Contacts: Allen Berthold, 979-845-2028, taberthold@ag.tamu.edu
Clare Entwistle, 979-458-5962, clare.entwistle@ag.tamu.edu
EDNA – The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting an Oct. 24 meeting in Edna for anyone interested in becoming involved in a partnership to improve and protect the Lavaca River watershed, said an institute associate.
The free meeting will be at 1:30 p.m. at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in Jackson County, 411 N. Wells St. in Edna.
Rocky Creek tributary of the Lavaca River watershed. (Photo courtesy Texas Water Resources Institute)
The institute is part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, AgriLife Extension and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.
Clare Entwistle, a research associate with AgriLife Research in College Station, said the meeting is the first in a series of meetings with watershed stakeholders on developing strategies needed to address water quality impairments in the watershed.
“The above tidal portion of Lavaca River and Rocky Creek, which primarily occupies part of Lavaca and Jackson counties, are both currently designated by the state as impaired because of elevated bacteria concentrations,” Entwistle said.
The institute manages this project working with stakeholders to develop a plan to address the watershed’s bacterial pollution, said Dr. Allen Berthold, an AgriLife Research scientist with the institute, also based in College Station.
Berthold said the initial meeting will give an overview of water quality information, including potential point and nonpoint pollution sources for the Lavaca River and Rocky Creek, and the needed steps to reduce bacterial pollution in the watershed.
“We will explain the watershed-based planning process to address these water quality concerns and the proposed timeline for developing a plan,” he said.
Entwistle said interested stakeholders should become part of the planning process.
“We’re encouraging citizens of the region to attend this meeting as their input is essential for identifying land and water issues and developing and implementing a watershed-based plan,” she said.
For more information, contact Entwistle at clare.entwistle@ag.tamu.edu or Berthold at taberthold@ag.tamu.edu.
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