Buffalo Bayou

Buffalo Bayou
An Echo of Houston's Wilderness Beginnings
by
Louis F. Aulbach

Water Quality and Recreational Use of Buffalo Bayou

Springs have fed Buffalo Bayou since the earliest times. The City itself was built on a huge artesian reservoir and spring seeps in the bayou banks were common before the advent of artesian wells which depleted the water table in the downtown area. Upstream of the West Loop, the bayou cuts through an area near Chimney Rock (where Spring Creek comes in) that still has many spring seeps.

As early as 1841, there was concern about pollution of the bayou by sawmills. The bayou was the source of the city's drinking water until the 1880's and the use of bayou water for the water supply was constantly an issue. There was some concern about the 'fresh' water from upstream being polluted by the water from the wharf areas, so a dam was built above Preston Ave in 1878 in order to create a pool from which the water company could pump water for the city system. Trash dumping upstream, however, made even that water questionable until the water company converted to artesian wells in 1886.

Since there were no scientific tests of water quality in the bayou in the mid-1800's, we can only surmise the quality level of the bayou by its use. Although Buffalo Bayou does not meet the standards for skin contact recreation these days, in the period about 1870, the bayou was commonly used for recreation and swimming. Even in the downtown area, there were popular swimming holes at the foot of Austin Street, sometimes referred to as the Arsenal Swimming Hole because of its location near the Arsenal Block, and at the end of Gable Street (the Russia Swimming Hole, as it was known) where the McKee St bridge is today.

During the 1920's, and even later, there were swimming holes near Waugh Drive and Shepherd Drive (above Shepherd's Dam). Memorial Park also had popular swimming areas.

Environmental science classes at Kinkaid's Backyard conduct monthly tests of Buffalo Bayou's water quality index. The bayou usually scores a 'good'. That is a far cry from the early 1980's when the Memorial Villages wastewater plant adjacent to Kinkaid School made the Texas Water Commission's Worst in the State List for pollution. But, I do not think we are ready to declare the bayou a swimming resource yet.