Lone Star Healthy Streams program set for Feb. 18 in Bonham

Focus on Bois d’Arc Lake watershed

The Bois d’Arc Lake Watershed Partnership will host an in-person Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop on Feb. 18 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in Fannin County, 2505 N. Center St., Bonham. The program will run from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

The workshop is free and lunch may be purchased for $15. Preregistration is required at  https://tx.ag/LSHSFeb18.

Two Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education credits for pesticide applicators are available– one integrated pest management and one general.

The program will focus on the Bois d’Arc Lake watershed and will discuss basic watershed function, water quality and specific best management practices that can be implemented to help minimize bacterial contamination originating from livestock and feral hogs. 

Watershed partnership

The Bois d’Arc Lake Watershed Partnership includes Fannin County, Fannin County Soil and Water Conservation District, the cities of Bonham and Honey Grove, Texas A&M AgriLife, North Texas Municipal Water District and other stakeholders.

“The partnership was formed early in 2021 to guide development of the Bois d’Arc Lake Watershed Protection Plan.” said David Cowan, watershed manager, North Texas Municipal Water District.

Cowan said the non-regulatory watershed protection plan for Bois d’Arc Lake will help guide efforts for protecting and improving water quality. Additional information on the project will be presented at the workshop.

Lone Star Healthy Streams Program

“The goal of the Lone Star Healthy Streams program is to educate Texas livestock producers and landowners about how to best protect Texas waterways from bacterial contamination associated with beef cattle, horses and feral hogs,” said Leanne Wiley, AgriLife Extension program specialist and Lone Star Healthy Streams instructor, Bryan-College Station.

Funding for this effort is provided through a Clean Water Act nonpoint source grant administered by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For more information on the workshop, contact Wiley at 979-318-2617 or leanne.wiley@ag.tamu.edu; Cowan at 469-626-4416 or dcowan@NTMWD.com; or Cody Maxwell, AgriLife Extension agent for Fannin County, at cody.maxwell@ag.tamu.edu or 903-583-7453.

To learn more about this effort and to download a digital copy of the draft of the Bois d’Arc Lake Watershed Protection Plan, visit https://boisdarclake.org/construction/the-bois-darc-lake-watershed.

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