AUSTIN – The Plum Creek Watershed Partnership, Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and Texas AgriLife Extension Service were recently awarded a 2010 Envision Central Texas Community Stewardship Award for their public awareness program, “Taking Charge of Water Quality in the Plum Creek Watershed.”
The award, announced at a luncheon at the Hilton Austin Hotel on May 7, was presented by Envision Central Texas, a nonprofit promoting regional cooperation and planning to “preserve and enhance the natural resources, economic vitality, social equity and overall quality of living in Central Texas,” according to organization materials.
The campaign was chosen from numerous submissions received from throughout the five-county Central Texas statistical area of Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties.
“Awareness efforts have included educating city and county officials, residents, business and community leaders and other stakeholders in the Plum Creek Watershed,” said Nikki Dictson, program coordinator with AgriLife Extension.
Dictson said the campaign’s public awareness and education efforts address a variety water quality issues, including potential sources of bacteria, non-beneficial nutrients and pollutants, as well as wastewater treatment, storm water and storm drain management, urban growth issues, pet waste cleanup and disposal, illegal dumping, and the proper use and disposal of hazardous chemicals.
“The majority of these awareness efforts relate to water quality impacts through everyday actions by individuals at home or work, such as disposal of waste or chemicals,” Dictson said.
Sally Campbell, executive director of Envision Central Texas, said her organization’s Community Stewardship Awards are presented to groups, agencies or organizations making significant contributions to planning and preparing for the future growth of Central Texas through helping protect and preserve the resources needed to support that growth.
“Central Texas will add more than a million people over the next 20 to 40 years, according to growth estimates,” Campbell said. “These awards spotlight efforts that will have a positive impact on Central Texas and improve the way in which we grow so we can sustain the region’s quality of life and competitiveness.”
Campbell said award judges were impressed with the comprehensiveness of the awareness program, its various components and messages tailored for diverse audiences. She added that the initiative was “the clear winner” for their stewardship award in the Raising Public Awareness category.
Dictson said the Outreach and Education Work Group of the Plum Creek Watershed Partnership developed the award-winning public awareness effort, with support from a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Clean Water Act Section 106 grant. She added that the overall program team also consisted of the Plum Creek Watershed Partnership Steering Committee, river authority staff including Debbie Magin, Cinde Thomas-Jimenez, Liz Sedlacek, Lee Gudgell, Scott Rolfe and hydroelectric crew members; AgriLife Extension staff including Dictson, Bruce Lesikar, Matt Berg and Mark McFarland; Kyle and Lockhart Parks and Recreation Departments; and environmental quality commission project manager David James.
Awareness activities included educational workshops for more than 85 municipal officials in the region, as well as organizing and conducting eight septic system workshops to benefit system installers, inspectors, maintenance providers and homeowners.
Other efforts include development of four online training course addressing wastewater treatment processes, on-site sewage systems, best management practices for handling fats, oils, greases and household chemicals, and storm water and storm sewer management for municipal operations. A “Don’t Be Clueless” landowners watershed protection educational brochure was developed for use in the Plum Creek Watershed area and as a template for use in other watershed areas.
Dictson said awareness activities also included an illegal dumping/litter awareness campaign to identify priority clean-up sites around the watershed, conducting coordinated large-scale cleanups along streams in city parks with 350-450 participants at each event, posting signs in strategic areas to discourage further dumping, and public presentations on watershed protection.
Workshops and assistance were also given to city and county employees and city officials in the Kyle/Buda and Lockhart/Luling areas and additional educational activities are now being coordinated with the authorized agents and inspectors of on-site sewage facilities toward making sewage assessments in high-risk areas.
“We’re going to continue these efforts to reach a broad audience on an array of issues and to encourage watershed stakeholders to be proactive by helping prevent non-point source pollution,” Dictson said.
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