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The city of Houston, Texas contains a large number of neighborhoods, ranging from planned communities to historic wards. There is no uniform standard for what constitutes an individual neighborhood within the city; however, the city of Houston does recognize a list of 88 super neighborhoods which encompass broadly recognized regions. According to the city, a super neighborhood is a "geographically designated area where residents, civic organizations, institutions and businesses work together to identify, plan, and set priorities to address the needs and concerns of their community." A list of the super neighborhoods, in numerical order as assigned by the city, is shown below:

Rivers
Houston, often popularly referred to as the Bayou City, is crossed by a number of slow-moving, swampy rivers, which are essential to draining the region's broad floodplains. The city was founded at the convergence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou, a point today known as Allen's Landing.

Buffalo Bayou is the longest and largest of the bayous which flow through Houston, following a 53 mi route from Katy through Memorial, Rice Military, Downtown, the East End, Denver Harbor, and Channelview before meeting the San Jacinto River at Galveston Bay. The broad eastern stretch of the river, known as the Houston Ship Channel, plays an essential role in the Port of Houston and is home to one of the largest petrochemical refining complexes in the United States. Buffalo Bayou's environs are also home to significant amounts of parkland, including linear parks such as Terry Hershey Park and Buffalo Bayou Park which serve as pedestrian and bicyclist corridors.

White Oak Bayou, a major tributary of the Buffalo, has its source in Jersey Village and travels 25 mi southeast, through Inwood Forest, Oak Forest, and the Houston Heights. Brays Bayou, another major tributary to the south, originates near Mission Bend and travels 31 mi through Alief, Sharpstown, Meyerland, Braeswood Place, the Texas Medical Center, Riverside Terrace, and the East End before meeting Buffalo Bayou at Harrisburg.

Two more significant tributaries of Buffalo Bayou flow through parts of Houston outside the Interstate 610 loop. Greens Bayou, which originates in far northwest Houston near Willowbrook, flows for 43 mi through Greenspoint and undeveloped areas of northeastern Harris County. Sims Bayou, which has its source near Missouri City southwest of Houston, flows for 23 mi past Almeda, Sunnyside, South Park, and Manchester.

Houston's topography is further defined by a large number of creeks and ditches. Overall, this intricate system of waterways is essential to flood control; Houston is well known as one of the most flood-prone cities in the United States. Since the mid-20th century, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, in cooperation with the city and Harris County Flood Control District, has channelized, paved, widened, and deepened extensive sections of all of the five major bayous specified above, with the notable exception of some parts of the Buffalo near Memorial. The Buffalo Bayou watershed also features two flood control reservoirs, Addicks Reservoir and Barker Reservoir, which retain large amounts of water after extreme rainfall events.

Water bodies
Houston contains few naturally-formed lakes. Lake Houston, a 11854 acre reservoir located approximately 15 mi northeast of Downtown, was created by damming the San Jacinto River in the 1950s to create a dependable, long-term supply of drinking water. The lake is owned and operated by the City of Houston. Besides supplying water to the city, the lake is also a central feature of the Kingwood community and serves as a recreational destination.

Galveston Bay is a central feature of the Greater Houston metropolitan area. The bay serves an essential economic role as home of the Houston Ship Channel and a large fishing industry, and is also an important destination for recreation and coastal wildlife. The estuary extends 30 mi inland from the coast and has a maximum width of 17 mi. Important regional communities, including Galveston and Texas City, are located along the bay. While the City of Houston proper does not adjoin the bay, its limits do extend southward to encompass the NASA Johnson Space Center and the community of Clear Lake.

Clear Lake, which gives the aforementioned community its name, is a tidal lake with brackish water located on the western side of Galveston Bay. Covering about 2000 acre, the lake is fed by Clear Creek and inflow from the bay. Ultimately, the Clear Creek watershed covers an area of 250 mi2 encompassing seventeen tributaries.