Houston is the “Bayou City”. It's home to 22 bayou systems, totaling over 2,500 miles of waterways throughout Harris County. However, Houston has a long and tumultuous relationship with its bayous. Since the 1930s, many of Houston’s bayous have been steadily stripped, straightened, and lined with concrete in the name of flood control. Surrounding floodplains and prairie wetlands have been filled in and paved over. Growth and development throughout the city have further degraded one of Houston’s most stunning and valuable ecosystems, and many of the ecosystem services and wildlife habitat that they once provided are now gone. Luckily, dedicated and passionate individuals within Houston’s conservation community are working to change the relationship between Houston and its bayous. Bayou City, directed and produced by Olivia Haun (Schmidt), sheds light on these issues and the work being done to solve them.

Here are some organizations that viewers can support and learn more about issues related to bayou conservation:

Armand Bayou Nature Center

Save Buffalo Bayou

Bayou Land Conservancy

Houston Parks and Recreation

The main call to action is for viewers to learn more about and support the efforts that these conservation groups are doing, as well as inspire viewers to notice the ecosystems in their own backyard and the relationship that they have with them.