Event Details — TCEQ public meeting, Greens Bayou bacteria levels

From the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality:

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has made available for public comment eight draft total maximum daily loads for indicator bacteria in Greens Bayou above tidal and its tributaries (Segments 1016, 1016A, 1016B, 1016C, and 1016D) located in Harris County and in the San Jacinto River Basin. The public meeting will be held on January 21, 2010 at 6:30 p.m., in the Lone Star College Greenspoint Center Building, 3rd Floor, Room 306, located at 250 North Sam Houston Parkway East in Houston.

At this meeting individuals will have the opportunity to present oral statements on these proposed plans to improve water quality in these segments of the waterway.

The state of Texas requires that the water quality in Greens Bayou be suitable for swimming, wading, fishing, and a healthy aquatic ecosystem. Water quality testing has found that bacteria levels are sometimes higher than the current standard established to assure safe contact recreation. More information can be found through the TCEQ’s Web site.

This meeting provides the public an opportunity to comment on each of the nine major components of the draft TMDLs: problem definition, endpoint identification, source analysis, seasonal variation, linkage between sources and receiving waters, margin of safety, pollutant loading allocation, public participation, and implementation and reasonable assurance.

After the public comment period, TCEQ staff may revise the TMDLs, if appropriate. The final TMDLs will then be considered by the commission for adoption. Once the TMDLs are adopted, the final TMDLs and a response to all comments will be made available on the TCEQ Web site. The TMDLs will then be submitted to EPA Region 6 for approval and certified as an update to the State of Texas Water Quality Management Plan.