The Texas Water Development Board continues to have funding for public works infrastructure.  Funding is available for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater projects.  All phases of the projects are eligible; acquisition, planning and design, and construction.  Construction projects include new facilities and repair and rehabilitation of existing facilities.  In addition, the TWDB has $90 million designated for disaster recovery for the region impacted by Hurricane Harvey. For more information, visit twdb.texas.gov. To register, please email your name, title, entity, email, telephone contact information and the workshop location you are planning to attend to srfworkshops@twdb.texas.gov. General questions may be directed to your Regional Project Team Manager. Please register as soon as possible as venues are subject to capacity limitations.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is holding eight public hearings and a webinar to solicit public comments on Draft Amendment 9 – Coral Habitat Areas Considered for Management in the Gulf of Mexico. The Council is currently considering creating several new coral habitat areas of particular concern in the Gulf of Mexico.

In the Houston area, a public hearing will be held:

Wednesday, May 9, 2018, beginning at 6 p.m.
Hampton Inn & Suites Houston/League City
2320 Gulf Freeway South
League City, Texas 77573
(281) 614-5437

To view the document and video, or submit and read comments, please visit gulfcouncil.org.

All are welcome to Houston Renewable Energy Group’s monthly meetings! They will have a presentation on an interesting aspect of renewable energy in Houston, review HREG business, progress, and plan events. After the meeting, they usually spend some time socializing and finding out what is happening on the renewable scene in Houston from each other. Monthly Meetings are the best place for members to learn about HREG, ask questions, and provide suggestions.

If you are interested in volunteering or becoming a voting member, attending this meeting would be a great opportunity for you to learn more about what HREG does and how you can help. For more information, contact HREG.

The CWI program offers workshops helping local governments, landowners, and residents develop effective strategies to reduce water pollution. Registration is requested. For more information, contact Kathy Janhsen at 713-993-2423.

There are many reasons for starting a community garden: creating a strong sense of community and stewardship; developing a community’s identity and spirit; providing a space for communities to grow safe, nutritious food; empowering communities with the knowledge to grow their own food and offering education and support to manage the food they grow and their own health.

In this 4-hour comprehensive workshop, Terry Garner, Philippa Johnstone, and Andrew Cobb will take you through the process of building community, setting goals and exploring funding options, to the nuts and bolts of creating the garden and helping to ensure its sustainability. Morning snacks and drinks will be provided – please bring your own sack lunch. The last portion of the class will include a tour of Plant It Forward Farm located near the campus. There are no refunds on classes.

PLEASE NOTE: Registration is from 8:30 -8:45. Workshop to start at 8:45.

For more information, visit urbanharvest.org.

The Brays Bayou Association meets the third Monday of each month at The Gathering Place. Brays Bayou Association does not currently have a website.

H-GAC is hosting a series of seminars and hands-on workshops to learn to use H-GAC’s interactive web applications for community and transportation planning. Participants will have access to computers to participate in an interactive session to master the use of these online applications.

A webinar option is also available; however, hands-on activities will be presented to in-person attendees only.

• Seminar 1: Demographic Explorer and Snapshot - Thursday, March 22
  
• Seminar 2: Regional Employment Snapshot & Commute Patterns - Thursday, April 26
• Seminar 3: Activity-Connectivity Explorer - Thursday, May 24

Seminar 1 focuses on the Demographic Explorer and Snapshot which provides quick and easy access to US Census American Community Survey data

Learn how to customize the data displayed to fit your needs:

• Draw and select an area of interest
• Query the data for more information
• Perform market analysis
• Summarize and download data
• Directly use the demographic snapshot tool and maps for presentations

For more information, visit h-gac.com.

This free, monthly workshop addresses the basics on how to install and operate a solar system.  It covers topics such as solar array types, costs of equipment and labor, permitting, energy savings, and reliability. The instructor, Bill Swann, is an expert in solar energy and has built many of his own solar systems. This workshop is ideal for all people; Bill can answer the simplest and most technical of questions. If you want to learn more about solar, this is the workshop for you. For more information, contact Bill Swann at william.swann2@gmail.com.

Street parking available. This workshop occurs on the last friday of every month, except December.

Join Urban Harvest for a series of fun and informative garden classes. Upcoming classes in the “Be Waterwise With Low Volume Irrigation Series” include:

Sat. June 9: Low Volume Irrigation (HMNS*)

Sat. June 16: Starting a Community or School Garden Workshop

Sat. July 21: Fall Vegetable Gardening (HMNS*)

Sat. Aug 11: Waste Not, Want Not – Bokashi and Vermicomposting

Times vary form workshop to workshop. Find more information and register here