NATIONAL
ESTUARY
PROGRAM
POLLUTION REDUCTION
As many as 32 bacteria-related, impaired water bodies exist in the Houston-Galveston area, making it one of the highest priority problems facing the
Galveston Bay ecosystem. Non-point source pollution within the watershed has impacted hundreds of miles of bayous and streams that flow to Galveston
Bay.
Four million people currently live in the Galveston Bay area, and another 3.5 million are expected by 2035. Construction of new wastewater treatment plants
(WWTPs) and runoff from converted land as a result of population increases, combined with current defective and leaking WWTPs and an estimated 80,000 failing septic systems,
present challenges for Estuary Program partners. With the help of many private, public and community partners, the Galveston Bay Estuary Program (GBEP) is combining water-
shed-based management and targeted-source reduction to address the pollution and other estuary threats.
THE NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM IN ACTION
Galveston Bay Estuary Program
Over 384 municipal WWTPs have
been built in the Houston-
Galveston area, and more are
expected as population grows.
Dozens of WWTPs—many of
them small and aging—are
struggling to optimally manage
costs and meet performance
standards. Additionally, an esti-
mated 20 percent of septic sys-
tems in the region are failing and
occasionally discharging sew-
age into local waterways.
The GBEP recently galvanized an
effort to bring watershed man-
agers together to determine the
best way to regionalize some of
Galveston's WWTPs and address
some 1,000 permitted discharg-
es. Many small WWTPs were
identified and included in GBEP's
10-year strategic action plan,
"Charting the Course to 2015."
The GBEP also identified 17,800
failing systems in an under-
served area by conducting a se-
ries of septic system surveys
and sponsoring a community
risk assessment study on the
potential health impacts of fail-
ing septic systems. The work
moved county officials and the
community toward finding re-
placement options. In helping lo-
cal governments implement
large-scale water quality im-
provement projects in targeted
watershed areas, the GBEP and
Texas Commission on Environ-
mental Quality have pooled Fed-
eral Clean Water Act Section
320,319 and 106 program fund-
ing, which enabled municipali-
ties to receive $4 million in part-
nership grants.
Another notable success is a six-
year, 3.5-acre stormwater dem-
onstration project consisting of a
series of three ponds, spear-
headed by the GBEP and part-
ners in 2001. With plans to widen
the Brays Bayou at Mason Park
EFFECTIVE
EFFICIENT
ADAPTIVE
COLLABORATIVE
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already under way by the Harris
County Flood Control District, the
GBEP, in partnership with the
Texas Coastal Watershed Pro-
gram, saw an opportunity. Aware
that the project would require
the excavation of large portions
of earth in order for streamside
shelves to be installed, the GBEP
approached the county with the
idea of creating wetland areas
that could provide a wet bottom
detention to catch floatable litter,
fertilizers, pesticides, and other
pollutants. The goal: address a
low-income community's long-
term wasterwater treatment
needs.
It took little persuading for the
county to agree to the add-on
and soon numerous local, state,
and federal agencies and orga-
nizations, including Texas Sea
Grant, US EPA, Harris County
Flood Control District, Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department,
the City of Houston Parks and
Recreation Department, Texas
Master Naturalists, NRG Energy
Inc., and students from local
high schools, came together to
provide project funding, exper-
tise and volunteer labor.
Having laid the path for future
collaborative work, the award-
winning project is already reap-
ing environmental benefits, in-
cluding an average 99%
reduction in bacteria levels in
the water. The constructed ponds
help filter out sediments, oil, and
other pollutants after a rainfall
event from Brays Bayou neigh-
borhoods' run-off—aiding in the
decreased bacteria levels. The
ponds also provide new habitat
for fish and wildlife. A recre-
ational trail with a kiosk and in-
terpretive signs is educating the
public about the function and
benefits of the 3.2-acre project.
And the best part of all? The
flood control district is now tak-
ing what it has learned and is
applying it to other Harris County
watersheds.
Visit www.gbep.state.tx.us to
learn more about this and other
GBEP efforts.
EPA's National Estuary Program
(NEP) is a unique and successful
coastal watershed-based program
established in 1987 under the
Clean Water Act Amendments.
The NEP involves the public and
collaborates with partners to pro-
tect, restore, and maintain the wa-
ter quality and ecological integrity
of 28 estuaries of national signifi-
cance located in 18 coastal states
and Puerto Rico.
For more information about the
NEP go to www.epa.gov/owow/
estuaries.
The NEP: Implementing the Clean Water Act in ways that are Effective, Efficient, Adaptive, and Collaborative.
EPA-842F09001
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