugar Land, including Angleton, Arcola, Bailey’s Prairie, Bonney, Clute, Holiday Lakes, Iowa Colony, Juliff, Lake Jackson, Missouri City (Sienna Plantation), Richwood, Rosharon, and Sandy Point. Pollutants, specifically fecal bacteria, in this waterway may impact public health, local economies, and the natural environment. Residents and organizations are invited to participate in this and future meetings to provide input that will be used to review the current draft bacteria reduction plan and to consider the next steps needed to put the plan into action.

For more information about the project, visit https://www.h-gac.com/watershed-based-plans/san-jacinto-brazos-coastal-basin-tmdl-and-implementation-plan or contact Steven Johnston.

Chocolate Bay Stakeholder Meeting – May 11 (In Person)

H-GAC invites residents, local governments, businesses, and non-profits within the watersheds that make up Chocolate Bay—Chocolate Bayou, Mustang Bayou, and Halls Bayou—to attend a stakeholder meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 11. The meeting is open to the public and will be at Alvin Public Library, 105 S. Gordon St. Alvin.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss water quality issues affecting communities in the Chocolate Bay watershed, including: Algoa, Arcola, Alvin, Fresno, Hillcrest, Iowa Colony, Liverpool, Manvel, Missouri City, Pearland, and Santa Fe. Pollutants, specifically fecal bacteria, in these waterways may impact public health, local economies, and the natural environment. Residents and organizations will be invited to participate in the future planning meetings to provide input that will be used to develop a watershed-based plan to address water quality.

For more information about the project, visit https://www.h-gac.com/watershed-based-plans/san-jacinto-brazos-coastal-basin-tmdl-and-implementation-plan or contact Steven Johnston.

Parks and Natural Areas Roundtable Field Trip – May 13 (In Person)

Join us for H-GAC's Parks and Natural Areas Roundtable Field Trip at 9 a.m. Friday, May 13. We will meet at Clear Creek Nature Center, 1220 Egret Bay Blvd. North League City, to learn more about the nature center and League City's award-winning Outdoor Education Initiative project.

Registration is requested.

For more information, contact Andrea Tantillo.

Solid Waste Workshop Series – May 19 (In Person)

Make plans to attend H-GAC’s Solid Waste Workshop Series from 9 to noon on Thursday, May 19. This workshop will focus on Drones in Environmental Enforcement.

Brandon Karr, Chief Pilot and UAS Program Coordinator, with the Pearland Police Department will discuss the rules surrounding drone use and how they are used in environmental enforcement.

The event will be in person at H-GAC, second floor conference rooms. Registration is requested.

For more information, contact Erin Livingston.

Bacteria Implementation Group Spring Meeting – May 24 (Hybrid)

Make plans to attend the Bacteria Implementation Group (BIG) Spring Meeting on Tuesday, May 24. 

Registration is requested to attend in person and required to attend online.

For more information or to submit public comment, contact Steven Johnston.

Bacteria Implementation Group Workgroup Meetings – Various Dates (Online)

The Bacteria Implementation Group (BIG) work groups will meet in May to discuss data and review the draft update to the Implementation Plan (I-Plan). All meetings will be held on Zoom, and registration for each is required.

For more information, contact Steven Johnston.

Cotton Bayou Public Meeting – May 31 (In Person)

H-GAC invites residents, local governments, businesses, and non-profits within the Cotton Bayou Watershed to attend a stakeholder meeting from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 31.

The meeting is open to the public and will be at Sam and Carmena Goss Memorial Branch Library, 1 John Hall Drive, Mont Belvieu.

The purpose of the meeting is for H-GAC to provide updates to the Technical Support Document and Total Maximum Daily Load calculations for bacteria in Cotton Bayou. H-GAC will also discuss the development of an Implementation Plan to reduce bacteria and how stakeholders can take action to improve water quality.

Registration is requested.

For more information about the project, visit https://www.h-gac.com/watershed-based-plans/cotton-bayou-tmdl or contact Rachel Windham.

Caney Creek Stakeholder Meeting – June 9 (In Person)

H-GAC invites residents, local governments, businesses, and non-profits within the Caney Creek Watershed to attend a stakeholder meeting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 9.

The meeting is open to the public and will be at Caney Creek MUD, 405 CR 288, Sargent.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the addendum to the Water Quality Management Plan for assessment unit 1304_02 and the status of the Caney Creek bacteria reduction Implementation Plan (I-Plan).

For more information about the project, visit https://www.h-gac.com/watershed-based-plans/brazos-colorado-coastal-basin-tmdl-and-implementation-plan. or contact Steven Johnston.

Bringing Back Main Street Roundtable – July 26 (In Person)

Mark your calendars for H-GAC's next Bringing Back Main Street Roundtable on Tuesday, July 26. The exact time and location will be announced soon.

H-GAC hosts quarterly roundtables to help local governments, chambers of commerce, and economic development interests promote the economic revitalization of downtown areas.

For more information, contact Cheryl Mergo.

