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	Brays Bayou Freshwater Tidal Marsh Receives Three Awards in 2006 December 14, 2006 The Brays Bayou Freshwater Tidal Marsh at Mason Park, a collaboration project of the Harris County Flood Control District and a host of other partners, has won three awards this year. Last month, the Sierra Club featured the project in a national publication, naming it a "Best New Development Project for 2006," among nine others in the country. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Gulf of Mexico Program also awarded the project a 2006 Gulf Guardian Award last month, and The Park People of Houston gave the project 2006 Synergy Award in March for its innovative approach for cleaning stormwater. The Brays Bayou Freshwater Tidal Marsh at Mason Park, comprised of three water quality improvement ponds on 3.5 acres of land, was engineered and constructed by the Harris County Flood Control District near the mouth of Brays Bayou in Mason Park and is operated by the Houston Parks and Recreation Department. The idea and design came from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Partners and Plants Make a Better Bayou Over the past year, Texas Cooperative Extension/Texas Sea Grant has worked with a host of partners including students from Austin and Chavez high schools to plant irises, lilies, rushes and sedges in the new marshes. These wetlands plants filter sediment and pollutants, such as pesticides, fertilizer and bacteria, from stormwater before it enters Brays Bayou. Cleaner water in the bayou means a healthier environment for fish and other aquatic creatures. Most of the seafood caught and sold from Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico grow up in the region's marshes and waterways, including Brays Bayou. A cleaner bayou also means a healthier and more aesthetically-pleasing place for humans to live. Recent visitors to the site have spotted herons, egrets, osprey and turtles using the newly-created marsh. The Marsh is located along a walking trail on the north side of Brays Bayou in Mason Park. The park is located in southeast Houston, about 2 miles north of the Loop 610 and the I-45 interchange. It will serve as a resource for Magnolia Park, Harrisburg, Idylwood and other southeast communities. Project partners include: Houston Parks and Recreation Department; Harris County Flood Control District, Texas Cooperative Extension/Texas Sea Grant; Texas A&M University Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Sciences; Texas Master Naturalist; Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; Galveston Bay Estuary Program; National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration/Texas Coastal Management Program; NRG; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Natural Resources Conservation Service; Stephen F. Austin High School; and Cesar E. Chavez High School. > Learn more about the Brays Bayou Flood Damage Reduction Project (Project Brays)