PRESS RELEASE

 

 

For Immediate Release                                             Contact:  Ann Galassi

May 15, 2007                                                            Sabine River Authority of Texas

                                                                                (409)  746-2192               

 

 

 

Orange County TMDL Implementation

Planning Meeting Set for Area Stakeholders

 

 

(Orange, TX)  The Orange County Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Project will hold its first implementation planning meeting on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. at the Sabine River Authority Environmental Services Division office located at 1895 Owens Illinois Road.  This meeting is open to the public.  The TMDL project was initiated to determine the measures necessary to restore and maintain water quality in Adams and Cow Bayou.  These bayous, placed on an impaired list by the State of Texas, do not meet the standard conditions suitable for swimming, wading, fishing and a healthy aquatic environment.  The Orange County TMDL project was first initiated in August of 2002 by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to address this issue. 

 

The TMDL process provides the foundation for establishing an implementation plan to restore and maintain beneficial uses of the water body.  Over the last five years, the TMDL process involved extensive sampling and modeling to develop a sound solution for improved water quality in the bayous.  Local stakeholder participation is essential in the overall success of the project.  A stakeholder advisory group (SAG) has been involved throughout the process.  All meetings have been open to the public.  Members of the SAG represent government, permitted facilities, agriculture, business, environmental and community interests in the Adams Bayou and Cow Bayou watersheds.  SAG members will take an active role in providing input for an implementation plan that will identify possible solutions to the current problems.    

 

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Every TMDL project includes two reports:  1)  a TMDL report that summarizes the sources of the pollutants and 2)  an Implementation Plan report that summarizes management strategies needed to restore water quality.  The TMDL report has been completed and will be submitted to TCEQ Commissioners for final approval next month.  This report will then be submitted to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval.  Based on the results of this report, SAG members will now develop an Implementation Plan report to describe actions that local, regional and state organizations must take to reduce pollutants to levels established in the TMDL report.

 

To find out more about upcoming meeting and the progress of the Orange County TMDL project contact Miles Hall, Environmental Services Division Manager for Sabine River Authority of Texas at (409) 746-3284 or mhall@sratx.org.

 

 

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