Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

05/30/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 05/30/2025 07:36

Better Bayous, Better Texas

Sims Bayou drifts through south Houston, running east between neighborhoods, parks, and industrial development before flowing into Buffalo Bayou, Galveston Bay, and the Gulf. Due in part to the sizable development around it and miles of impermeable pavement, Sims Bayou-like many similar waterways-is a conduit for the rain and everything the rain touches in its path from the streets of Houston into the bayou's waters.

Since 1996, segments of the Sims and White Oak Bayous have been listed as impaired. These impairments include raised levels of bacteria, depressed levels of oxygen, concerning levels of phosphorus and nitrate, and the presence of legacy pollutants like PCBs and dioxins. These pollutants put at risk the health of the bayou, the Gulf, and those who would use both recreationally.

Improving waterbodies like Sims Bayou is a difficult matter. No single entity owns the bayou, and its pollution comes from nonpoint sources-multifaceted sources that cannot be attributed to a single cause or point of origin-meaning there is no quick solution for these issues, and limited regulatory tools available to foster the bayou's recovery. However, TCEQ and the State of Texas routinely work to identify issues such as these, understand them, and partner with communities to tackle them-which is the strategy being taken with Sims Bayou.

As outlined in the Clean Water Act, every two years TCEQ develops the Texas Integrated Report of Surface Water Quality, which chronicles the conditions of and concerns for Texas' waterbodies. This report and the water quality studies it's composed of are the basis for identifying impairments in Sims Bayou and numerous other waterbodies.

Volunteer planting event at Sims Bayou Park (November 2021)

TCEQ's Nonpoint Source (NPS) Program is the arm of the agency that tackles issues like those facing Sims Bayou. Through grants and partnerships, the NPS Program empowers nonprofits, cities, counties, school districts, state universities, special districts, and state and federal agencies to develop plans and projects that improve, restore, and protect water quality. These projects include community education on the sources of nonpoint source pollution, restoration of shorelines and riparian habitats, and the replacement of failing septic systems. Since 2017, TCEQ's NPS program has partnered with the Student Conservation Association (SCA) and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department to do just this along Sims Bayou.

The restoration project at Sims Bayou involves monthly and annual clean-ups of the parks which line the bayou, community outreach, water quality monitoring, and restoration of the riparian buffer that these parks offer between the urban development of south Houston and the waters of the bayou. The crews, interns, and contractors who perform this work aim to create a natural landscape that can filter pollutants, decrease the risk of flooding, and provide beautiful, usable green spaces for the people and communities that live near the bayou. So far, they've managed to reforest over 80 acres of land across 12 parks with thousands of trees, and have installed informative signs to educate the community about the project and how they can help. They've even brought in goats and their indiscriminate appetites to help remove poison ivy and invasive species that hamper people's use of these parks and hinder the native plants that protect these spaces.

The removal of invasive overgrowth in Sims Bayou Park (Spring 2024)

The project to restore and heal Sims Bayou is ongoing, with a projected completion date of April 2026. Beyond that, the Houston-Galveston Area Council, in collaboration with SCA, have plans to develop a watershed protection plan to characterize the watershed, determine its pollution sources, and plan strategies to improve the bayou's water quality. The development of official watershed protection plans like this one will make it easier for communities to receive funding and develop frameworks for partnership and cooperation with the state government.

For those wishing to learn more about TCEQ's NPS grant program, please visit the NPS grant webpage. TCEQ's current NPS grant cycle began on May 1, 2025, and will accept applications until June 27, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. CST.

Goats removing invasive species at FM Law Park (Fall 2023)

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Texas Commission on Environmental Quality published this content on May 30, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on May 30, 2025 at 13:37 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at support@pubt.io