Cypress Creek in the San Jacinto River Basin: Watershed Protection Plan Development

River Basin: San Jacinto

Water Body: Cypress Creek (1009)

Location: Montgomery, Waller, and Harris counties

The Cypress Creek watershed in northwestern Harris County has mixed land uses ranging from rapidly urbanizing areas in its eastern extent, to rural prairieland at the edge of growth in its western headwaters.

For over 20 years Cypress Creek and its main tributary, Spring Creek, have not met state water quality standards for primary contact recreation use due to high concentrations of bacteria. Since 2006, Cypress Creek has a listed concern for impaired aquatic habitat, and Spring Creek has a listed concern for an impaired fish community since 2010, meaning there are fewer fish species than expected. Portions of these creeks have also consistently either not met state standards for aquatic life use due to low levels of dissolved oxygen or have listed concerns for low dissolved oxygen.

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The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) worked with stakeholders to develop a watershed protection plan (WPP) for Cypress Creek that addressed all existing water quality issues and those identified by stakeholders as priorities for the watershed. Data acquired from the Clean Rivers Program (CRP) was used to update and refine modeling analyses from a previous watershed characterization study. H-GAC also assessed water quality data from the adjacent Spring Creek watershed, including ambient sampling data from CRP, monitoring reports, and sanitary sewer overflow data to update an existing watershed characterization report.

Potential causes and extent of pollution were determined using models and required reductions necessary to improve and maintain water quality were identified. Stakeholders selected appropriate management measures to address the water quality issues and quantified the reductions in pollutants such measures could produce.

The WPP was accepted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2021. 

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Cypress Creek Partnership webpage

To find out more about the NPS Program, call 512-239-6682 or email us at nps@tceq.texas.gov.

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