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From the field: monitoring in the Lavaca River and Port Lavaca

TWRI Research Specialist Shaylynn Postma and Program Specialist Anna Eismont surveying Lavaca River, TWRI

The TWRI water team recently traveled south to collect water measurements and samples for measuring levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, for the project “Assessment of PFAS Concentrations and Loadings in the Lavaca Bay Watershed.”

The two-day trip travels from the river in Hallettsville, meandering to the coast in Port Lavaca, and the team collects a total of 12 water samples and multiple soil and nutrient samples.

Research Specialist Shaylynn Postma and Program Specialist Anna Eismont collect pH, temperature, specific conductivity and other measurements.

Xingmao ‘Samuel’ Ma, Ph.D., P.E., a professor in the Texas A&M University Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and his laboratory assistant, Chloe Rodriguez, analyze the PFAS samples. Thomas McDonald, Ph.D., a Regents Professor in Texas A&M’s School of Public Health, and Candice Brinkmeyer-Langford, Ph.D., an Associate Professor also in the School of Public Health, analyze nutrient samples.

This project is funded by the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust.

Two people stand at the back of a truck and fill a bottle with water.
Research Specialist Shaylynn Postma and Program Specialist Anna Eismont preparing sample bottles.
A river runs between lush greenery and under a bridge.
The Lavaca River at Hallettsville.
A metal tool holds a mix of sediment, rocks, mussels, and shells.
One of the sites had lots of mussels and shells in the creek bed.
two people squat on a small boat to take measurements.
Eismont collecting measurements while Postma takes water samples.
A snake in shallow water.
A snake spotted during sampling.
Two people walk in the grass while carrying scientific equipment.
Research Specialist Shaylynn Postma and Program Specialist Anna Eismont walking to site.
A woman squats in a creek with her heads in the water.
Postma collecting soil samples from the bottom of the creek.
One person stands at the side of a creek while another bends down to search for mussels.
Eismont searching for mussels.
Boats docked in Port Lavaca.
The harbor we launched from at Port Lavaca.
A woman steps from a dock onto a boat
Postma taking supplies off the boat.
A person wearing gloves closes a sample bottle.
A PFAS sample.