WESLACO — The Arroyo Colorado Watershed Partnership is holding steering committee and workgroup meetings in July to discuss its new grant to continue the partnership and the watershed’s protection plan, according to Jaime Flores, the plan’s coordinator at the Texas Water Resources Institute.
The public is invited to these meetings, Flores said.
The Arroyo Colorado runs 90 miles from Mission to the lower Laguna Madre and is adjacent to the Gulf Coast and the primary source of fresh water to the lower Laguna Madre area.
The steering committee will meet from 5-7 p.m. July 21 at the Estero Llano Grande World Birding Center, 3301 S. FM 1015 in Weslaco. Members will discuss the new Clean Water Act grant that begins Sept. 1, funded by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Flores said.
The partnership also recently formed the Arroyo Colorado Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that will raise money to support the partnership and the watershed protection plan.
Flores said the committee will also discuss the formation of the financial development workgroup.
“This group will work to raise money through the Arroyo Colorado Conservancy by membership drives, fundraising activities and other activities so that the partnership can become a sustainable organization,” he said.
At this meeting, the Nueces River Authority also will present results from its recreational use attainability analyses of the Arroyo Colorado. These analyses describe the impaired water body and are used to determine which water quality standard category is most appropriate for the water body.
The Arroyo Colorado Watershed Partnership is comprised of about 700 people, representing federal, state, and private organizations working to improve watershed health, integrate watershed management and seek out watershed project funding.
In addition to the steering committee meeting, two work groups will meet in July. The Outreach and Education Workgroup will meet on July 12 from 10 a.m.-noon at the Texas AgriLife Extension Center, 2401 E. Expressway 83 in Weslaco. The Habitat Workgroup meeting will meet on July 21 from 2-4 p.m. at the Estero Llano Grande World Birding Center.
“These workgroup meetings will outline the goals and objectives of the grant and assign workgroup members to projects that fall within their area of expertise,” Flores said.
The Texas Water Resources Institute is part of Texas AgriLife Research, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University. The institute administers the partnership in cooperation with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.
For information on the partnership and its work, visithttp://www.arroyocolorado.org.
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