Exploration Green Conservancy, Inc. (EGC) is a nonprofit formed to develop, preserve and protect the land known as Exploration Green (EG). EGC is responsible for raising philanthropic funds to fulfill the Master Plan, which includes the installation, operation and maintenance of the park amenities. 

Exploration Green is the old Clear Lake City Golf Course. This area was purchased by the Clear Lake City Water Authority (CLCWA) for use as a storm water detention area. The CLCWA created a Master Plan for the area and initially sponsored the formation of the EGC. 

Exploration Green is located at the former Golf Course in Clear Lake City. See the Google Map here.

A detailed description of the Master Plan for Exploration Green can be found at the Clear Lake City Water Authority website. "The CLCWA embraced the concept early on of engaging the community in developing ideas for the master plan for the project. Although the primary purpose of the project is flood damage reduction and water quality improvements, CLCWA recognized the important function the property has served and will continue to serve as permanent open space in the community. The CLCWA challenged the community to both develop recommendations for recreational improvements for the project as well as methods and sources of funds to implement these improvements.The narrative below describes the organization and process of the Advisory Group followed by its recommendations. Implementation of the recommendations are included in the Implementation section."

The Clear Lake City Water Authority is working with the City of Houston, Harris County Flood Control and other government entities to ensure maximum efficiency for the development budget.  The CLCWA will fund a large portion of the actual engineering plan (rains, pipes, etc.) and is working to minimize that cost as well, by looking for sources for dirt removal by entities/local governments searching for dirt for their construction purposes. In addition, various grants are available for beautification of parks and green spaces, hike and bike trail development, reforestation plans, and wetland establishment.

The timing for the project depends on many factors including the removal of the dirt. The Houston Parks and Recreation Department has been involved in our discussions and will be an important partner in overall management of the recreation and park-like uses of the space. Nevertheless, most amenities will be paid for by philanthropic fundraising and grants. We continue to work with both Harris County, City of Houston and Houston-Galveston Area Council about funding and grant sponsorship.

The plan outlines a budget for the elements of each phase, according to logical planning for the costs of the project. Funding will be ongoing with the pursuit of grants, and the financial contributions of governmental entities in partnership with the CLCWA, as well as fundraising by EGC.

The CLCWA is primarily responsible for the costs of retrofitting the property with state of the art flood control systems that meet the primary use of the land for flood control purposes. The CLCWA is working with other government entities such as the Harris County Flood Control District that overlap in flood control responsibilities to maximize budgeting efficiency for all stakeholders in development of the engineering requirements.  In addition, the CLCWA is partnering with environmental and recreational elements, as well as aesthetic elements for the plan. The entire project, all visual elements of the master plan, underlying flood control systems, reforestation and habitat maintenance are very high priorities for the CLCWA.

EGC, a non-profit conservancy, has been created by and will oversee long term funding, maintenance and future amenity additions for the park space. The model of using a conservancy has worked well for Memorial Park and Hermann Park in Houston.  All flood control operations will be managed and funded by the CLCWA in conjunction with Harris County Flood Control and the City of Houston.  In addition under an agreement between the Houston and the CLCWA expenditures for flood control and drainage over $2.5 M will continue to exempt property owners in the City of Houston. CLCWA will continue to exempt them from paying the CofH drainage fee.

The projected budget varies due to many possible funding variations, the sale and removal of the dirt being one of the biggest, so it is not possible to provide the cost at this time but it will be spread over 20 to 30 years. The EGC will raise funds through contributions and grants for a majority of costs, while the flood control systems will be paid for by the CLCWA.

The deed restrictions held by Exxon expire in 2021. The CLCWA and Conservancy Committee have benchmarked over a dozen organizations to develop a solid plan for conserving the property and protecting it. The CLCWA has worked with the land trust and nonprofit, the Galveston Bay Foundation, to create a conservation easement that will protect it from development in perpetuity -- that is forever. The expiration of the deed restrictions should have no impact on the plans.

The master plan shows a 10’ trail on the upper path and mowed grass for the lower path.  The material for the paths depends on the requirements of grants and possible partnerships with the City of Houston and Harris County.

There are no plans to light the trails at night. In keeping with the original use and safety concerns expressed in the first town hall meeting, Exploration Green will be limited to daylight use only.

The paths themselves will likely be flat in the first phase area; however, there are slopes graded at a 4:1 ratio within the plan between the upper and lower paths.

Since the facilities will meet all the federal and state requirements for handicap access, wheel chair accessibility will be part of the detailed plan.

Overall maintenance of the amenities and landscaping will be determined with the partnership agreements currently in negotiations with the City of Houston and Harris County Flood control. The CLCWA will be involved in all flood control maintenance issues as is its purview. The EGC will pursue partnerships, agreements, fundraising and many volunteers to grow a strong volunteer base for special projects, landscaping needs and maintenance. 

