As part of our Regional Conservation Initiative, H-GAC will actively assist with preparing grant applications, convening stakeholders, and otherwise supporting the implementation of priority conservation projects across the 13-county H-GAC region. To guide our efforts, we are collecting information about planned conservation projects from local governments and non-governmental organizations and categorizing the projects in a priority list.

There is no funding associated with this project priority list, but selected projects will be eligible to receive H-GAC staff assistance.

See the current priority project list and learn more about our work online. The list will be updated quarterly.

Staff encourages you to submit your conservation projects by Friday, January 13, 2023, or email [email protected] with any questions.

Regional Flood Management Committee – January 18, 2023 (Hybrid)

Make plans to attend H-GAC's Regional Flood Management Committee meeting on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.

The event is from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at H-GAC, second floor conference room and on Zoom.

RSVP to Justin Bower is requested, but not required, to attend in person and required to attend online.

At this meeting, participants will hear updates on current funding sources and legislative initiatives and engage with speakers about flood mitigation topics and projects in the region. Continuing education credits from Texas Floodplain Management Association (CFM) are available.

For more information, contact Justin Bower.

Missing Middle Housing Peer Exchange – January 19, 2023 (In-Person)

Save the date for the next Missing Middle Housing: A Regional Conversation peer exchange from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Thursday, January 19, 2023, at the Learning and Development Center - Houston, 4501 Leeland Street, Houston.

Registration is requested.

At the first peer exchange, participants shared their ideas and the challenges they’ve identified around Missing Middle Housing in the Houston-Galveston region. At this second event, attendees will hear innovative approaches to developing Missing Middle Housing and preserving affordable workforce housing from a panel of housing experts.

Presenters include:

Luis Nunez, Director, Economics and Advisory, AECOM

Jeffrey B. Goodman, AICP, Planning Policy Consultant, Granicus

Jennifer Ostlind, AICP, Deputy Director, Community and Regional Planning, City of Houston

Curtis M. Davis, R.A., Development Consultant, Houston Housing Collaborative

The City of Houston is a co-host for the peer exchange. This event is eligible for 3 CM credits from the American Planning Association.

For more information, contact Jose Cantu. 

Basin Steering Committee Meeting – January 19, 2023 (Online)

The H-GAC Clean Rivers Program Basin Steering Committee will meet from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, January 19, 2023.

The meeting will be online, and registration is required.

For more information, contact Todd Running or Jean Wright.

Bringing Back Main Street Roundtable – January 24, 2023 (In-Person)

Save the date for the next Bringing Back Main Street Roundtable from 9:30 a.m. to noon Tuesday, January 24, 2023.

The event will be in person at the Lake Jackson Civic Center, 333 Highway 332 East, Lake Jackson. Join us to discuss strategies and tools the City of Lake Jackson is using to revitalize downtown, including public art installations and beautification projects. Registration is requested.

The Bringing Back Main Street initiative offers local communities a place to share best practices and engage in a regional dialogue about revitalizing and supporting vibrant downtown spaces. Each quarter, community leaders gather for a roundtable on topics ranging from small business support to sidewalk infrastructure.

For more information, contact Andrea Tantillo. 

Parks and Natural Areas Summit and Awards Ceremony – February 10, 2023 (In-Person)

Save the Date for the Parks and Natural Areas Awards recognition ceremony from 10 a.m. to noon Friday, February 10, 2023, at H-GAC, Second Floor Conference Rooms.

Registration is requested, but not required to attend.

Award-winning projects serve as models for planning and project implementation for parks and natural areas in the region. Projects will be honored in four categories: Planning Process, On-the-Ground Projects Over $500,000, On-the-Ground Projects Under $500,000, and Programming. Participants will also hear about trends in parks and natural areas from industry experts.

For more information, contact Andrea Tantillo.

Trash Free Texas Adopt-A-Spot Webinar – February 23, 2023 (Online)

Save the date for a Trash Free Texas Adopt-A-Spot webinar from 9 to 10 a.m. Thursday, February 23, 2023. 

