What Houston’s next leaders must know and champion to address our water crisis

Authored by Usman Mahmood, Policy Analyst.

Houston loses enough water through leaking pipes each year to supply the entire city of Fort Worth. Raw sewage still flows into neighborhoods after heavy rains. A 70-year-old water treatment plant serving 2.2 million residents operates on borrowed time, with officials warning that catastrophic failure would have regional and national consequences.

These are urgent infrastructure failures affecting millions of people daily, with the heaviest burdens falling on communities that have faced decades of systematic underinvestment.

This November, as Texas voters decide on Proposition 4 and Houston elects new representation in Texas’ Congressional District 18 and City Council At-Large Position 4, candidates should articulate clear visions for addressing water infrastructure needs that local resources alone cannot meet.

Houston’s infrastructure crisis

In 2023, Houston lost nearly 32 billion gallons of water to leaks. City studies show that replacing just 6% of Houston’s most vulnerable pipes could reclaim 20 billion gallons of water as new supply.

Over the past decade, Houston has only replaced 850 miles of its water lines – just 6% of the system when industry standards call for replacing 20% over that timeframe. The gap between what’s needed and what’s achievable with current resources continues to widen.

Beyond pipeline repairs, Houston Public Works is seeking approximately $15 billion for critical projects: replacing the East Water Purification Plant and overhauling our wastewater system requiring over $9 billion in improvements. Earlier this year, Houston secured $966 million through the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT) program for the treatment plant project, demonstrating both the availability of state resources and the massive scale of remaining needs.

Four years ago, following Bayou City Waterkeeper’s investigation documenting over 9,300 sewage overflows disproportionately affecting lower-wealth, Black, and Brown communities across Houston, a federal consent decree required the city to invest $2 billion over 15 years in sanitary sewer system upgrades. Meeting consent decree obligations while simultaneously addressing drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater system needs creates competing demands on limited city resources. Communities across Houston experience sewage overflows and water quality issues not because they use more services, but because decades of deferred maintenance concentrated infrastructure failures in historically underinvested neighborhoods.

What Texas’ 18th Congressional District candidates must champion:

Reform consent decree enforcement to support compliance, not just penalize: Houston pays federal penalties under the consent decree while neighborhoods still flood with sewage. The next TX-18 representative should advocate for EPA to reinvest penalties back into affected communities.

Integrate water infrastructure into disaster recovery: FEMA and HUD disaster dollars are not currently invested to support water system upgrades despite recent storms exposing our vulnerabilities. TX-18’s representative must push for these resources to go toward replacing vulnerable main lines, upgrading pump stations, and installing green infrastructure before the next storm hits.

Support stricter federal permits to protect remaining floodplains: Federal permits and flood insurance programs shape what Houston can build and where. Candidates should champion EPA requirements that reward green infrastructure and advocate for National Flood Insurance Program reforms that stop subsidizing development in flood zones.

What At-Large 4 candidates must champion:

Center community voice in the One Water plan: Houston is developing a plan to integrate stormwater, wastewater, and drinking water systems. The At-Large 4 representative should commit to making it meaningful by partnering with neighborhood organizations, hosting planning sessions in affected areas, and giving residents real input over project priorities.

Aggressively pursue state and federal dollars: The next At-Large 4 representative should push for funding that will prioritize projects in disadvantaged communities, who may be eligible for grant-based funding, and partner with community organizations to ensure applications reflect neighborhood priorities.

Oppose floodplain development and support green infrastructure: Candidates should commit to leveraging our stormwater permit renewal to require sustainable and green infrastructure practices, and oppose developments that pave remaining wetlands and prairies.

Houston’s water infrastructure challenges require solutions at multiple scales: local rate adjustments, operational improvements, federal support, and state investment. No single funding source will close the gap between current conditions and what’s needed to serve a region projected to add millions of residents over coming decades.

Water, Equity, and the November Ballot

Proposition 4 represents a first-step in building our state’s’ capacity to support communities facing water infrastructure crises. While a $1 billion annual commitment will fall short of Texas’s massive projected water needs, it could be a significant improvement over past sporadic appropriations. The leaders we elect this November—from City Hall to Congress—will determine whether Houston overcomes a crisis of deferred maintenance or succumbs to a future defined by infrastructure failure, inequity, and catastrophic risk. Ultimately, the efficacy of Proposition 4 will be measured by its ability to catalyze immediate action while paving the way for elected leaders to make the necessary generational investments and policy changes that secure water for all.

For questions about our policy work, please contact Usman Mahmood usman@bayoucitywaterkeeper.org.