Willow water hole park and traits ground-breaking.

The Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy, supported by the National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program, is leading a broad-based coalition of grassroots groups and government agencies to develop trails and other amenities around new flood control facilities being installed in the wake of Tropical Storm Allison in underserved areas of Houston.

With funding from the NPS's Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Texas, the Harris County Flood Control District, city of Houston and private foundations, this coalition is acquiring and developing park facilities around retention ponds that will alleviate future flooding in some of the hardest hit, low-income areas of the city.

Blighted and abandoned homes and businesses are giving way to new wetlands, habitat for birds and several species of threatened coastal prairie grasses. Trails, picnic areas and outdoor recreation opportunities are replacing plies of trash and debris. In addition to LWCF support, the NPS provided organizational development, outreach and technical planning support for what will become a 250-plus acre regional park.

For more information, please contact Steve Bonner, community planner, at [e-mail] or [phone].