Buffalo Bayou

Buffalo Bayou is a shady, slow-moving river and a main waterway, known as the "Mother Bayou," flowing through Houston in Harris County, Texas. Formed some 18,000 years ago, it has its source in the rapidly developing prairie of Katy, Fort Bend County, Texas, and flows approximately 53 miles (85 km) east through the Houston Ship Channel and into Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to drainage water impounded and released by Addicks and Barker Dams, the bayou is fed by natural springs, surface runoff from streets, parking lots, and highways, and several significant tributary bayous, such as White Oak Bayou, Greens Bayou, and Brays Bayou.

Route

Buffalo Bayou is impounded in the upper watershed by the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs which regulate the bayou's flood flows. In addition to controlling high water, the discharge from the dams can be used to keep the bayou at a controlled level during water-based festivals, such as the Buffalo Bayou Regatta. From the dams, the bayou flows east under State Highway 6. Also starting at Barker Dam is Terry Hershey Park which consists of the land on both sides of the bayou from Highway 6 to Beltway 8 (also known as the Sam Houston Tollway). Jogging, biking, kayaking and fishing are popular in this area, although most people consider the bayou unfit for swimming.

Bayou

A bayou (/ˈbaɪ.oʊ/ or /ˈbaɪjuː/) is a Franco-English term used in the United States for a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area, and can refer either to an extremely slow-moving stream or river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), or to a marshy lake or wetland. The name "bayou" can also refer to a creek whose current reverses daily due to tides and which contains brackish water highly conducive to fish life and plankton. Bayous are commonly found in the Gulf Coast region of the southern United States, notably the Mississippi River Delta, with the states of Louisiana and Texas being famous for them. A bayou is frequently an anabranch or minor braid of a braided channel that is moving much more slowly than the mainstem, often becoming boggy and stagnant. Though fauna varies by region, many bayous are home to crawfish, certain species of shrimp, other shellfish, catfish, frogs, toads, American alligators, American crocodiles, herons, turtles, spoonbills, snakes, leeches and myriad other species.

Buffalo

Buffalo (or buffaloe) may refer to:

Animals

Mammals

Fish

Houston

Houston (ⁱ/ˈhjuːstən/ HYOO-stən) is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million people, within a land area of 599.6 square miles (1,553 km²), it also is the largest city in the Southern United States, as well as the seat of Harris County. It is the principal city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, which is the fifth most populated metropolitan area in the United States.

Houston was founded in 1836 on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou (now known as Allen's Landing) and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded and won at the Battle of San Jacinto 25 miles (40 km) east of where the city was established. The burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the city's population. In the mid-twentieth century, Houston became the home of the Texas Medical Center—the world's largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA's Johnson Space Center, where the Mission Control Center is located.