A Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop will be held on March 27 at the Wilson County Expo and Community Center in Floresville.
The free workshop will be held from 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the center located at 437 State Highway 97 East. The multi-county event will target the counties in the Cibolo Creek watershed, including Wilson, Guadalupe, Bexar and Karnes counties.
The conference is offered as a joint effort by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.
The deadline to RSVP to the AgriLife Extension office in Wilson County at 830-393-7357 is March 22.
Two Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education credits for pesticide applicators are available in integrated pest management. Breakfast will be provided by Wilson County Soil and Water Conservation District.
Program focus
This workshop will focus on the Cibolo Creek Watershed and the many local efforts to improve water quality. Topics covered will include basic watershed function, water quality and voluntary bestmanagement practices to minimize bacterial contamination originating from grazing livestock and feral hogs. There will also be a focus on managing small acreage properties.
“The goal of the Lone Star Healthy Streams program is to protect Texas waterways from bacterial contamination originating from livestock, wildlife and invasive species that may pose a serious health risk to Texans,” said Leanne Wiley, AgriLife Extension program specialist and Lone Star Healthy Streams coordinator, Bryan-College Station. “The aim is to increase awareness of non-point source pollution, provide education materials to Texas producers and landowners, and encourage implementation.”
Protecting the Watershed
In addition to the sessions on best management practices for grazing livestock and feral hog management, technical and financial opportunities will be discussed by representatives of the local Soil and Water Conservation District and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Funding for this effort is provided through a Clean Water Act Section 319(h) 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 979-240-8407 or leanne.wiley@ag.tamu.edu; or Samantha Shannon, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent in Wilson County, at 830-393-7357 or samantha.shannon@ag.tamu.edu.
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