West Fork of the San Jacinto River: Developing a Watershed Protection Plan

Background

The West Fork of the San Jacinto River (Segment 1004) is a tributary to Lake Houston, a drinking water source for the Houston metropolitan area. Portions of the river had listed concerns for or did not meet state water quality standards for bacteria in the 2014 Texas Water Quality Inventory and 303(d) List.

In addition to not meeting standards for bacteria, portions of West Fork's primary tributaries – Spring Creek (Segment 1008), Cypress Creek (Segment 1009), and Lake Creek (Segment 1015) – had some combination of listed concerns for depressed dissolved oxygen, excess nutrients, and impaired fish and microbenthic communities.

These watersheds have been included in previous watershed planning efforts. They include the Bacteria Implementation Group’s Implementation Plan for Houston Area Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), the Implementation Plan for Seventy-Two TMDLs for Bacteria in the Houston-Galveston Region, and the TMDL for Bacteria in the East and West Forks of the San Jacinto River.

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Project Description

Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) produced the The West Fork San Jacinto River and Lake Creek Watershed Protection Plan

The WPP was developed with extensive stakeholder involvement to address water quality issues in the watershed. The Spring Creek and Cypress Creek watersheds were also characterized. H-GAC also collected, analyzed, and evaluated the results of monitoring data and conducted modeling to understand the conditions and sources of pollutant loading in all four watersheds.

H-GAC also held multiple outreach and education events in the watershed including Texas Stream Team Citizen Scientist Monitoring Trainings through Texas State University, and Texas Watershed Stewards.

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For More Information

• H-GACs East and West Fork San Jacinto WPP website

To find out more about the NPS Program, call 512-239-6682 or e-mail us at nps@tceq.texas.gov.

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