The Texas Water Resources Institute, TWRI, is hosting a meeting for anyone interested in becoming involved in a partnership to improve and protect the Lower Medina River watershed. The meeting will be on March 28 at 2 p.m. at the St. Louis Braden Keller Community Center, 1410 Amelia Street, in Castroville.
Lucas Gregory, TWRI associate director, said the meeting is the third in a series of meetings with watershed stakeholders to develop strategies needed to address water quality impairments in the watershed.
“The Lower Medina River and Medio Creek are currently designated by the state as impaired because of elevated bacteria concentrations,” he said. “There are also nutrient concerns present in the watershed. Both the impairment and concerns can begin to be addressed through the watershed plan.”
Lucas said the third meeting will focus on stakeholder reviews and comments on the first three chapters of the watershed protection plan and ground rules for the partnership. Time permitting, it will also include the development of workgroups and chapter four, focused on potential sources of pollution.
“We’re encouraging citizens of the region to attend these meetings, to ensure appropriate and desirable management measures are included in the watershed plan,” he said. “Stakeholder input is critical in identifying appropriate strategies to address sources of bacteria and nutrients, and to improve water quality throughout the watershed.”
The institute is coordinating this project, along with the San Antonio River Authority, with the goal of collaborating with local stakeholders to develop a plan to address the water quality issues. Funding for this effort is provided through a federal Clean Water Act Section 319(h) grant, administered by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, from the U.S Environmental Protection Agency.
TWRI is part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University. For more information, contact Gregory at lfgregory@ag.tamu.edu or Patricia Carvajal with the San Antonio River Authority at pmcarvajal@sara-tx.org. Read more about the watershed at medina.twri.tamu.edu.