That will be a decision by the Clear Lake City Community Association (CLCCA).  The CLCCA sets and enforces the deed restrictions on your property. Any change to the community association deed restrictions is the responsibility of the CLCCA.

There will not be a fence, unless the homeowner chooses to install one or the CLCCA requires one. The master plan illustrations show an anticipated view. Please see page 27 of the master plan at clcwa.org or clcgreenplan.org.

The public area distance from homeowner’s property line is unchanged from what it is now, just like on the front side of your property As you can see in the Master Plan, the existing elevation will be maintained somewhere between 30 feet and to over 50+ feet in order to save as many of the existing trees as possible and provide an appealing contour. At that point, a slope will begin leading down to the hike and bike trail which would not be visible from most back yards. This gives more privacy than exists today.

Due to the gentle slope that will begin at least ten feet and often much further from the private property line and then descend at a 4:1 grade to the upper path, any the visual and sound effects should be less than current and be even more effective in providing for privacy. The CLCWA has ensured homeowner concerns for privacy and security are a major priority in the Master Plan. Existing public use rules already posted on the property restrict public use to daylight hours only.

Yes, there should be no interruption of use of the land except in each specific area as it is under development. The CLCWA is making it a priority to minimize the effect of construction on the surrounding community.

Prospects for additional amenities over time are dependent on community input, financing, space availability and potential impact on conservation and flood control requirements. Opening the property to additional uses and amenities is not planned at this time, and anything new will have to meet strict environmental requirements of the planned conservation easement.

The safe use of the park amenities will require supervision for young children, just like any park area where children play.

The waterway, wetland areas, and tree-lined slopes will be designed to serve as natural habitat for fish, birds and wildlife natural to the area.

Managing mosquito populations in subtropical climates like ours is a challenge even today. The plan is that natural predator species of fish and plants will limit mosquitoes. Moving water will help avoid any atypical mosquito problem. As anywhere in the Bay Area, it is best to use repellant when walking outside during the rainy season.

While rare, alligators or other wildlife, found on the property should be reported to the CLCWA offices as soon as sighted. Appropriate professionals will be called in to move them to more distant habitat, just as in done in other areas of Clear Lake when such creatures get too close to the public in the existing bayous and drainage ditches. As is stressed at the University of Houston Clear Lake and Johnson Space Center, do not approach dangerous wildlife in the area!

Through careful planning, the CLCWA master plan will save about half of the native trees on the property and envisions a large scale replacement effort. An extensive reforestation plan will maximize the establishment natural forests as the phases are completed. In fact, a tree nursery in partnership with “Trees for Houston” has been in place since early 2014 and is growing bigger!

The green space’s water areas will be even more beautiful! The waterway is designed to undulate along a natural wetland bank, with wild grasses and wetland vegetation along the shore in places that will maximize the mitigation of algae and serve as a natural filter, making the waterway a beautiful amenity for the park and local neighborhoods.

Yes, the water authority now provides water to the Bay Oaks golf course and UHCL and in the past to the golf course at this location. There is a substantial amount of reuse water that has been treated but not chlorinated for drinking, that will be used to water the property and provide flow to the waterway.

You should contact the Harris County Animal Control now for help with your current skunk problem before it becomes stinky! The CLCWA will help control any such animals that become a problem in the area as it is developed.

The SWA Architecture and our engineering teams are highly skilled with extensive experience in developments like ours. Most utilities will be within the utility easement behind homeowners property line. Careful measures will be taken to ensure that construction in each phase of the property will not damage important infrastructure already in place and move it only as required. Minimizing the inconvenience for residents is a prime goal during the development of this facility.

The extensive and thoughtful work of the Community Garden subcommittee (from our big public input project last summer) has not fallen on deaf ears. While the narrow constraints of the property limit some of the amenities that fit along its flood control design, other City of Houston parks in the area, especially Sylvan Rodriguez Park, have an abundance of land and would welcome the expertise and commitment of the Community Gardens subcommittee.

The master plan centralizes parking at the existing parking lot on Diana Lane near the former clubhouse. The parking area there will be designed for 352 vehicles, however it may be smaller in order to save more mature trees. Activities which would draw larger crowds are focused in the first phase in order to minimize on-street parking in the neighborhoods.

Absolutely not. In 2005, the CLCWA instituted detention requirements for new development inside the district which is twice the requirement anywhere else in Harris County. Any new development since that time is required to provide our detention requirement on their own property. This property was purchased to provide detention for Oakbrook and Oakbrook West which were built before detention requirements were created and, the 2,000 acres that drain through the property into Horsepen Bayou to reduce flooding from the start of Horsepen Bayou all the way to Clear Lake.