ATHENS/HUNTSVILLE — Trinity Waters and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will present a new round of in-depth workshops on water and land management for agriculture producers and wildlife managers in the Trinity River basin.
The workshops will provide information on a new mapping tool, land-use trends, updates on pesticide applicator’s license and the importance of obtaining a water quality management plan, said Blake Alldredge, AgriLife Extension associate and education and outreach coordinator for Trinity Waters.
“We are presenting these workshops in conjunction with the Building Partnerships for Cooperative Conservation in the Trinity River Basin project,” Alldredge noted.
Alldredge said this second round of informational workshops for area landowners is no-cost and open to the public. The workshops will take place at the following dates, times and locations:
Feb. 5 from 1-5 p.m., Texas Freshwater Fisheries Conservation Center, 5301 County Road 4812, Athens.
Feb. 8 from 1-5 p.m., Walker County Storm Shelter, 455 State Highway 75 North, Huntsville.
Each workshop will provide 2.5 hours of Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units — 1 laws and regulations, 1 general and 0.5 integrated pest management — for attendees.
To RSVP for one of the workshops, contact Alldredge at 979-845-0916 or balldredge@tamu.edu, or go to http://nrt.tamu.edu/schedule and search for “Cooperative Conservation in the Trinity River Basin.”
“The goal for these workshops is to gain better understanding of how land management improves water holding capacity of the land, which will improve plant production and profitability for landowners,” Alldredge said. “Dr. Don Renchie of AgriLife Extension will provide an important update on the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit as it relates to pesticide applicators complying with the Clean Water Act.”
Various tools and strategies to be presented at the workshops will show landowners the many options for enhancing land management on their property, Allredge added. He said one such management tool is the Trinity River Information Management System, or TRIMS, mapping tool developed by the Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources.
“This tool provides soil, elevation and hydrology data, plus the ability to measure acreage and lengths so landowners may quickly obtain information that aids land management,” he said.
Alldredge said representatives from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board will explain how developing a water quality management plan can benefit agricultural productivity on private lands while also helping to achieve a level of pollution prevention or abatement that allows waters to meet the state water quality standards.
Presentations from the first round of workshops held last year in the Trinity River basin area may be found on the AgriLife Extension wildlife and fisheries unit YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/WFSCAgriLife.
The Building Partnerships for Cooperative Conservation in the Trinity River Basin project is managed by the Texas Water Resources Institute and funded by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board through a Clean Water Act grant from the U.S Environmental Protection Agency.
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