Contacts: Clare Entwistle, clare.entwistle@ag.tamu.edu
Patricia Carvajal, 210-302-3672, pmcarvajal@sara-tx.org
LA VERNIA – The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting a meeting for anyone interested in working with a partnership to improve and protect the mid and lower Cibolo Creek watershed.
The meeting will be 6 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Grace Bible Church, 390 Farm-to-Market 1346 S. in La Vernia.
Cibolo Creek at Crescent Bend Nature Park. (Texas Water Resources Institute photo)
Clare Entwistle, a research associate with Texas Water Resources Institute in San Antonio, said the meeting is one in a series of meetings with stakeholders on developing strategies needed to address water quality impairments in the watershed.
“Portions of the mid and lower Cibolo Creek are currently designated by the state as impaired because of elevated bacteria concentrations and low dissolved oxygen concentrations,” she said.
The institute is coordinating a project with the San Antonio River Authority to work with local stakeholders to develop a plan to address the water quality issues.
The meeting will focus on discussing outcomes from the October workgroup meetings and presenting water quality models performed to assess potential sources of pollution, Entwistle said.
“The models were generated based on stakeholder input collected at our three topical workgroups: agriculture and wildlife, urban and stormwater, and centralized wastewater,” she said.
Current water quality data and any new watershed characterization developments will also be presented.
“We encourage interested stakeholders to attend the general meetings and to become part of the planning process,” she said. “Even if someone was not able to attend the previous meetings, we are still urging area residents to attend this meeting as their input is essential for identifying land and water issues and ensuring that appropriate and desirable management measures are included in the watershed-based plan.”
This effort is funded through a nonpoint source grant from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.
For more information, please visit the project website at: http://Cibolo.tamu.edu or contact Entwistle at clare.entwistle@ag.tamu.edu or Patricia Carvajal with San Antonio River Authority at pmcarvajal@sara-tx.org.
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