A Texas Watershed Steward workshop on water quality and water management related to Lake Conroe and other area watersheds will be held from 1-5 p.m. June 21 at the San Jacinto River Authority main office.
The office is located at 1577 Dam Site Road in Conroe.
The workshop will be presented by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board in cooperation with the river authority.
The training is free and open to anyone interested in improving water quality in the region, said program coordinators. Participants are encouraged to preregister at the Texas Watershed Steward website at http://tws.tamu.edu.
A free sandwich lunch with refreshments provided by the river authority will begin at 12:30 p.m. for attendees who preregister by June 19.
Training will include an overview of water quality and watershed management in Texas, but will primarily focus on area water quality, including current and future efforts to help improve and protect local watersheds, said Michael Kuitu, AgriLife Extension program specialist and coordinator for the Texas Watershed Steward program.
“There will be a discussion of watershed systems, as well as the types and sources of water pollution,” Kuitu said. “We’ll also have a discussion about ways to improve and protect water quality and the importance of community-driven watershed protection and management.”
Attendees will receive the Texas Watershed Steward Handbook and a certificate of completion. The program offers four continuing education units in soil and water management for certified crop advisers, four units for professional engineers and certified planners, four credits for certified teachers and two credits for nutrient management specialists. A total of four professional development hours are available for professional geoscientists licensed by the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists.
There are also three general continuing education units for Texas Department of Agriculture pesticide license holders, four for certified landscape architects and three for certified floodplain managers. Four continuing education credits are offered for each of the following Texas Commission on Environmental Quality occupational licensees: wastewater system operators, public water system operators, on-site sewage facility installers and landscape irrigators.
Kuitu said he wants to encourage local residents and other stakeholders throughout and beyond the Conroe area to attend the workshop to become better informed about their water resources and how to manage, improve and protect them.
The Texas Watershed Steward program is funded through a Clean Water Act nonpoint source grant from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
For more information, go to the Texas Watershed Steward website or contact Kuitu at 979-862-4457,mkuitu@tamu.edu; or AgriLife Extension agents Michael Heimer in Montgomery County at 936-539-7822, michael.heimer@ag.tamu.edu; or Michael Potter in Montgomery County at 936-539-7824,mpotter@ag.tamu.edu.
