2011 Lower Basin Stakeholder Forum

Nueces River Authority

Feb 16, 2011 – Uvalde Feb 23, 2011 – Corpus Christi

1991 Texas Clean Rivers Program• To monitor and assess the

water quality in the 25 basins throughout Texas

• TCEQ developed partnerships to manage CRP

– 15 Partner Agencies • State agencies• River Authorities• Local Governments

NRA’s Area of Responsibility

– Nueces River Basin

– S.A. Nueces Coastal Basin

– Nueces Rio Grande Coastal Basin

– Bays and Estuaries

• 44 Segments• 30,500 Square

Miles

Texas Clean Rivers Program

• $9 Million Allocated Statewide Amongst CRP Partners Over 2 Years:

• NRA: $548,272 Over 2 Years

– NRA CRP Budget By Task• Project Administration – 21%• Quality Assurance – 4%• Water Quality Monitoring – 39%• Data Management – 13%• Data Analysis and Reporting – 9%• Stakeholder Participation and Public Outreach – 13%• Special Projects: Petronila Creek Continuous Monitoring – 1%

Routine Monitoring– pH– DO– Conductivity– Temp– Ammonia– Nitrates– Phosphorus– Chlorophyll-a– Turbidity– Bacteria – Chloride– Sulfate

NRA Database http://www.nueces-ra.org/CP/CRP/SWQM/index.php

Interactive Map http://www.nueces-ra.org/CP/CRP/SWQM/index.php

Coordinated Monitoring Schedulehttp://cms.lcra.org

NRA Coordinated Monitoring Meeting

– Plan sampling for upcoming year

– Invite:– TCEQ Regional

Offices

– TPWD

– CBBEP

– USGS

– Soil Board

– Other Interested Parties

Assessment (Integrated Report)

• Every 2 Years

• Based on 7 Years of Data:– 2010 – December 1, 2001 – November 30, 2008– 2012 – December 1, 2003 – November 30, 2010

Classified Water Bodies Are Assigned Designated Uses

– Aquatic Life • Exceptional• High • Intermediate• Limited

– Oyster Waters– Contact Recreation

• Primary Contact • Secondary Contact 1 and 2 (New)• Noncontact

– Public Water Supply– Fish Consumption– General Use

Water Quality Criteria are Assigned to Designated Uses

• Aquatic Life– Dissolved Oxygen

• Public Water Supply– Chloride– Sulfate– TDS

• Recreation– Bacteria

• General Use– Water Temperature– pH– Ammonia– Nitrogen– Phosphorus

• Fish Consumption– Fish Tissue

Assessment Includes 2 Lists:

– 305(B) List Concerns

– 303(d) List Impairments

Concerns 305(b) List

• 20% of samples > criteria– Ammonia-Nitrogen– Nitrate+Nitrite– Orthophosphorus– Total phosphorus– Chlorophyll-a

Impairments 303(d) List

Water bodies that do not meet the criteria for support of one or more of its beneficial uses

Impairments 303(d) List

• TDS, Chloride, Sulfate– Average > criteria (Public Water Supply Impairment)

• DO: grab samples and 24-Hr average– 10% of samples < criteria (Aquatic Life Impairment)

• pH– 10% of samples outside range (General Use

Impairment)

• E. coli, Enterococcus– Geometric mean > criteria (Recreation use Impairment)

Impairments in the Lower BasinBacteria Impairments

• 2001 Mission River Tidal• 2003 Aransas River Tidal• 2004A Aransas Creek• 2203 -2204 Petronila Creek (New Listing) • 2201 Arroyo Colorado• 2462 San Antonio Bay/Hynes Bay (New Listing Oyster Waters) • 2472 Copano Bay (Oyster Waters)• 2481 Corpus Christi Bay (Ropes and Cole Parks)• 2483 Redfish Bay (Oyster Waters)• 2485A Oso Creek, Bay (Oyster Waters)• 2491 Laguna Madre• 2492 San Fernando Creek• 2494 Brownsville Ship Channel (New Listing)• 2494A Port Isabel Fishing Harbor (New Listing)

2010 Integrated Report

• 2201 Arroyo Colorado Impaired forLow DO

Mercury and PCBs in edible tissue

DDE in edible tissue (New Listing)

• 2202 Arroyo Above Tidal Impaired forMercury and PCBs in edible tissue

DDE in edible tissue (New Listing)

2010 Integrated Report

• 2204 Petronila Creek Above TidalTDS

Chloride

Sulfate

Chlorophyll-a

• 2482 Nueces BayZinc in edible tissue (New Listing)

• 2491 Laguna MadreLow DO

CWA Requires State to Take Action to Restore Impaired Waters

(Arthur Talley)

• Additional Monitoring - is the impairment real?

• Use Attainability Analysis (UAA)- Are existing criteria and uses appropriate for water body?

• TMDL

• WPP

• Special Study

National Coastal Condition Assessment

• EPA National Aquatic Survey

• TCEQ and University of Houston

• 53 sites from Sabine Lake to Lower Laguna Madre

• 7 in Corpus Christi Bay and 2 in Nueces Bay

Sample Collection

• Water

• Sediment

• Bacteria

• Benthic Community

• Fish Tissue

2011 Basin Highlights Report– Assessment Year BHR– a snapshot of every segment and any

impairments or concerns– Year Following the Assessment BHR -any updates and ongoing

projects– Every 5th year Basin Summary-more in depth and detailed than the

Basin Highlights Report

Comments to Kati Carberry

Email: kcarberry@nueces-ra.org

Fax: 361-653-2115

Mail: Nueces River Authority

1201 N. Shoreline Blvd.

Corpus Christi, TX 78401

Input for FY 2011 Planning

• Additional routine monitoring sites?

• Special studies?

• Additional outreach opportunities?

• Additional web-based information?

Contact Information

http://www.nueces-ra.org

Sky Lewey: slewey@nueces-ra.org 830-278-6810

Rocky Freund: rfreund@nueces-ra.org361-825-3193

Beth Almaraz: balmaraz@nueces-ra.org

361-825-3193