Coalition Notes

Forests for Clean Water
The theme of this year’s River Bottom Festival, sponsored by the San Jacinto Conservation Coalition, is Forests for Clean Water. The event, which will take place all day on March 9 at Lake Houston State Park, will focus on the connection between healthy forests and a healthy environment.

Recent studies by the U.S. Geological Survey and by Kingwood College students indicate water is far healthier where forest remains in the watershed. As forest is replaced with urban development, water quality declines significantly. Kingwood biology students found that as the extent of forest canopy declined, phosphate levels increased, fecal coliform bacteria levels increased, turbidity increased, total dissolved solids increased, and dissolved oxygen levels declined. A recent U.S. Geological Survey study by J. Bruce Moring indicated a strong correlation between biodiversity of aquatic invertebrates and forest cover in the San Jacinto River Basin – as forest declined, biodiversity declined. Aquatic invertebrates are used by scientists as indicators of water quality because they are very sensitive to pollution.

Many interactive activities are planned for the all-day environmental expo, including kid-fish trips to Peach Creek, live birds of prey, booths, hands-on exhibits, canoe rentals, and food. A night-time canoe marathon, the East Fork/West Fork Challenge, will follow in the wee hours of Sunday morning. For more information, visit www.sanjacinto.cc.

EcoNotes

TNRCC Approves Controversial Reservoir
On January 18, 2002, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) authorized construction of Allens Creek Reservoir, which will supply water to Houston and Fort Bend and Brazoria counties. The 7,000-acre lake, located 50 miles west of Houston where the Brazos River meets Allens Creek, will provide 99,650 acre-feet of water per year, meeting the demands of 150,000 families.

“The resuscitated Allens Creek reservoir project 50 miles west of Houston is yet another example of an outdated approach to water planning and waste of tax dollars,” says Dave Moldal, National Wildlife Federation’s Texas Regional Organizer. “This project is emblematic of unnecessary water projects all over the state. With more attention paid to conservation and drought management and reallocation of existing water rights, future water ‘needs’ in a region could often be met without construction of environmentally destructive and very expensive water projects.”

“Besides the destruction of 7,000 acres of agricultural land, Allens Creek reservoir will reduce environmental flows: water that is needed in rivers to support fish and wildlife resources and water necessary to support wetlands and riparian vegetation,” explains Moldal. Free-flowing streams serve as wildlife corridors for migratory waterfowl and neo-tropical songbirds, and are habitat for threatened fish species and fresh water mussels. In addition to capturing the flows of Allens Creek, water from the Brazos River would be pumped into the reservoir. Although not flowing directly into a bay, the lower portion of the Brazos serves as an estuary, supporting numerous fish, shrimp, and other organisms that rely upon the nutrients, sediments, and the mixture of fresh and salt water that river flows provide.

Moldal and others also question whether the reservoir is really needed. Present supplies more than meet projected area demands through 2050, without the construction of the three proposed reservoirs in the Region H section of the State Water Plan. Plan developers chose building new reservoirs over transferring water from one place to another by pipeline or other method, which would be a more ecologically sound alternative, according to Moldal.

Rice Environmental Conference Scheduled
The 10th Annual Rice Environmental Conference will be held on Saturday, April 6th from 9:30 am to 4 pm in the Rice Memorial Center. This year’s focus will be on Energy in the Future; the conference will address deregulation, alternative energy, and individual activism. For more information, contact Shalene Jha at 713-348-7069 or shalene@rice.edu.