Join us for a free workshop focusing on the Lavon Lake watershed, basic watershed function, and water quality. Includes information on voluntary conservation practices along with sources for technical and financial assistance designed to reduce pollutants such as fecal bacteria in our waterways.
A Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop will be held on February 7 at Collin College Farmersville Campus, 501 S. Collin Parkway, Farmersville. The workshop is a joint effort with North Texas Municipal Water District, Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
The free workshop will run from 8 a.m.-2:00 p.m., with a sponsored lunch. Preregistration is required at https://tx.ag/LSHSFeb7LavonLake Please RSVP by February 1st. Four Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education credits for pesticide applicators are available in the Integrated Pest Management and Laws and Regulations category. The program will focus on Lavon Lake Watershed and discuss basic watershed functions, water quality, and specific best management practices that can be implemented to help minimize bacterial contamination originating from livestock and feral hogs.
“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. The aim is to increase awareness, provide education materials to Texas livestock producers and landowners, and encourage implementation,” said Leanne Wiley, AgriLife Extension program specialist and Lone Star Healthy Streams coordinator, Bryan-College Station.
Protecting the Watershed
“Lavon Lake supplies drinking water for over 2 million people in North Texas. It also provides wildlife habitat, recreation, and flood control. So it is an extremely important water resource for the region,” said David Cowan, Watershed Manager for the North Texas Municipal Water District.
“Routine water quality monitoring in Wilson Creek and the East Fork of the Trinity River upstream of Lavon Lake indicate elevated levels of bacteria,” added Cowan. In order to address these issues, NTMWD and AgriLife Extension worked in partnership with local stakeholders to develop a non-regulatory watershed protection plan for Lavon Lake. The plan identifies potential sources of pollution in the watershed and strategies for protecting and improving water quality. More information on this project will be presented at the workshop.
Funding for this effort is provided through a Clean Water Act Section 319 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; Cowan at 469-626-4416 or dcowan@NTMWD.com or Chase Brooke, AgriLife Extension agent for Collin County at chase.brooke@ag.tamu.edu or 972-548-4232