Who would not want to save woodlands & wetlands?
Dr. Tom Vaughan is pictured standing in the shade of a 60-foot tall pecan tree in a Manadas Creek woodland, a rare and beautiful wetland spot.

Once a thriving waterway, now a concrete ditch
This ditch, now draining water through warehouse parking lots near Mines Road, was once a green, meandering, tree-lined segment of Manadas Creek.

By Jim Earhart

Have you stood under the spreading leafy branches of a tall tree on a sunny, hot Laredo afternoon? If so, you have realized a very significant value of green space. Temperatures can be 15 to 20 degrees cooler under the boughs of these natural green shades. A few trees can add thousands of dollars in value to a residential lot. Yet development has resulted in the destruction of most of these verdant natural resources along Zacate and Manadas Creeks. Similar destruction is taking place as development occurs along Sombreretillo and Chacon Creeks, the largest watersheds on which the city is constructed.

With a few exceptions, Laredo developers bulldoze all native vegetation in preparation for building houses, warehouses, or businesses. They straighten creek channels, turning them into drainage ditches in order to get the maximum square footage for erecting buildings. There is generally a lack of regard for aesthetic value and an apparent unawareness of the potential their handiwork creates for flooding in lower lying areas.

As a member of the Green Space Preservation Subcommittee of the Citizens Advisory committee, I am recommending that the following general ideas be incorporated into a green space conservation ordinance to protect the few remaining green areas that still exist in Laredo.

• No natural tributary will be channeled and the natural meander of each tributary will be maintained.

• A vegetative buffer will be conserved on either side of each tributary and these buffers will consist of native vegetation.

• A buffer zone of native vegetation will be conserved around each pond or lake.

• A buffer zone of native vegetation will be conserved along the banks of the RÌo Grande.

These ideas have been fleshed out in much more detail than is shown here and are being presented to the subcommittee for consideration. Hopefully, they will be written into an enforceable ordinance very soon.

If you have ideas that you would like to submit to me, you may e-mail your comments to jearhart@laredo.cc.tx.us.