Clean Rivers Program

The Texas Clean Rivers Program is a partnership between the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and regional water authorities to monitor water quality and engage stakeholders in Texas. The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) coordinates the efforts of local partners to monitor health of water bodies throughout the H-GAC region. In addition to analyzing monitoring data, H-GAC assesses factors and activities affecting water quality.

Through a public education and outreach program, H-GAC provides information on regional water quality and recommendations on what individuals, industry, and local governments can do to conserve and make improvements to local waterways. Data acquired through the Clean Rivers Program provides support for watershed-based activities in the region.

The H-GAC’s Clean Rivers Program uses a coordinated approach to water quality monitoring with activities occurring throughout four river basins and coastal waters, and 15 counties.

The four river basins included in H-GAC’s Clean Rivers Program study area are:

• San Jacinto River Basin
• Brazos-Colorado Coastal Basin
• San Jacinto-Brazos Coastal Basin
• Trinity-San Jacinto Coastal Basin

A portion of the Bays and Estuaries (Basin 24) is also included.

The fifteen counties included in the H-GAC’s Clean Rivers Program area are:

• Austin
• Brazoria
• Chambers
• Colorado
• Fort Bend
• Galveston
• Grimes
• Harris
• Liberty
• Matagorda
• Montgomery
• San Jacinto
• Walker
• Waller
• Wharton