Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Threats at Memorial Park

June 20, 2023

At Memorial Park, two new park areas provide resiliency. After winter storm Uri, “we had a lot more problems with pipes and plumbing than we had with plants,” said Shellye Arnold. The new areas feature native plants.

City Parks Alliance presented a webinar: Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Threats: Flooding, Biodiversity Loss, & Heat on June 15, 2023. One of the presenters was Shellye Arnold, President & CEO at Memorial Park Conservancy in Houston.

Two new areas in Memorial Park provide nature-based solutions for biodiversity, and help with flooding and resiliency.

Memorial Park land bridge

You can drive under a prairie on Memorial Drive at the Kinder Land Bridge. In Houston, a mostly flat area, the bridge also provides a nice hill, to view the surrounding landscape. Memorial Park was originally a coastal prairie, and the landscape has been restored to a native prairie, providing biodiversity. Prairie also sequesters the most stormwater of any landscape and cleanses the water flowing into Buffalo Bayou.

The plans for the new areas included reuse of materials during the reconstruction. After a drought in 2010-2011, many of the pine trees were dead, and they were reused as compost in the park. In building the tunnels and the land bridge, Memorial Drive was rerouted. Some of the cement blocks from the old Memorial Drive were reused to create the Clay Family Scramble, a creative set of huge stepping stones.

Eastern Glades, Memorial Park

The second new area is the Eastern Glades, where a new lake provides three-tiered stormwater retention, slowing the rainfall flooding Buffalo Bayou. The lake provides water for irrigation, and new habitat, including wetlands for birds and animals. A forest surrounds the lake, and invasive plants were removed from this area. The Eastern Glades includes areas for people gathering, walking, running, and picknicking.

For more information about Memorial Park and the Memorial Park Conservancy, visit:

https://www.memorialparkconservancy.org/

For more information about the City Parks Alliance and other urban parks, visit:

https://cityparksalliance.org/

 

 

Photos by Frank Blake.