Lone Star Healthy Streams Program Set for Feb. 18 in Bonham

Focus on North Texas Municipal Water District’s Bois d’Arc Lake watershed

WYLIE, TX – Feb. 14, 2022:  The Bois d’Arc Lake Watershed Partnership will host an in-person Lone Star Healthy Streams Workshop on Feb. 18 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in Fannin County at 2505 N Center St. in Bonham. The workshop is free and lunch is provided for $15 per person. Preregistration is required, please sign up at:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lonestar-healthy-streams-program-tickets-260607663537.  The program will run from 9  a.m. to  1p.m.

The Bois d’Arc Lake Watershed Partnership includes Fannin County, Fannin County Soil and Water Conservation District, Cities of Bonham and Honey Grove, Texas A&M AgriLife, North Texas Municipal Water District and other stakeholders.

“The Partnership was formed early in 2021 to guide development of the Bois d’Arc Lake Watershed Protection Plan,” said David Cowan, Watershed Manager for North Texas Municipal Water District.

Cowan said that the non-regulatory watershed protection plan for Bois d’Arc Lake aims to guide efforts for protecting and improving water quality. More information on this project will be presented at the workshop.

Two Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education credits for pesticide applicators are available. One Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and one general.

The Feb. 18 program presentations will focus on the Bois d’Arc Lake watershed and will discuss basic watershed function, water quality, and specific best management practices that can be implemented to help minimize bacterial contamination originating from livestock and feral hogs.

“The goal of the Lone Star Healthy Streams program is to educate Texas livestock producers and landowners about how to best protect Texas waterways from bacterial contamination associated with beef cattle, horses, and feral hogs,” said Leanne Wiley, AgriLife Extension program specialist and Lone Star Healthy Streams instructor, Bryan-College Station.

Funding for this effort is provided through a Clean Water Act §319(h) Nonpoint Source Grant administered by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For more information on the workshop, contact Wiley at 979-318-2617 or leanne.wiley@ag.tamu.edu; Cowan at 469-626-4416 or dcowan@NTMWD.com or Cody Maxwell, AgriLife Extension agent for Fannin County at cody.maxwell@ag.tamu.edu or 903-583-7453.

To learn more about this effort and download a digital copy of the Draft Bois d’Arc Lake Watershed Protection Plan, please visit www.BoisdArcLake.org/watershed