Greetings!

 

The Texas Well Owners Network is providing a water well screening day for Bastrop, Fayette and Lee county residentsPick up a sample bag and sampling instructions from the Bastrop, Fayette, and Lee County AgriLife Extension Offices. Drop off samples by 10:00 am on October 4, 2012.  Click here for copy of press release.

Sample bag & instructions:   Participants may pick up and drop off water well samples to various locations including: the Bastrop County AgriLife Extension Office, 901 Pecan Street, Bastrop, Texas, the Fayette County AgriLife Extension Office, 255 Svoboda Lane, Room 134, LaGrange, Texas, or the Lee County AgriLife Extension Office, 310 South Grimes, Giddings, Texas. Please turn samples in by 10:00 a.m October 4. Samples from private water wells will be screened for common contaminants including fecal coliform bacteria, nitrates, and high salinity. The cost is $10 per sample. Click here for information about the screening parameters

You can contact the Bastrop County Extension Office by calling (512) 581-7186, the Fayette County Extension Office by calling (979) 968-5831, or the Lee County Extension Office by calling (979) 542-2753. It is very important that only sampling bags from the County Extension Office be used and all instructions for proper sampling followed to ensure accurate results.

 

Meeting to explain results on November 9th:  A meeting explaining screening results will be held at 10:00 a.m. on November 9, 2012 at the Fayette County Extension Meeting Room, 255 Svoboda Lane, LaGrange, Texas. For more information, please contact the Fayette County Extension Agent, Scott Willey (979-968-5831) or Steve Box, with Environmental Stewardship, Inc. It is extremely important to be at this meeting to receive your results, learn corrective measures for identified problems, and to improve your understanding of private well management.

 

Support for the screening day is provided by the Bastrop, Fayette, and Lee County Offices of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, the Lower Colorado River Authority, the Texas Water Resources Institute, and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.  Support for the Texas Well Owner Network program is provided through Clean Water Act §319(h) Nonpoint Source funding from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Agreement No. 10-04.

 

Well & Spring Survey:  Environmental Stewardship is interested in learning about the ownership of groundwater and surface water rights by our constituency in the following counties:  Bastrop, Brazos, Burleson, Falls, Fayette, Freestone, Lee, Leon, Limestone, Madison, Milam, Navarro, Robertson, and Williamson counties
To gather this information we have prepared a very simple five question survey.  Please click the link below and take the survey. 


Thank you for taking the time to respond to the survey and help us protect the natural resources of our region. 

 

Steve Box

Executive Director

Environmental Stewardship    

                                                   

                                                                                
ES logo jpg
Well Water Monitoring   August 2012
Protecting the Natural Resources of the Lost Pines Region
ScreeningParametersWell Water Screening Parameters

Samples from private water wells will be screened for common contaminants including fecal coliform bacteria, nitrates, and high salinity.

 

Fecal coliform:  The presence of fecal coliform bacteria in water indicates that waste from humans or warm-blooded animals may have contaminated the water. Water contaminated with fecal coliform bacteria is more likely to also have pathogens present that can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, or other symptoms.

 

Nitrates:  Water with nitrates at levels of 10 parts per million (ppm) is considered unsafe for human consumption. Nitrate levels above 10 ppm can disrupt the blood's ability to carry oxygen throughout the body, resulting in a condition called methemoglobinemia. Infants less than 6 months of age and young livestock are most susceptible.

 

Salinity:  Salinity as measured by Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) will also be determined for each sample. Water with high TDS levels may leave deposits and have a salty taste. Additionally, using water with high TDS for irrigation may damage the soil or plants.

 

 

Spring rains benefit Matagorda Bay
Fresh ShrimpREPORT FROM THE FIELD

The rain we got down on the coast in April was a blessing.  It was too late for the oysters for this season but if the water temperature was high enough in the bays, it should have helped the oyster spawn.

It definitely helped the shrimp in the estuaries; we now have a crop that looks better than in maybe the last ten years.  Of course this still remains to be seen, the gulf season doesn't open until July 15, but still what's been caught in the bays has looked very encouraging.  A steady flow of fresh water year round is what the bays have needed for quite a while.

Buddy Treybig, Commercial Fisherman, Matagorda Texas

Click here to comment


websiteblog New Website and Blog
WebsiteHeaderLaGrangeWe are excited to announce that we have a new website and blog.  The site contains the same information that was on our old site, but now includes the ability to BLOG.  This means the site is MUCH MORE INTERACTIVE by allowing you, the reader, to make comments on specific pages and information posted.  We look forward to having a conversation with you about your interests and concerns. 

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Environmental Stewardship is a charitable nonprofit organization whose purposes are to meet current and future needs of the environment and its inhabitants by protecting and enhancing the earth's natural resources; to restore and sustain ecological services using scientific information; and to encourage public stewardship through environmental education and outreach. 

We are a Texas nonprofit 501(c) (3) charitable organization headquartered in Bastrop, Texas.  
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