LA MARQUE – A Texas Watershed Steward workshop on water quality and water management related to the Highland Bayou watershed will be held from 8 a.m.-noon Feb. 17 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office for Galveston County.
The office is located at 4102 Main St., also known as Farm-to-Market Road 519, in La Marque.
A Texas Watershed Steward workshop on water quality in the Highland Bayou and other Texas watersheds will be held Feb. 17 in La Marque. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo)
The workshop will be presented by AgriLife Extension and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board in cooperation with the Texas Coastal Watershed Program and Texas Sea Grant.
The training is free and open to anyone interested in improving water quality in the region, said program coordinators. Participants are encouraged to preregister at the Texas Watershed Steward website at http://tws.tamu.edu.
The Texas Watershed Steward program is funded through a Clean Water Act nonpoint source grant from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and Environmental Protection Agency.
Michael Kuitu, AgriLife Extension program specialist and coordinator for the Texas Watershed Steward program, said training will include an overview of water quality and watershed management in Texas. However, it will primarily focus on area water quality issues, including current and future efforts to help improve and protect local watersheds.
“There will be a discussion of watershed systems, as well as the types and sources of water pollution,” he said. “We’ll also have a discussion about ways to improve and protect water quality and the need for community-driven watershed protection and management.”
Attendees of the training will receive a copy of the Texas Watershed Steward Handbook and a certificate of completion.
The program offers four continuing education units in soil and water management for certified crop advisers, four units for professional engineers and certified planners, four credits for certified teachers and two credits for nutrient management specialists. Four professional development hours are available for professional geoscientists licensed by the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists.
There are also three general continuing education units for Texas Department of Agriculture pesticide license holders, four for certified landscape architects and three for certified floodplain managers. Four continuing education credits are offered for each of the following Texas Commission on Environmental Quality occupational licensees: wastewater system operators, public water system operators, on-site sewage facility installers and landscape irrigators.
Kuitu said he wants to encourage local residents and other stakeholders to attend the workshop to become better informed about area water resources and how to protect and improve their water quality.
For more information, contact Kuitu at 979-862-4457, mkuitu@tamu.edu; Phoenix Rogers at 281-309-5064, plroger@ag.tamu.edu; or Celina Lowry at 281-560-3970, celina.lowry@tamu.edu.
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