Clear Creek Watershed
About the Watershed
The Clear Creek watershed is located in southern Harris County. The watershed encompasses portions of Harris, Galveston, Brazoria and Fort Bend counties; 16 cities including Houston, Brookside Village, Pearland, Friendswood, League City, Pasadena, the Clear Lake Area communities and 5 drainage/flood control districts. Clear Creek flows from west to east through Clear Lake and into Galveston Bay. Armand Bayou is the largest tributary to Clear Creek and is a separate watershed. The Clear Creek watershed covers approximately 197 square miles and includes two primary streams: Clear Creek and Turkey Creek. There are about 154 miles of open streams within the watershed, including the primary streams and tributary channels. The estimated population within the Clear Creek watershed (Harris County portion) is just over 118,000.
Flooding occurs frequently along various reaches of the main channel and its tributaries. Storm surge has also caused flooding within the watershed and has the potential to extend upstream to I-45.
Land Use
Development activity has historically been concentrated in the lower end of the watershed around Clear Lake and several smaller cities in the mid and upper portions of the watershed; however, in recent decades development activity has increased throughout the watershed and is expected to continue.
Environment
Clear Creek between Clear Lake and the City of Friendswood is in a natural state. Its bottom elevations are below sea level and subject to tidal influences. A number of natural and recreational parks have been developed along the creek, which are commonly referred to as the "Chain-of-Parks." The combination of Clear Lake, the "Chain-of-Parks" and channel reaches lined with dense woodlands provide a naturalized habitat along Clear Creek up to the Galveston/Brazoria County line. Much of the channel upstream of this line also supports heavy vegetative growth that returned following the channel projects in the 1950-1960's. Some clearing has occurred to de-snag the channel or provide access to the channel from adjacent developments.
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