CLAPS EarthCache: Armand Bayou Watershed EarthCache
CLAPS EarthCache: Armand Bayou Watershed
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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Welcome to the Clear Lake
Area Paddle Series. This EarthCache is located on the third installment of
the CLAPS series which can be found HERE: CLAPS III #1 -
GC2BD1N.
This series is designed so
that the caches would be obtained, primarily, by paddling (kayak,
canoe, raft, etc.). Of course, there may be other ways to get to
the cache. We leave that to you. Please be sure to see the
referenced cache for various warnings and considerations before
attempting this EarthCache.
This EarthCache is located on
Armand Bayou. You can get to it by kayak, canoe, or raft. No motors
are allowed in Armand Bayou from trail marker #4 upstream through
trail marker #26. This EarthCache is located in the no-motor
zone.
A watershed is the area of
land that drains into a body of water such as a river, lake, stream
or bay. It is separated from other watersheds by high points in the
area such as hills or slopes . A watershed carries water "shed"
from the land after rain falls and snow melts. It includes not only
the waterway itself but also the entire land area that drains to
it. For example, the watershed of a lake would include not only the
streams entering into that lake but also the land area that drains
into those streams and eventually the lake. In addition, the lake's
watershed includes all of the land adjacent to the lakeshore from
which storm-water runoff would flow into the lake. Watersheds come
in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national
boundaries. No matter where you are, you're in a
watershed!
A watershed can be as small as
a backyard that drains to a pond or as large as several states that
drain into a large river system. However, very small watersheds,
such as those measuring a few acres, are often referred to as
"drainage areas" and very large watersheds, such ones that
encompass several states, are called "drainage basins."
Often, small drainage basins or watersheds combine with one
another, creating larger and larger networks of drainage basins.
All of these combined drainage basins are together referred to
simply as a drainage basin, or as one watershed.
The area between two drainage basins is known as a drainage divide.
In North America a massive drainage divide known as the Continental
Divide separates the water that flows towards the Pacific Ocean,
with water that drains towards the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic
Ocean.
This is an illustration of a
watershed.
This EarthCache is located on
Armand Bayou. The Armand Bayou watershed is located in southeast
Harris County and encompasses portions of the cities of Houston,
Pasadena, Deer Park, La Porte and Taylor Lake Village. Armand Bayou
flows in a southward direction from its headwaters near Deer Park
to its mouth at Clear Lake. The watershed covers about 60 square
miles and includes five primary streams: Armand Bayou, Horsepen
Bayou, Big Island Slough, Willowspring Creek and Spring Gully.
There are about 86 miles of open streams within the watershed,
including the primary streams and tributary channels. The estimated
population within the Armand Bayou watershed in 2000 was just over
120,000.
Development is heavy in the
upper and southwestern regions, while the mid to lower regions are
sparsely developed. Several parks and a nature preserve are located
along the lower third of the channel. Due to the close proximity to
Johnson Space Center, Houston Ship Channel and the Clear Lake area,
urbanization is expected to continue in the near
future.
When the first western
settlers arrived, however, wetlands dominated the landscape and
there were very few tributaries to Armand Bayou. The Texas Gulf
Coast is, generally, a very flat and featureless place. Surface
drainage, unfortunately, was not the only hydrologic impact of
modern development. Most of the water for residences and industry
was pumped from the ground, from the sediments laid down as great
alluvial and deltaic plains. Groundwater removal hastened the
consolidation of these sediments and the surface subsided by as
much as 8 - 10 feet in the watershed. Groundwater pumpage has
stopped, but most of the effects were irreversible. The subsidence
hastened the geological process of rising sea
levels.
Forty years ago, Armand Bayou
terminated in an extensive salt marsh teeming with wildlife; the
Bayou itself was just a small ribbon running through the marsh.
Today that marsh is Mud Lake, an important water body but not
nearly as rich as the marsh it replaced. Without a doubt, Mud
Lake--or Lake Pasadena, as it's also known--would have formed
eventually, but the process would have taken hundreds if not
thousands of years, leaving time for ecological
adjustment.
The 61 square mile Armand
Bayou watershed has evolved from a pristine alluvial plain dotted
with perennial and seasonal wetlands, fringed by salt marshes at
its mouth, to a dominantly urban and suburban residential and urban
complex. The watershed is home to some of the densest complexes of
petrochemical industries in the nation. And yet in spite of this
development, Armand Bayou retains much of its original character as
a coastal bayou, albeit reduced to a central riparian core and a
few pockets of the wetland complexes deeded by the ancestral Brazos
River.
Close-up of Armand Bayou
Watershed.
TO GET CREDIT FOR THIS
EARTHCACHE, e-mail me (through my geocaching.com profile) your
answers to the following questions:
- 1) About
40 feet south of GZ near a large oak tree there is a sign. What
colors are the sign and what does the sign say or what illustration
is onit?
- 2) Which
of the five main tributaries flows into Armand Bayou closest to Bay
Area Blvd?
- 3)
Paddling upstream, describe what generally happens to the width of
the bayou.
- 4) What
happens to the width downstream? Why do you think this has
happened? (There may be a few
reasons...)
- 5) From
your vantage point at GZ, is the land immediately surrounding you
higher or at the same level of the bayou? What do you think happens
if you continue inland? Estimate the average elevation of the land
immediately around you compared to the surface level of the bayou
at GZ.
- NOTE: You can log as soon
as your answers are sent. A photo is NOT required for credit
for this EarthCache, however, posting of photos (with or without
you in them) is highly encouraged. DO NOT post any photos of
the sign near GZ, though, or post any information of it in your log
-- or your log may be deleted without
notice.
Check out the CLAPS
Challenge Cache
HERE: CLAPS Challenge Cache -
GC2ANX3.
Congrats to SparkyTheFireDog for
FTF and Milestone
#400!
This EarthCache established by a
Member
Come visit our website.
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Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[Bring a camera for some beautiful scenery and possible wildlife shots. And lots of sunscreen!]