The event will be online, and registration is required.

At this webinar, participants will explore how two resources, the Trash Free Texas Adopt-A-Spot Map and the Texas Litter Database, can assist communities and organizations in building or enhancing volunteer litter cleanup programs.

This webinar is a part of H-GAC’s Trash Free Texas project. For this project, H-GAC has partnered with the North Central Texas Council of Governments and the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment to establish a unified, coordinated approach to litter abatement and community engagement in the six river basins in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Galveston regions.

For more information contact Kendall Guidroz.

Trash Bash – March 25, 2023 (In-Person)

Mark your calendar for the 29th River, Lakes, Bays ‘N Bayous Trash Bash®, Texas’s largest single-day waterway cleanup on Saturday, March 25, 2023. 

Since its inception, more than 117,000 volunteers have collected over 2,400 tons of trash, 22 tons of recyclable materials, and 11,965 tires. Find out how to volunteer and promote a healthy Galveston Bay watershed at one of their many cleanup locations on March 25.

Cleanup supplies, event t-shirts, and lunch are provided to all volunteers. Trash Bash hopes you will come out and help “Clean it like you mean it !” ® 

Texas Sea Grant is seeing proposals from investigators at all Texas universities; non-profit non-academic institutions; for-profit organizations; state, local and Indian tribal governments; and unaffiliated persons to support integrated research projects that improve the understanding, wise use, and stewardship of Texas' coastal and marine resources. Texas Sea Grant will host a pre-proposal webinar from 10 a.m. to noon January 12 and 13. Pre-proposals are due Friday, February 3. More information is available on Texas Sea Grant's website.

For more than 30 years, Keep Texas Beautiful, in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation has awarded the prestigious Governor's Community Achievement Awards to Texas communities for their outstanding overall efforts to keep their communities beautiful. This year, 10 winning communities will share $2 million in landscaping awards from the Texas Department of Transportation, with the amount based on population size. The funds are used for landscaping projects along local rights-of-way. There is a $25 application fee. The deadline to apply is Thursday, February 16, 2023. 

Becoming an Outdoors Girl Camp – February 4, 2023

The Environmental Institute of Houston is offering Becoming an Outdoors Girl, a free, one-day camp for girls in grades 6 through 12. The camp will be from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, February 4, 2023, on the University of Houston-Clear Lake Campus. Participants can choose from different sessions, including archery, art in nature, birding, camping skills, fishing and dip-netting, geocaching, iNaturalist, mammals, plant and mushroom walk, and scavenger hunt. All activities will be outdoors. Space is limited, and registration is required. Camp organizers are also looking for volunteers. Email [email protected] for more information.

Urban Riparian Symposium – February 8-10, 2023

Registration is open the Texas Riparian Association and Texas Water Resources Institute 3-day Urban Riparian Symposium from Wednesday, February 8, to Friday, February 10, 2023, at Embassy Suites in San Marcos. The theme of this year's symposium is Down by the River: Managing for Resilient Riparian Corridors. Registration fees include networking, field trips, and presentation and poster sessions. Session topics include best management practices, riparian area management, education and outreach, ecology and biology, hydrology, lessons learned, community connections, and source water protection. Regular registration fees until January 6, 2023, are $200 and include a reception Thursday evening, one lunch and refreshments during multiple breaks. Registration fees January 7 through February 3 are $225. For more information, contact Alexander Neal at 979-314-2351.

H-GAC's Community and Environmental Planning Department has compiled a list of local, regional, state, federal, and private funding sources for local governments and other organizations. H-GAC also maintains a list of ongoing funding opportunities for parks improvements, and conservation projects.

If you know of a funding opportunity, forward it to Andrea Tantillo.

Looking for interactive applications or GIS data related to the H-GAC Community and Environmental Planning Department? Visit H-GAC's interactive applications web page.

H-GAC has a Facebook page where information about current and upcoming events is posted. Please visit and like H-GAC's page. While there, visit other H-GAC pages on Facebook, including Recycling, and Trash Bash.