Houston-Galveston Regional Plan: Status and Activities

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Watershed Counties: Brazoria, Harris, Fort Bend, Grimes, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Walker, and Waller
Parameter: Bacteria
River Basin: San Jacinto
Segments: 1004E, 1006D, 1006I, 1006F, 1006H, 1006J, 1007B, 1007C, 1007D, 1007E, 1007F, 1007G, 1007H, 1007I, 1007K, 1007L, 1007M, 1007N, 1007O, 1007R, 1008, 1008H, 1009, 1009C, 1009D, 1009E, 1010, 1011, 1013, 1013A, 1013C, 1014, 1014A, 1014B, 1014E, 1014H, 1014K, 1014L, 1014M, 1014N, 1014O, 1016, 1016A, 1016B, 1016C, 1016D, 1017, 1017A, 1017B, 1017D, 1017E, 1101, 1101B, 1101D, 1102, 1102A, 1102B, 1102C, 1102D, and 1102E

Status

The commission approved the stakeholder-developed implementation plan on January 30, 2013. This I-Plan was developed by stakeholders in the Bacteria Implementation Group (BIG).

The I-Plan identifies eleven primary strategies for achieving environmental goals. These strategies relate to:

• wastewater treatment facilities
• on-site sewage facilities
• sanitary sewer systems
• stormwater and land development
• construction
• illicit discharges and dumping
• agriculture and animals
• residential areas
• monitoring progress and updating the plan
• research
• a geographic priority framework

The I-Plan outlines numerous activities under each of these strategies. Read the I-Plan.

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Activities

Lake Houston Watersheds

Stakeholders undertook various activities to improve conditions in the lake prior to development of the I-Plan.

• Converting from Septic Systems to Wastewater Collection Systems (July 2008)
  $500,000 grant to reduce anthropogenic sources of bacteria in the watershed.
  • Project Description
• IDDE Outfall Database - Database tool available for IDDE (Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination).
  • Developed by Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) and made available to stakeholders for use in detecting illicit discharges. Posted with permission from NEORSD.
  • Instructions and Files:
    • Letter for removing "read-only" property
    • Instructions for use of the database
    • Zip file of database, including sample data (49 MB)
• Storm Water Workshop  Conroe, Texas (April 2008)
  • A one-day event focused on storm water issues for communities in TMDL watersheds, with or without a MS4 storm water permit.
• Nature Fest at Jesse Jones Park  Precinct 4 Houston (March 2008)
  • Over 1,200 members of the community attended Nature Fest. Watershed models and water quality literature were used to educate the public on the importance of preventing bacteria from entering Spring Creek.

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Contact Us

For information regarding this project, please contact Todd Running at the H-GAC by phone at 713-993-4549 or by e-mail at todd.running@h-gac.com. Or e-mail the TCEQ’s TMDL Program at tmdl@tceq.texas.gov, and mention the Houston-Galveston bacteria project in the subject line. Reach the TMDL Program by phone at 512-239-6682.

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