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Our Story

Mission

Bayou City Waterkeeper protects the waters and people of the Houston region through bold legal action, community science, and creative, grassroots policy to further justice, health, and safety for our region.

Vision

Bayou City Waterkeeper envisions a Houston where water is a catalyst for change. By connecting community, place, policies, and systems we collaboratively advance equitable distributions of power and resources towards life, joy, and regeneration for our watershed. 

Read our 2023-25 Strategic Plan. 

Values

We work in collaboration across disciplines and communities and intentionally create multiple points of entry to engage in our work. We see water as a connecting and clarifying force. We seek to form authentic connections in our watershed, and we understand that by addressing water injustices, we may confront and uproot the broader systems sowing injustice.

We are inspired by the dynamism of water and the shape-shifting nature of our bayous and their floodplains. As keepers of the waters, we embrace movement and adaptability in our work. Reciprocity is also central in our relationships with people and nature.

We know that dominant methods and tools for protecting water and community health have not worked in this region. We have hard conversations, disrupt systems that have not worked, create new frameworks, bring together unconventional allies, and transform data and research into action. We are not afraid to use the justice system to fight for water justice. We give people a voice and build power through the legal system, policy, science, and resources.

We recognize and call out inequities in our watershed arising from historic injustices and disinvestments. We know that frontline communities are experts in their own experiences and amplify their voices through the knowledge and resources they need to protect their waterways, homes, neighborhoods, access to nature, and infrastructure. We seek justice for our community and our waterways.

We build the world that we want through our everyday actions. We make space for rest and rejuvenation in our work and relationships, internally, through our policies, practices, and externally, through partnerships and programs. As we work to repair systemic harms, we also recognize that water is a site for healing, joy, celebration, reflection, and growth. By allowing ourselves to imagine what we really want, we create new visions, transitioning our world into the one we want.

History

Our organization emerged out of the fight against the Bayport Terminal 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, which leveraged the Clean Water Act against industrialization along Galveston Bay, helped preserve a thousand acres of coastal habitat and create or enhance hundreds of more acres of wetlands. In 2007, our organization was incorporated as a nonprofit — Galveston Baykeeper, and in 2017 the name was changed to Bayou City Waterkeeper.

Our coalitions

Water justice takes collective action. Bayou City Waterkeeper works alongside community leaders, advocates, and organizations to build shared power and advance solutions no single organization could achieve alone. 

  • Waterkeeper Alliance
  • Surge Forward
  • Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience (CEER)
  • Healthy Port Communities Coalition  (HPCC)
  • Community Resilience Action Network (CRANe) 
  • Houston One Water Community Cohort
  • Water Equity and Climate Resilience Caucus, Southern Regional Workgroup 
  • Texas Living Waters Project

Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility & Inclusion (JEDAI)

Justice, equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion shape how we work, make decisions, build relationships, and hold ourselves accountable. We put these principles into practice by:

  • Centering impacted communities. The experiences, priorities, and expertise of people most affected by water pollution, flooding, climate change, and infrastructure inequities inform our work.
  • Sharing power. We involve communities early and meaningfully in defining problems, setting priorities, developing solutions, and evaluating results.
  • Recognizing interconnected injustices. We consider how race, class, disability, gender, immigration status, geography, and other identities and systems can shape people’s experiences of environmental harm.
  • Confronting historic and systemic inequities. We name and work to change the effects of settler colonialism, redlining, racism, disinvestment, and other systems that have shaped conservation, infrastructure, and nonprofit institutions.
  • Practicing accessibility and inclusion. We create multiple ways for people to participate, reduce barriers to involvement, and provide the support people need to contribute authentically and meaningfully.
  • Building representative and accountable relationships. We work toward a board, staff, membership, and network of partners that reflect the diversity of our region, while treating every person with dignity and recognizing that no community is disposable.
  • Remaining open to learning and change. JEDAI requires ongoing reflection, honest conversations, accountability, and a willingness to change our practices when they cause harm or fall short of our principles.

 

Financials

For the most up-to-date financial information, visit Bayou City Waterkeeper’s profile on Candid. Candid is a nonprofit transparency platform where you can find BCWK’s financial documents, organizational details, and other information that helps donors, partners, and community members better understand our work and accountability.