H-GAC updated several interactive web mapping tools based on the recently released US Census 2016-2020 American Community Survey 5-year estimates data. The updated tools include:

Regional Equity Tool is an interactive mapping application/tool that identifies the distribution of H-GAC region’s vulnerable, low to moderate income population, and historic settlements.

Regional Demographic Snapshot is an interactive planning tool that provides a quick summary of key demographic variables for various geographies within the 13-county H-GAC region.

Vulnerable Population Density is a data visualization tool that displays the distribution of vulnerable populations using a hexagonal grid of 3 square miles. It identifies the area with high concentration of vulnerable population along with historic trends between 2012 and 2020.

More than 74 Tons of Trash Removed from Waterways at 2022 Trash Bash®

On March 26, volunteers were welcomed back for the first in-person River, Lakes, Bays, N’ Bayous Trash Bash® since 2019. More than 2,500 volunteers cleaned 117 miles of shoreline at 14 locations, collecting more than 74 tons of trash and 336 illegally dumped tires. After picking up trash, volunteers enjoyed educational exhibits to learn more about other common sources of water pollution.

Since 1994, more than 117,000 volunteers have cleaned up 2,411 tons of trash and 11,965 tires from waterways in the Galveston Bay watershed. Due to health concerns, the event was cancelled in 2020, and volunteers were asked to individually clean up around their own neighborhoods in 2021.

Save the date to join thousands of volunteers on Saturday, March 25, 2023, for the next Trash Bash. Learn more about Trash Bash and donate online.

May is National Bike Month, and National Bike to Work Day is May 20. However, some organizations choose a different day that works best for their residents or employees.

As population and congestion increase, finding alternative ways to get to work is critical for the region. In the Houston-Galveston region, 25 percent of people live within 5 miles of their workplaces, an ideal distance for bicycling. Adults who regularly bicycle have a reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity.

Bike Month is a great opportunity to explore biking to other destinations like coffee shops, restaurants, libraries, schools, and when visiting your friends and family members.

The next annual Houston-Galveston Regional Trash and Marine Debris Trash Summit, presented by the Partners in Litter Prevention, will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 11, hosted via Zoom. Registration is required. Details and agenda will be available closer to the meeting date.

Registration is now open for the Harris County Engineering Department 12th Annual Wastewater Seminar. The seminar will be online from 8 a.m. to noon Wednesday, May 18, and Thursday, May 19, on WebEx. The May 18 seminar topics include the value of your work as an OSSF professional, Texas Parks and Wildlife Special Investigations Unit, The Platting and OSST Feasibility Study in Harris County, and The Importance of OSSF Maintenance. May 19 seminar topics include TCEQ OSSF Rule Updates, Nontraditional OSSFs, Pump Curves and Spray Heads, Water Well Construction and Reporting in Texas, and an Update on State-funded Onsite Wastewater Research at Texas A&M University. Registration is required. Information about past seminars is available online.

Registration is open for the Keep Texas Beautiful 55th Annual Conference June 27-29 in Austin. Keep Texas Beautiful is a network of Texans working together to make the state the best place to live, work, and play. Local partners and affiliates are equipped with tools they need to help clean up and prevent litter across the state. The annual conference is an opportunity for participants to share, learn, and celebrate local, regional, and state accomplishments and programs and includes networking, field trips, educational sessions, awards presentations, and exhibits.

Congratulations to the City of Richwood and the City of Katy for winning in Category 2 and 7, respectively of the 2022 Governor's Community Achievement Awards (GCAA) by Keep Texas Beautiful, in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). This year, Richwood, Katy, and eight other winning communities across the state will share $2 million in landscaping awards from TxDOT, with the amount based on population size. The funds are used for landscaping projects along local rights-of-way. Other communities in the region were also recognized, including Lake Jackson, Pearland, Seabrook, and Surfside Beach.

Several local communities received additional recognition in the GCAA competition based on their application scoring. The Award of Excellence recognizes communities for their outstanding achievements in protecting and enhancing their local environment, exemplifying their efforts as the standard of environmental excellence for communities nationwide. The Sustained Excellence Award recognizes the communities that have scored 90 or above in the GCAA competition for three consecutive years. Recipients of this award are recognized for their ongoing commitment to making Texas the cleanest, most beautiful state in the nation.

Communities honored with the Sustained Excellence Award include Dickinson, Katy, Lake Jackson, Pearland, Richwood, and Seabrook. Communities earning the Award of Excellence include Sugar Land and Surfside Beach.

Congratulations to the Recycle Right program, The Woodlands Township, for winning the Public Education and Outreach Award from Keep Texas Beautiful's 2022 Beautify Texas Awards. This award recognizes public awareness and education efforts of civic organizations and city/county/state government departments in print and/or electronic media in supporting environmental issues.

Congratulations to Keep Pearland Beautiful Youth Environmental Council for winning the Ruthe Jackson Youth Organization Award. This award recognizes the efforts and leadership of youth-oriented organizations to beautify the community and create cleaner, greener campuses, parks, and neighborhoods.

H-GAC's Community and Environmental Planning Department 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 development 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.