The public is invited to attend a Thompsons Creek Watershed Partnership meeting on Nov. 11 at 2:30 p.m. at the Brazos Center, 3232 Briarcrest Dr, in Bryan.
This partnership serves as the forum for public input, which will drive the development of a voluntary, stakeholder-driven watershed protection plan (WPP) for Thompsons Creek watershed.
Ward Ling, program specialist, Bryan-College Station, for the Texas Water Resources Institute, or TWRI, said the plan will outline strategies that can improve local water quality.
“Water samples collected in Thompsons Creek and its tributaries (Still Creek and Cottonwood Branch) by the Brazos River Authority and Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) confirmed the presence of bacteria concentrations that were above the applicable standard for recreational activities that may involve water ingestion,” Ling said.
Anyone with an interest in the watershed can become a member of the partnership by participating in meetings and becoming involved in the development of the WPP.
The meeting will provide an overview of the project and a review of the draft chapters of the plan completed so far, chapters 3 and 4. These two chapters provide an overview of water quality in Thompsons Creek and its tributaries, along with potential sources of pollution to the creek.
Funding for developing the WPP for the Thompsons Creek watershed is provided in part by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency through a Clean Water Act Section 319(h) grant to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
TWRI is part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University. For more information, contact Ward Ling at ward.ling@ag.tamu.edu. Read more about the watershed at thompsonscreek.twri.tamu.edu/.
