The public is invited to attend a project kick-off meeting and join the Thompsons Creek Watershed Partnership on April 10 in Bryan. The meeting will be at 2 p.m. at the Brazos Center, 3232 Briarcrest Drive.

Thompsons Creek watershed with trees lining its banks. Residents living near the Thompsons Creek watershed will be able to learn more and participate in a watershed protection plan kick-off meeting that will be held on April 10 in Bryan.
Residents living near the Thompsons Creek watershed will be able to learn more and participate in a watershed protection plan kick-off meeting that will be held on April 10 in Bryan. (Texas Water Resources Institute)

The partnership will serve as the forum for public input, which will drive the development of a voluntary, stakeholder-driven watershed protection plan, WPP.

“The initial meetings will provide an introduction to the watershed planning process, surface water quality in Texas, and the stakeholder structure and possible decision-making process,” said Duncan Kikoyo, Ph.D., Texas Water Resources Institute, TWRI, research specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Research in College Station.

Thompsons Creek concerns

Thompsons Creek is a tributary in the Brazos River Basin and drains into the City of Bryan.

Water samples collected in Thompsons Creek, Still Creek and Cottonwood Branch by the Brazos River Authority and TWRI confirmed the presence of bacteria concentrations that were above the applicable standard for recreational activities that may involve water ingestion, Kikoyo said.

“Anyone with an interest in Thompsons Creek and its tributaries can become a member of the partnership by participating in meetings and becoming involved in the development of the WPP,” he said.

Funding for developing a watershed protection plan is provided by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, through a Clean Water Act Section 319(h) grant from the U.S Environmental Protection Agency.

TWRI is a unit of AgriLife Research that combines expertise across the agencies of Texas A&M AgriLife.

For more information, contact Kikoyo at [email protected]. Read more about the watershed at thompsonscreek.twri.tamu.edu.