By: Paul Schattenberg, 210-859-5752, paschattenber@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Michael Kuitu, 979-862-4457, mkuitu@tamu.edu
Lisa Prcin, 254-774-6008, lprcin@brc.tamus.edu
Heidi Prude, 254-933-5305, heidi.prude@ag.tamu.edu
KILLEEN – A free Texas Watershed Steward workshop on water quality and management related to the Lampasas River and other area watersheds will be held from 1-5 p.m. July 12 at Texas A&M University-Central Texas in Killeen.
The workshop will be held in the Founders Hall Building, 1001 Leadership Place.
The workshop will be presented by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board in coordination with Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Lampasas River Watershed Partnership.
Anyone interested in improving, or learning about, water quality in the Lampasas River and surrounding area is welcome to come, said workshop coordinators. Participants are encouraged to preregister online at http://tws.tamu.edu.
A free sandwich lunch provided by HEB will begin at 12:30 p.m. for attendees who preregister by July 10.
“The workshop is designed to help watershed residents improve and protect their water resources by becoming involved in local watershed protection and management activities,” said Heidi Prude, AgriLife Extension agent in Bell County.
Prude said the workshop will include an overview of water quality and watershed management in Texas and will primarily focus on water quality issues relating to the Lampasas River, including current efforts to help improve and protect the health of important area water sources.
A discussion on watershed systems, types and sources of water pollution, and ways to improve and protect water quality will all be included in the program, said Michael Kuitu, AgriLife Extension program specialist and coordinator for the Texas Watershed Steward program. There also will be a group discussion on community-driven watershed protection and management.
“Surface water in the Lampasas River is a critical source of water in the area,” said Lisa Prcin, research associate with AgriLife Research in Temple. “Stakeholders need to be armed with the knowledge to protect and restore water quality in the watershed.”
Prcin said a watershed protection plan developed for the Lampasas River will also be discussed. The plan includes several best management practices to reduce pollution in the watershed and potentially lower bacteria levels in the Lampasas.
Attendees of the training will receive a copy of the Texas Watershed Steward Handbook and a certificate of completion. The program offers four continuing education units in soil and water management for certified crop advisers, four units for professional engineers and certified planners, four credits for certified teachers and two credits for nutrient management specialists. A total of four professional development hours are available for professional geoscientists licensed by the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists.
There are also three general continuing education units available for Texas Department of Agriculture pesticide license holders, four for certified landscape architects and three for certified floodplain managers. Four continuing education credits are offered for each of the following Texas Commission on Environmental Quality occupational licensees: wastewater system operators, public water system operators, on-site sewage facility installers and landscape irrigators.
Kuitu said he wants to encourage local residents and other stakeholders throughout and beyond the area to attend the workshop to become better informed about their water resources.
The Texas Watershed Steward program is funded through a Clean Water Act nonpoint source grant from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
For more information, contact Kuitu at 979-862-4457, mkuitu@tamu.edu; Prcin at 254-774-6008, lprcin@bcr.tamus.edu; or Prude at 254-933-5305, heidi.prude@ag.tamu.edu.
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