Ecologically Significant River and Stream Segments

Big Creek (Fort Bend County)

Figure 8. Map Location of Big Creek (Fort Bend County)

Map Location of Big Creek
Adapted from USGS Houston, Texas. 1975. Original scale 1:250,000

Figure 9. (a) Big Creek at Brazos Bend State Park and (b) an American alligator

Big Creek at Brazos Bend State Park

 

 

 

 

 



(a)

an American alligator

 

 

 

 

 



(b)

Big Creek

Big Creek begins south of Rosenberg and flows southeasterly 25 miles into the Brazos River in Fort Bend County. The creek is an old Brazos River channel with associated sloughs, bayous, oxbow lakes, and coastal prairies that are bordered by bottomland hardwood forest.17 This habitat provides an excellent opportunity for bird watching, as over 270 species of birds have been sighted in this area. Birds commonly seen here include purple gallinules, least bitterns, prothonotary warblers, barred owls, white-ibis’, herons, and egrets among others. Other wildlife that inhabits the area includes alligators, bobcats, raccoons, feral hogs, and gray foxes.18 The ecologically significant segment is from the confluence with the Brazos River in Fort Bend County upstream to State Highway 36 south of Rosenberg in Fort Bend County.

(1)  Hydrologic Function- bottomland hardwood forest and associated wetlands perform valuable hydrologic function relating to water quality.

(2)  Riparian Conservation Area- fringed by Brazos Bend State Park and is part of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail.

(3)  High Water Quality/Exceptional Aquatic Life/High Aesthetic Value- designated as an Ecoregion Reference Streamby the TPWD River Studies Program for high dissolved oxygen and diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates.2

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