.png)
A Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop will be held on June 24 at the Wimberley Community Center Johnson Hall, 14068 Ranch Road 12 in Wimberley. The free event is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon. Light refreshments will be served for all attendees.
The workshop content will focus on watershed health, water quality and conservation strategies. Professionals will discuss best management practices for grazing livestock and feral hogs in watersheds throughout Hays County. Rainwater harvesting will be examined in depth, both through discussion and on-site display.
The workshop is offered as an educational component of the Blanco-Cypress Watershed Protection Plan in collaboration with Hays County Parks and Natural Resources, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB).
The workshop will discuss watershed function, water quality, rainwater harvesting, and best management practices to reduce bacterial contamination. The focus will be on conservation strategies for small-acreage properties, management of grazing 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,” 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.”
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Hays County Parks and Natural Resources and TSSWCB advocate for best management practices that will positively impact the watersheds throughout Hays County.
In addition to the sessions on livestock and feral hog management, Jonas Rosenthal, Hays County watershed coordinator, will share an update on the Blanco-Cypress Watershed Protection Plan and the status of other watersheds in the county. The update will include a brief background on the project and current water quality monitoring data.
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 leanne. [email protected]. edu; Rosenthal, watershed coordinator, at [email protected]; or Aaron McCoy, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent, Hays County, at aaron.mccoy@
