Bayou City Waterkeeper

Bayou City Waterkeeper works to protect and restore the wetlands, floodplains and riparian habitats that flow into the waterways and surrounding bays of the greater Houston area and along the Texas Gulf coast. Founded to serve communities affected by water pollution and flooding around Houston, BCWK aims to restore the region’s natural systems, achieve equitable policy solutions, and advance systematic change to benefit all who live within the Lower Galveston Bay watershed. Using the Clean Water Act, the organization works to hold polluters accountable and protect the water flowing through the region’s bayous, creeks, wetlands, and neighborhoods into coastal bays. Strategies include bold legal action, community science, and creative grassroots policy action for environmental justice and health. As a watchdog for the health of the region’s vulnerable waterways, BCWK envisions Houston as a place where water protection is a catalyst for positive change.

BCWK is a Houston-based organization that puts an emphasis on climate resilience and environmental justice for the lower Galveston Bay watershed, a 10-county region encompassing the greater Houston metro area. BCWK is also a proud member of the global Waterkeeper Alliance. The Clean Water program focuses on the prevention and mitigation of pollution from industry and sanitary sewer overflows, which disproportionately affects people of color and the poor. The Protecting Wetlands program works to prevent the overdevelopment of 120,000 acres of wetlands in the watershed that play a critical role in the region’s natural protection from flooding and climate disasters. Many of these wetlands also provide spawning grounds for fish and vital habitats for wildlife. The Just Climate Transitions program recognizes and calls out inequities in the watershed arising from historic injustices and disinvestments, amplifying the voices of frontline communities working for a healthier and safer environment.

For more information:

Groups challenge EPA’s failure to curb water pollution from plastic plants, oil refineries and other industries – Environment America, April 2023

Clean Water Rule, Dirty Water Rule: What’s next for our region’s water? – Sierra Club, September 2021

Judge OKs federal consent decree requiring Houston to make $2 billion in sewer upgrades – Houston Chronicle, March 2021

Environmentalists question proposed coastal barrier, ask for deadline – KTRK-TV Houston, December 2020

GOVERNMENT ASKS COURT FOR MORE TIME TO FIX HOUSTON’S DECADES-LONG SEWAGE PROBLEM – Texas Observer, September 2018