Cypress Creek Watershed
About the Watershed
The Cypress Creek watershed is located in northwestern portion of Harris County and extends into Waller County. The watershed includes the City of Waller and a small portion of the City of Houston. The overall area of the Cypress Creek watershed covers about 323 square miles and includes two primary streams: Cypress Creek and Little Cypress Creek*.
*Little Cypress Creek is a major subwatershed of the larger Cypress Creek watershed and is usually considered the "22nd Watershed" within Harris County, although it is generally not categorized separately. It comprises more than 15% of the larger Cypress Creek watershed, with a drainage area of about 50 square miles.
There are about 303 miles of open streams within the entire Cypress Creek watershed, including the primary streams and over 30 other tributaries, both man-made and natural. The estimated population within the watershed (Harris County portion) is just over 216,000.
Frequent and deep flooding of structures along Cypress Creek is due primarily to the fact that they were built deep in the floodplain prior to detailed floodplain maps and prior to the adoption of floodplain management regulations. The Creek has wide extensive floodplains, it has very steep side slopes, severe meandering, areas of severe erosion and other characteristics of a natural channel. The desire to continue to address the existing flooding problems along the creek and have guidance for implementing new drainage infrastructure as future land development occurs, has prompted new regional planning efforts for the watershed.
Land Use
The western portion of the watershed is historically farmland or rangeland, while the eastern and central portion has developed rapidly in the last 20 years. New isolated land development pockets in the western portion of the watershed are taking place, and large scale land development projects are expected to continue.
Environment
The watershed is characterized by a diverse environment where animal species, including the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and the American alligator, have been spotted. The watershed upstream of Highway 290 is part of the sensitive Katy Prairie ecosystem. The main channel has been cleared in the past to increase conveyance or provide access to the channel for adjacent developments; however, much of the channel is heavily vegetated.
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