A collaborative program of the Texas Sea Grant College Program and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is offering a free six-hour workshop in Victoria June 21 about natural techniques to clean and conserve stormwater.
“Managing our Stormwater, from Gutter to Gator” will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Victoria Educational Gardens Pavilion at 283 Bachelor Drive. The program is designed for professionals in industry, municipalities, contracting, education or other fields, or for anyone interested in water quality improvements.
The workshop will be conducted by the Texas Coastal Watershed Program (TCWP), a cooperative educational and outreach effort between Texas Sea Grant and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension that provides information to local governments and citizens about how land use decisions affect watershed health and water quality.
“Victoria is the regional hub for the seven-county area known as the Golden Crescent, and being the ‘big city’ in a rural area makes it the ideal location to offer educational programs on stormwater management, which is regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality,” said Rhonda Cummins, Calhoun County Coastal and Marine Resources Agent for the Texas Sea Grant College Program and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. “Often rural areas may not have the resources they need or timely information to help guide decision-makers. This is a void that the Extension Service tries to fill by working with local stakeholder groups.”
The workshop will include sessions on collecting and cleansing stormwater runoff at home and in the neighborhood, water-efficient landscapes that provide function and beauty, using wetlands in flood control basins for water quality and habitat, and the benefits of large-scale wetland restoration.
“Our streams and bays are greatly impacted by the quality of the stormwater flowing into them, and now is a great time to start improving it with practices that can be implemented at home, in neighborhoods, or beyond,” said Mary Carol Edwards, TCWP’s Stormwater Wetland Program Specialist and one of the presenters at the workshop.
There is no charge to attend the workshop, but online registration at http://tcwp.tamu.edu/event/ is required by June 20. Lunch is included with registration. Anyone needing special accommodations should contact Matt Bochat at 361-575-4581 at least five days in advance.
For more information about the workshop, contact Cummins at rcummins@tamu.edu or 361-552-9747.
