Welsh Reservoir: Assessing the Safety of Fish Consumption
County: Titus
Parameters: Selenium
River Basin: Cypress Creek
Segment: 0404D
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Project Background and Goals
Welsh Reservoir is impounds Swauano and Justiss Creeks. It is located eleven miles southeast of Mount Pleasant in Titus County. The 1,465-acre reservoir was constructed in 1976 to serve as a cooling pond for a steam-electric power plant. Welsh Reservoir is a popular recreational area for boating and scuba diving. Fishing for sunfish, trophy bass, catfish, and crappie also lures large numbers of people to the reservoir each year.
In 1992, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) issued an advisory restricting the consumption of fish from the reservoir because selenium concentrations in the fish posed a risk to consumers. The goal of this project was to determine whether the consumption of fish from the reservoir still posed a threat to human health. TCEQ worked with DSHS to collect fish samples, conduct laboratory analyses, and characterize the risks to consumers from all contaminants found in fish tissue samples.
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After assessing all the data collected and characterizing the risks associated with all the contaminants found in fish tissue, DSHS concluded that consumption of fish from Welsh Reservoir no longer poses a threat to human health. The fish consumption advisory was rescinded on October 14, 2004.
Contact the TMDL Program
Please email tmdl@tceq.texas.gov and reference the Welsh Reservoir in the subject line. Or call us at 512-239-6682.
