Clearing the canal
Sun blazing and machines roaring, NASA Johnson Space Center’s Grounds team meticulously works to complete one of their more challenging projects on-site—to clear the canal that borders portions of JSC.
Five workers, mainly using their hands and chainsaws, cut down branches and fully grown trees in the water and on the canal shores. Larger trees were ripped out of the ground with the aid of a metal chain connected to a back hoe, which easily pulls trees and thick vines out of the canal. After months of hard work, they are close to clearing the canal that had accumulated more than 10 years of uninterrupted growth of large trees, thick vines and invasive plants.
The canal was originally built in 1952 by the Houston Lighting and Power Company to discharge cooling water from its Webster plant. An impressive amount of Earth had to be moved to create the original canal, which weaves along JSC’s southern border along Saturn Lane, Space Center Houston and East NASA Parkway. William Marsh Rice University and the Humble Oil and Refining Company relocated a portion of the canal in 1962 to accommodate the construction of the new Manned Spacecraft Center, eventually renamed JSC. The easement of the canal was given back to JSC in July 2008 by NRG Texas Power, LLC.
JSC Operations Manager Christina Burdette and Project Manager Jaime Gutierrez, both ProDyn team members, have been managing the excavation and clearing of the canal since work began on Jan. 3. Gutierrez pointed out that before their work began, the trees in the canal were so tall you could only see the space shuttle replica’s rudder when looking toward Space Center Houston.
“All of it” was overgrown, Burdette said of the canal project.
So why bother? Well, U.S. law requires that all government and military sites to have clearly visible boundaries at all times. Before the project, JSC’s fence line was … not so evident.
The majority of the removed trees were cut into wood chips by a grinder and propelled back into the canal.
“When you mulch the chips back into the canal, it creates a filter and cleans the storm water,” Burdette said. This filtering technique preserves and strengthens the natural wetlands environment.
Invasive tree and plant species found in the canal are purposely left out this process. Vegetation like Chinese Tallow, Salt Cedar (Tamarisk) and McCartney Rose easily overrun the native plants of Texas, reducing biodiversity and increasing vulnerabilities in the ecosystems. When these plants were found in the canal, they were composted on-site to prevent regrowth. The native trees found in the canal are predominately Evergreen and Live Oak, such as those found in the Astronaut Memorial Grove.
One area that has not been cleared is a rookery (collection of bird nests) near Buildings 26, 27 and 28 that developed due to the overgrowth. From March to July of 2016, more than 115 nests of little Blue Herons, Cattle Egrets, Snowy Egrets and Tricolored Herons were found. They are expected to arrive again later this spring—and will still have a home at JSC.
If you were to have the misfortune of finding yourself in the canal, the water would be only waist deep. However, Burdette and Gutierrez do not recommend going for a swim. Snakes, frogs, turtles and maybe an alligator or two still inhabit this unique ecosystem.
While JSC is the home of human space exploration and corresponding technological prowess that will propel us to destinations like an asteroid or Mars, the nature inhabiting this backdrop is a tranquil reminder of our connection to planet Earth. On any given day, you may notice a turtle sunbathing or see a bird soaring over the channel. Earth processes such as succession, invasion and predator/prey relationships are not omitted by the fence line. As we work to defy physics, we must appreciate and respect the bounty that still resides on Earth. The canal, though more barren in appearance, is just one of these special habitats.
Eric Smith
NASA Johnson Space Center
