The creation of Barker Reservoir was an attempt to regulate the high volume flows of Buffalo Bayou through downtown. After major flooding in 1929 and 1935, there was a lot of pressure to try to solve the problem of devastating floods. Of course, Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 showed that the reservoir approach was not fool proof.
In any case, in addition to the creation of the reservoir, the U. S. Corps of Engineers recommended that Buffalo Bayou be channelized to improve the transport of flood waters to Galveston Bay. Channelization was done from the reservoir at Highway 6 to a point just above the what is now the West Belt.
A second phase of channelization took place during th
e 1950's between
Shepherd
Drive and Sabine Street. Between 1953 and about 1958, in conjunction
with
the construction of Memorial Drive into downtown, the banks of the
bayou were
cleared of their natural woodland environment. Both sides were scraped,
as
the process was called, and most of the trees were removed to be
replaced
by landscaped, grassy banks. It was also part of the design to create the concrete embankments and channel similar to what has been done to White Oak Bayou and Brays Bayou. Fortunately, that part of the plan failed to be implemented because of protests and a shortage of funding.