Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Lone Star Healthy Streams Workshop set for Sept. 18 in Lampasas




A Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop will be held Sept. 18 at the Farm Bureau building at 1793 N. U.S. Highway 281 in Lampasas.

The Lone Star Healthy Streams program aims to educate Texas livestock producers and land managers on how to best protect Texas waterways from bacterial contributions associated with livestock production and feral hogs.

The workshop is free to all participants and three continuing education credits will be provided for certified pesticide applicators through the Texas Department of Agriculture. The workshop will begin at 10 a.m. and end by 2:45 p.m. A catered lunch will be provided by the Lampasas County Farm Bureau Insurance Agents.

The workshop will focus specifically on issues within the Lampasas River Watershed, which is in the final phase of development of a watershed protection plan, Peterson said. A watershed protection plan is a coordinated framework for implementing prioritized and integrated water quality protection and restoration strategies driven by environmental objectives.

Workshop presentations will focus on basic watershed function, water quality and specific best management practices that can be implemented to help minimize bacterial contamination originating from beef cattle, horses, and feral hogs, Peterson said.

To RSVP for the workshop, please visit http://lshs.tamu.edu/workshops/ or call Peterson at 979-862-8072.

Currently, about 300 Texas water bodies do not comply with state water quality standards established for E. coli bacteria, Peterson said. By participating in this workshop, livestock producers and landowners can learn about specific conservation practices that can be utilized to help improve and protect the quality of Texas’ water bodies.

The Lone Star Healthy Streams program is funded through a Clean Water Act nonpoint source grant from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

You can also learn about future workshops and take part in the online course at the Lone Star Healthy Streams website