To:            Interested Parties

From:      Water Resources Branch

RE:            JANUARY 2007 monthly Water Quality Report

This is the Sabine River Authority of Texas Water Quality Report for January 2007.  Water quality sampling was performed January 8th through January 11th.  Recent weather (previous seven days) in the Sabine River Basin was cold, with daytime highs in the upper 40s to low 60s at Lake Tawakoni and Lake Fork.  Toledo Bend Reservoir and Orange had daytime highs from the low 50s to the low 70s.  Lows ranged from the upper 20s to mid 40s at Lake Tawakoni and Lake Fork.  Toledo Bend and Orange had lows ranging from the mid 30s to the upper 50s.  During the 28 days prior to the sample run, the Upper Basin received 6.44 and 7.50 inches of rainfall as recorded at Lake Tawakoni and at Lake Fork, respectively.  Toledo Bend and Orange received 11.94 and 9.47 inches of precipitation during the 28 days prior to the sample run.  Reservoir profiles indicated complete mixing of the water column in Lake Tawakoni, Lake Fork and Toledo Bend reservoirs.

 

 

Upper Sabine Basin Above Toledo Bend Including Lake Fork and Lake Tawakoni

 

Water quality parameter measurements at most Upper Basin sites were consistent with water of high quality for the January sample run.  Lake Tawakoni received 1.18 inches of rain and Lake Fork received 1.71 inches of rain the week preceding the sample run.  The level of Lake Fork was recorded at 398.84 feet msl with 31 cfs releases and the level of Lake Tawakoni was recorded at 426.84 feet msl with 6 cfs releases at the time of sampling.  Station BS9, SR22, SR16, SR15 and SR14 exceeded the stream standards numeric criteria for E. coli.   All of these sites exhibited increased flows, elevated turbidity, and decreased secchi disk transparency due to runoff from area-wide rainfall.


Lower Sabine Basin Including Toledo Bend to Morgan Bluff

The January monthly sampling results were indicative of water of high quality at most sites.  The area received 1.48 inches of rainfall during the sampling week.  The level of Toledo Bend Reservoir was recorded at 168.78 feet with 6,124 cfs discharge at the time of sampling.  Reservoir stations were mixed in vertical profile samples and no anoxic conditions were found.  All parameters measured in this part of the basin fell within the stream standards criteria.

 

Tidal Section of the Sabine Basin below Morgan Bluff

Most sites sampled in the Tidal portion of the Sabine Basin had values that are consistent with water of high quality.  The Tidal stations received 4.77 inches of rainfall in the seven days prior to the sample event.  Surface salinities were found at only two of the Tidal stations.  The largest salinity value, 2.4 ppt, was found at station ICW1 at 5.7 meters.  The Enterococcus value at Station ICW1 was the only result measured that was above the stream standard criteria.

 

 

This Report and additional data for these monitoring stations are available on our World Wide Web site (www.sratx.org). If you have any questions or comments concerning this report, please contact:

 

Ø  Upper Sabine Basin
Terry Wilson, Upper Basin Field Office Coordinator
903-878-2420 (twilson@sratx.org)

Ø  Lower and Tidal Sabine Basin
Jerry Wiegreffe, Lower Basin Field Office Coordinator
409-746-3284 (jwiegreffe@sratx.org)

Ø  If above are unavailable
John Payne, Special Projects Administrator
409-746-2192 (jpayne@sratx.org)
or
Miles Hall, Environmental Services Division Manager
409-746-3284 (mhall@sratx.org)

 

Printed Monday, May 21, 2007 at 13:50