Our organization emerged out of the fight against the Bayport Terminal in Baytown, Texas in the early 2000s. Our founders were coastal community members concerned about the effects the terminal would have on pristine wetlands that served as important habitat for coastal birds and helped soak up floodwaters during our region’s heavier rainstorms. While our founders’ efforts didn’t stop the construction of the terminal, our lawsuit and advocacy helped preserve a thousand acres of coastal habitat and create or enhance hundreds of more acres of wetlands. 

Litigation has continued to be an important part of our work over the years. Bayou City Waterkeeper has emerged as unique in this region for its ability to use selective, strategic litigation to target local sources of pollution, flooding, and infrastructure injustices. In 2018, we hired our first Legal Director to formalize our legal program and weave litigation into our broader strategies and increase the impact of our work. 

Despite our region’s large size and overall wet character, our Legal Director is the only lawyer dedicated to protecting local water and wetland resources through litigation in greater Houston. Without our work, the largest violations of the Clean Water Act would not be addressed. Capacity continues to be our largest limit, and our next strategic plan envisions increasing our capacity to confront the major legal issues facing our watershed and the people who live here.