Lone Star Healthy Streams to hold workshop in cove

A Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop will be held July 29 at the Copperas Cove Independent School District Board Room, 703 W. Ave. D in Copperas Cove. The Lone Star Healthy Streams program aims to educate Texas livestock producers and landowners on how to best protect Texas waterways from bacterial contamination associated with livestock production and feral hogs, said Matt Brown, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist in College Station. The workshop will begin at 10 a.m. and end by 3 p.m. A catered lunch will be provided at no cost, but an RSVP is requested by July 27. To RSVP, go to http://lshs.tamu.edu/workshops/ or call Brown at 979-862-8072. Three Texas Department of Agriculture general continuing education units will be provided for certified pesticide applicators. Brown said about 300 Texas water bodies do not comply with state water quality standards established for E. coli bacteria, including the Lampasas River watershed, which is the focus of this meeting. By participating in this workshop, livestock producers and landowners can learn specific conservation practices that can help combat bacteria pollution and improve and protect the quality of Texas water bodies, he said. In November 2009, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board established the Lampasas River Watershed Partnership to assess and improve water quality in the watershed, said Lisa Prcin, AgriLife Research associate, Temple. The partnership analyzed water quality data, identified water quality concerns that are of importance to communities within the watershed and developed a watershed protection plan. The plan was approved by the Lampasas River Watershed Partnership and accepted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2013. It includes a 10-year timeline for full implementation. “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,” said Pasquale Swaner, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent in Coryell County. 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 EPA.