Arroyo Colorado: A Watershed Protection Plan for Dissolved Oxygen

Related Links:

TMDLs: Improving Water Quality

Arroyo Colorado Watershed Partnership and Steering Committee

Arroyo Colorado: TMDL Project for Legacy Pollutants

Map and Segment Descriptions: Nueces–Rio Grande Coastal Basin (PDF)

Counties: Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy
Parameter: Dissolved oxygen
Basin: Nueces–Rio Grande Coastal Basin
Segment: 2201

Laguna Atascosa near the mouth of the Arroyo Colorado

• Watershed Protection Plan Project Overview
  (PDF. Help with PDF)
• Background and Goals
• Public Meetings and Participation
• Pollutant Reduction Plan
• For More Information

Background
and Goals

The Arroyo Colorado, an ancient distributary channel of the Rio Grande, extends 90 miles from Mission, Texas to the Laguna Madre in the Rio Grande Valley. Water quality analyses show that dissolved oxygen concentrations in the Arroyo are not optimal for the support of fish and other aquatic life. The goal of the project is to restore the quality of the Arroyo to conditions that will support a healthy aquatic community.

Results of a TMDL analysis developed in 2002 indicated that the dissolved oxygen problem in the tidal segment is related as much to the physical setting and geomorphology of the Arroyo Colorado as it is to the loading of nutrients and oxygen-demanding substances from the non-tidal segment.

In July 2002, based on the TMDL analysis, the TCEQ initiated a project with area stakeholders to develop a watershed protection plan. In a related effort, the TCEQ will refine the draft TMDL that was developed with the assistance of the stakeholders in 2002. An Overview (PDF) provides highlights about the development of the TMDL, which will provide measurable environmental targets for the watershed protection plan.

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Public Meetings and Participation

A steering committee has been established advise the TCEQ on this project. The steering committee established five work groups to address key elements of the plan. Meetings of the steering committee and work groups are open to all. Find out more about meetings and membership of the steering committee and its work groups.

Pollutant Reduction Plan

This document describes the regulatory and voluntary measures in effect and planned for the next ten years to reduce the pollutant loadings from sanitary wastewater flowing into the Arroyo Colorado.

• Pollutant Reduction Plan (PDF. Help with PDF.)

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For More Information

For information about the advisory committee, call Earlene Lambeth at 512/239-3129. For technical information regarding the project, call Roger Miranda at 512/239-6278. Or e-mail us at tmdl@tceq.state.tx.us and reference the Arroyo Colorado Watershed Protection Plan in the subject line.

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