The Bayou Preservation Association’s mission is to protect and restore bayous across the city.
Nonprofit works to keep trash, invasive species out of Houston’s waterways
Hurricane Harvey acted as a destructive force in Houston — but also as a teacher with an important lesson.
As the rains fell and water rose, residents were forced to learn about the watersheds where they live, those creeks and bayous rolling through their neighborhoods and running into Galveston Bay.
While the importance of healthy waterways may have been a new concern for some, the Bayou Preservation Association has been working on this goal for the past five decades.
The nonprofit’s mission is to protect and restore bayous and streams across the city.
“Every person in Houston is more connected to our bayous and streams than they think,” president and CEO Sarah Bernhardt said. “As we all saw during the rain and flooding during Harvey, our region is an interlinked network of watersheds, and that includes everyone’s homes and businesses.”
Bayou Preservation Association programs provide opportunities for residents to get involved in improving water quality, from trash removal to creating paddling trails, Bernhardt said.
The nonprofit’s Bayou Appreciation Program brings people outdoors for fun and informative activities, while its “Bayou Citizen Science Program” trains participants to test water quality.
Contractors and volunteers in the Stream Corridor Restoration Program work to remove harmful invasive species from the banks of waterways and to plant natives instead, while individuals in the Trash-Free Bayous Program remove refuse in large and small clean-up events.
“We’re the whole package,” Bernhardt said. “There’s appreciating the bayous, and there’s making sure that the water is clean. We’re working on conservation and restoration, and I love being an advocate for our local habitat.”
She assumed the post at the end of August, after serving as program manager for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality since 2013. She also worked as the education and outreach media specialist for the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.
Bernhardt holds a doctorate degree in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University, where she also received her master’s in zoology. She earned a bachelor’s in interdisciplinary studies from Miami University in Ohio.
Bernhardt said working with the Bayou Preservation Association offers the perfect opportunity to get more involved with watersheds in an urban setting.
“I’m passionate about getting people out into nature, protecting natural places, improving water quality, community engagement, environmental education, habitat restoration and using the best available science to manage natural areas,” she said. “And our organization does all of this.”
She looks forward to seeing the nonprofit’s role grow on the east side of Houston, since its offices moved to 7305 Navigation over the summer.
“There aren’t a lot of nonprofits in our part of town, and now there’s an opportunity for us to be a resource and have more outreach in this neighborhood,” she said.
Helping Houston develop a healthy network of waterways to protect Houston after Harvey is another way the Bayou Preservation Association can make an impact.
“How are we going to move forward as a city?” Bernhardt asks. “This is an organization that can be part of that conversation and find positive ways to move forward. One of our goals has always been to be a leader in bayou and restoration issues.”
Robert Rayburn, Bayou Preservation Association’s board chair, said the nonprofit has been active since its start in 1966.
The organization’s story centers on the energy and drive of Terry Hershey.
Rayburn said that, during the mid-1960s, a group of homeowners in Houston’s Memorial Park area wanted to protect Buffalo Bayou from becoming covered in concrete like Braes Bayou and from being re-routed without public notification. They were named the Buffalo Bayou Preservation Association.
“Terry Hershey was notified,” Rayburn said. “Everybody knew Terry as an environmentalist. And Terry was not a timid lady. She had a great vision and a great focus. She was determined.”
Hershey joined the organization and started organizing on the grassroots level. She also called on former President George H.W. Bush, then a young congressman, and joined him in testifying before congress to re-evaluate the entire project.
“That’s why Buffalo Bayou is not paved today,” Rayburn said. “Then, Terry realized there were a lot more bayous that needed to be protected.”
The group of concerned homeowners decided to expand its focus and rebranded as the Bayou Preservation Association in 1969.
In the 1970s, the group oversaw the formation of the Harris County Flood Control Task Force, a collaboration of engineers, developers and residents.
Hershey eventually convinced Rayburn to join the Bayou Preservation Association.
“She had a loyal following of people whom she was able to inspire, and I was certainly one of them,” he said. “I always admired how strong and focused she was.”
Rayburn said that about five years ago the nonprofit decided to refresh its vision and mission.
“Things don’t change overnight,” he said. “They evolve. Now we’re refocused, repositioned and ready to go to the playoffs.”
The Bayou Preservation Association plans to increase awareness of waterway issues and continue working in partnership with other institutions to develop regional policies and programs to improve watersheds and improve flood management.
“We owe the future of the bayous in Houston to a lot of great people, and Terry Hershey was one of those, one who will never be forgotten,” Rayburn said.