Lone Star Healthy Streams program set for April 18 in Lockhart
Watershed health, best management practices for grazing livestock and feral hogs focus of program
Lone Star Healthy Streams will host a free workshop on the Plum Creek Watershed from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on April 18 in Lockhart.
The event will be in the recreation hall at Lockhart State Park, 2012 State Park Road.
The multi-county event targets counties in the Plum Creek Watershed, including Hays and Caldwell counties.
Participants are asked to RSVP by April 15 by contacting the AgriLife Extension office in Caldwell County at 512-398-3122. Lunch will be provided by the Caldwell County Ag Committee.
The conference is a joint effort by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Plum Creek Watershed Partnership, Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.
Three Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education credits will be available for pesticide applicators in the integrated pest management category.
Program focus
This workshop will focus on the many local efforts to improve water quality in the Plum Creek Watershed. Topics will include basic watershed function, water quality and voluntary best management practices to minimize bacterial contamination from grazing livestock and feral hogs.
There also will be a focus on weed management in pastures. Technical and financial opportunities will be discussed by Plum Creek Watershed Partnership, Texas Grazing Land Coalition and the Plum Creek Conservation District.
“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
The Plum Creek Watershed Partnership advocates for all best management practices that will have a positive impact on the watershed. The partnership, comprised of 12 funding partners, is driven by local community members and stakeholders living in and around the watershed.
All efforts of the partnership are part of the voluntary implementation of the Plum Creek Watershed Protection Plan, WPP, with the goal of reducing non-point source pollution and removing the impairments on Plum Creek. This workshop is part of the outreach and education measures outlined in the plan.
“Everyone in the watershed is invited to be engaged in the decision making and the implementation of all management measures and best practices for the Plum Creek watershed,” said Sean Melvin, Plum Creek Watershed Partnership watershed coordinator, Lockhart.
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; Melvin at 830-557-7358 or smelvin@plumcreekwatershed.org; or Wayne Morse, AgriLife Extension agricultural and natural resources agent for Caldwell County, at 512-398-3122 or wayne.morse@ag.tamu.edu.
To learn more about the partnership’s implementation efforts and download a digital copy of the Plum Creek Watershed Protection Plan, visit Plum Creek Watershed Protection Plan.
