The public is invited to join the Middle Yegua Creek Watershed Partnership and attend a project meeting on July 9.

This meeting is the partnership’s sixth and will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in Lee County, 310 S. Grimes St., Giddings.

Middle Yegua Creek with trees lining its banks. Area residents will learn how to improve the Middle Yegua Creek watershed during a July 9 meeting in Giddings.
Area residents will learn how to improve the Middle Yegua Creek watershed during a July 9 meeting in Giddings. (Cameron Castilaw/Texas Water Resources Institute)

The meeting is a forum for public input, which will drive the development of a voluntary, stakeholder-driven watershed protection plan for Middle Yegua Creek. The plan will also outline strategies to improve local water quality.

The partnership began when water samples collected in Middle Yegua Creek by the Brazos River Authority and the Texas Water Resources Institute, TWRI, confirmed that bacteria concentrations were above the applicable standard for primary contact recreational activities, said Luna Yang, TWRI research specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Bryan-College Station.

Watershed protection plan revisions, new chapters to be discussed

The meeting will recap previous meeting discussions and address the revisions made to previously presented chapters, as well as present three new chapters.

“We will discuss the potential timeframe for implementing the water quality management measures covered in the last meeting,” Yang said. “Additionally, we will identify potential technical and financial resources for implementation and outline methods to measure the impacts of water protection plan implementation and make effective adjustments.”

Individuals interested in restoring the soundness of Middle Yegua Creek, which is a tributary in the Brazos River Basin, can become a member of the partnership by attending meetings and providing feedback, Yang said.

Funding for the watershed protection plan development is provided by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board through the State Nonpoint Source Grant Program.

TWRI is a unit of AgriLife Research that brings together expertise from across The Texas A&M University System.

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