Tehuacana Creek: Developing a Watershed Characterization

Project Area

River Basin: Brazos

Water Body: Tehuacana Creek (1242N)

Location: McLennan, Limestone, and Hill counties

Background

The Tehuacana Creek watershed encompasses nearly 192,000 acres northeast of Waco, Texas. Though primarily rural, approximately 10 percent of the watershed intersects developed areas within Waco and the I-35 corridor. 

Tehuacana Creek consists of two assessment units, 1242N_01 and 1242N_02. Assessment unit 1242N_01 was listed as impaired in the 2024 Texas Integrated Report of Surface Water Quality for Clean Water Act Sections 305(b) and 303(d). The impairments and concerns from the report include:

• E. coli bacteria (impairment)
• Chlorophyll-a (concern)
• Nitrate (concern)
• Total phosphorus (concern)

Back to top

Project Description

September 2024 – August 2027

Texas Water Resources Institute will analyze existing data to more accurately determine nonpoint and point sources of pollution. If pollution source data are not currently available, they will be estimated with acquired data from similar watersheds and existing literature.

The Institute also identified two sites appropriate for monthly water quality monitoring. This data will be combined with existing information to summarize the water quality conditions across the watershed and to analyze pollutant loads—the total amounts of specific pollutants discharged into the creek over a specific period of time.

Throughout the project, staff will gather input from stakeholders about current watershed management practices, what they need, and what they plan to do in the future. This input will help identify sources of pollution, and actions that contribute to nonpoint source pollution.

Back to top

For More Information

Tehuacana Creek webpage

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

Back to top