Watershed Texas

From sprinkler to storm drain, from bayou to bay, the water used to maintain your yard remains untreated. What you do to your lawn and what runs off it determines the health of your local bayou and Galveston Bay. Runoff from residential areas in the Galveston Bay watershed is the No. 1 source of water pollution in most of our bayous. However, you can take steps to reduce the pollution that flows off your yard by adopting WaterSmart practices.

WaterSmart landscapes

A WaterSmart yard uses plants and practices that require little or no fertilizers or pesticides and less water than conventional lawns. With minimal grass cover and maximum use of native and adapted plants, the WaterSmart landscape can be beautiful, easy to maintain, and environmentally friendly.

WaterSmart landscapes can reduce the amount of polluted runoff entering the storm drain system by 90 percent. They can also cut the amount of water you use for irrigation by 90 percent. By converting your lawn one section at a time, you can create a landscape that helps preserve the bay area and gradually reduces your maintenance time. Native plants

WaterSmart landscapes use both native and adapted noninvasive plants. Native plants are suited to the Upper Texas Gulf Coast and therefore require less water and fewer fertilizers and pesticides. WaterSmart landscapes also use other nonnative plants and heirloom varieties that are adapted to the Gulf Coast climate. As an added feature, the native plants attract wildlife such as birds and butterflies to our landscapes.

Fertilizers and pesticides

Unfortunately, many homeowners damage our water by adding more fertilizer and pesticides than their lawns need. During rainfall or over watering, the excess fertilizers and pesticides run untreated directly into our bays and bayous.

Every year, algae blooms from excess fertilizer remove precious oxygen from our water, causing fish kills. Many pesticides are not only toxic to aquatic life, but they may also accumulate in our food chain. It is best to use them sensibly or not at all.

To protect our environment as well as save money on fertilizer, have your soil tested to ensure that you are giving your plants only what they need.

Check out the WaterSmart Website and Facebook page.