HOUSTON – Sometimes we forget how close we are to nature. Buffalo Bayou is home to many species of birds, fish, and plants, but it’s also home to tons of trash.
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On a boat tour of Buffalo Bayou, you get to see Houston from a different point of view. We jumped on board with Captain Dave Rivers, a.k.a. Bayou Dave, of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) to show us what it takes to keep this waterway clean.
“White Oak Bayou, when I clean it, is usually mostly plastic,” he explained. “It comes from the highway, comes in the Heights. So that’s why I said we know it’s people, and if it’s people, we can change behavior; I’m optimistic about a solution to the problem.”
Curious, I asked, if Buffalo Bayou was a place for people just to come out and enjoy this water, would they treat it differently?
“I think they would,” Rivers said. “That’s what the partnership is doing... so that they can enjoy and be able to see nature and how beautiful it is. We’re trying to touch the people who aren’t on the bayou and may have no idea this is happening.”
Most mornings, a fleet of boats heads out on Buffalo Bayou with one thing in mind: garbage. That plastic cup you see in the street has a good chance of making its way to the Gulf if these crews don’t catch it first. Whether it’s collecting trash in a 22-yard dumpster on “The Bayou Vac” or crews grabbing it by hand, it’s a lot!
“We collect about 2000 cubic yards of floatables a year. That’s floating trash in the bayou, and that’s not from people throwing stuff in the bayou; that’s from the city streets,” Robby Robinson, Field Operations Manager, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, explained. “Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou drain about 213 square miles of urban streets.”
“So one cup or bottle on every other street collects in the storm drains, and when it rains, it’s horrendous what comes down the bayou,” he continued. “People don’t realize all the litter they see in the streets doesn’t end up in the landfill, it ends up in the bayous.”
The bayou has come a long way. It used to be one of the most polluted waterways in the US. At one time, this water was dead; nothing was living in it. The Clean Water Act of 1972 changed everything, so anything that was ever here came back. That’s encouraging. Looking to the future, this part of the bayou is trash-polluted, but not chemically polluted. If we can become non-trash-polluted, the bayou would be beautiful. What we really need is for Texas to adopt a Texas refund bill. You give this trash value, and it comes out of the water and goes back to the stores. The long-term answer is not us picking it up; it’s either not making it or getting it into a circular economy.
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The Houston area storm water drainage system directs street water and debris into curb catch basins that route runoff through an underground system that empties into the city’s waterways. Discarded cans, cups, bags, and other litter from the streets enter the drainage system and flow into Houston’s bayous that eventually empty into Buffalo Bayou and on to Galveston Bay.
To combat the recurring presence of trash in Buffalo Bayou, along its banks, and trapped in trees and other vegetation, BBP launched the Waterway Maintenance program in 2002. Five days a week, BBP’s Waterway Maintenance team is out on the water collecting and removing trash and debris from Houston’s most significant natural resource. Community service workers assist BBP staff members with the removal of litter and cleaning of storm drains, the bayou’s banks, and other natural collection areas.
Integral to this program is the Bayou-Vac, an industrial strength vessel that vacuums floatable trash from the water’s surface. BBP also utilizes containment booms strategically placed on Buffalo Bayou and neighboring bayous for more efficient collection. In 2024, BBP collected and removed more than 2,000 cubic yards of trash and debris from the waterway, which equals approximately 167 commercial dump truck loads. Removing trash, debris, and other pollutants from Buffalo Bayou prevents them from making their way to Galveston Bay, the largest estuary on the Texas coast and part of the National Estuary Program. BBP’s waterway cleanup improves the water quality of our region, leading to a healthier ecosystem and habitats for wildlife.
There are many ways you can help support the Buffalo Bayou Partnership and its efforts to maintain the waterway:
- Support the Waterway Maintenance team by making a donation.
- Pick up trash in and around your neighborhood, even if it isn’t yours.
- Use reusable bags when shopping.
- Start using refillable water bottles.
- Bring your own coffee mug to work.
- Pack lunch in a reusable container.
- Don’t purchase products with excess packaging.
- Try reusable straws.
To donate to Buffalo Bayou Partnership, visit their website. You can also book a private tour that’s ideal for friends, family, team-building with co-workers or hosting out-of-town visitors. Click here for more details.
