Streams and Valleys, Inc.: Enhancing Fort Worth's Trinity River Parks and Trails

Streams and Valleys, Inc., is a nonprofit organization that works with the city of Fort Worth to help develop and implement projects for the upkeep, beautification, and environmental sustainability of parks and trails along the Trinity River in Fort Worth. In April 1969, at the urging of Phyllis Tilley and other community members, the Fort Worth City Council created the Streams and Valleys Committee “to cleanse, purify, preserve, conserve, develop, improve, beautify, restore, maintain, utilize and adapt for recreational and other uses” local bodies of water and their surrounding areas, especially along the Trinity River. The committee was chaired by city council member John O’Neill, Jr. In 1970, on the recommendation of the committee, the city of Fort Worth commissioned the San Francisco-based landscape architecture firm Lawrence Halprin & Associates to develop plans for the beautification and development of the Trinity River for recreational use. The study was primarily concerned with an eight-mile stretch of the Clear and West forks of the river that curves around downtown Fort Worth. In December 1970 the city council approved the firm’s plan, which included the construction of three low-level dams along the river to raise the water level for “aesthetic enhancement, lake development and recreational pursuits.”

Streams and Valleys, Inc., was founded in 1971 to work with city departments and other organizations to help achieve the beautification and development goals of the Halprin Plan. However, due to financial challenges during the 1970s, many of the recommendations of the Halprin Plan were not initially implemented. In early 1971 the nonprofit began its beautification effort by planting 1,000 trees along the banks of the Trinity River. By 1972 the number of trees planted had grown to more than 4,000. The planting project was led by committee member Ruth Carter Stevenson (then Ruth Carter Johnson), a philanthropist and daughter of Amon Carter, and was aided by the Boy Scouts of America. In 1972 Streams and Valleys also helped to complete a five-mile bike path along the river and by early the following year had helped the Tarrant County Water Control and Improvement District Number One finish construction on the three planned dams. A fourth dam was soon added to further the city’s beautification efforts.

In May 1973 Streams and Valleys, the Junior League of Fort Worth, the Fort Worth Parks and Recreation Department, and the water district sponsored the first Mayfest, an annual celebration along the banks of the Trinity River, that remains a popular community event. In addition to encouraging community engagement with and recreational use of the river, Mayfest provides an additional source of funding for the nonprofit. By 1975 Streams and Valleys had helped plant 8,000 trees, install a water spout in the river, and build more than seven miles of bike trails.

Streams and Valleys participated in the development of Heritage Park and Plaza. Spanning both sides of the Trinity River near the confluence of the Clear and West forks, the park was located near the site of the original Fort Worth military outpost. In 1976 the park served as the venue for the city’s celebration of the United States Bicentennial, which Streams and Valleys helped coordinate. The site for the plaza, designed by Halprin, was dedicated as part of the Bicentennial celebration, although the plaza was not completed until 1980. Streams and Valleys was also heavily involved in the development of Gateway Park on the east side of Fort Worth. Like Heritage Park, Gateway Park was initially envisioned in the Halprin Plan in 1970. The park was of particular interest to the nonprofit because it is located on a meandering stretch of the Trinity River. The 500-acre park, which has since grown to 791.5 acres, was opened to the public in 1986 and contains sports fields and several miles of hiking and biking trails.

Streams and Valleys continued to expand the trail system along the Trinity River. By 2003 thirty miles of trails had been built along the waterway, and by 2018 the trail system spanned approximately seventy-two miles of the river. In 1999 Streams and Valleys adopted the Tilley Plan, an updated version of the Trinity River Master Plan, which addressed the river corridor along the Clear and West forks from Trinity Park to Gateway Park. The organization continued to work with the city and county to advance plans for river development. In 2018 Streams and Valleys completed Confluence: The Trinity River Strategic Master Plan, to continue expanding community access and engagement with the river as well as ensuring the city of Fort Worth has sustainable water use. See also TRINITY RIVER.