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Mill Creek

The purpose of this project on Mill Creek in the San Jacinto River Basin is to determine how the community currently uses the creek for recreation (e.g., boating, swimming, or fishing). Understanding this will help guide management decisions to further improve water quality.

County: Magnolia
Parameter: bacteria
River Basin: San Jacinto
Segment: 1008A

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Background and Goals

In 2024, Mill Creek was added to the Texas 303(d) List of impaired waters due to high levels of E. coli bacteria. In routine surface water quality monitoring, we analyze amounts of E. coli, which is found in feces of warm-blooded animals, because it can indicate the possible presence of pathogens that could cause illness if water is ingested.

Water quality standards for things like E. coli are set based on how people use a water body. In Texas, we require the strictest bacteria standards for streams that are used for “primary contact recreation 1,” which includes fishing, swimming, and wading in water bodies like Mill Creek.

We strive to ensure that our recreational use designation is accurate when we assign it to a water body. Towards that end, Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research (TIAER) at Tarleton State University is conducting a study to evaluate Mill Creek’s characteristics and learn how people are using the creek. 

Recreational Use Analysis

TIAER will conduct a site-specific study that assesses if it’s reasonable that people can swim in the creek based on its characteristics—such as water depth and flow. This project will allow the TCEQ Water Quality Standards program to determine whether the current contact recreation use we’ve assigned to Mill Creek is appropriate.

TCEQ’s Recreational Use Attainability Analysis (RUAA) Procedures will guide the study.

These analyses consist of three components:

  1. Historical Review – past uses of the water body.
  2. Stakeholder Interviews – reported specific water body usage.
  3. Field Surveys – current conditions of the water body during two surveys conducted during base flow conditions.

Watershed Description

Mill Creek is a small stream in the San Jacinto River Basin. It flows 30 miles from the confluence of Spring Creek upstream to where the stream splits between Hurricane Creek and Kickapoo Creek in Magnolia County, Texas.

Get Involved

TCEQ seeks your opinions and information if you represent government, permitted facilities, agriculture, business, environmental, and community and private interests in the watershed.

    Contact Us

    Please email tmdl@tceq.texas.gov and reference the Mill Creek RUAA in the subject line. Or call us at 512-239-6682.

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