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Exploring Water and Watersheds

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Exploring Water and Watersheds TEXAS WATERS Exploring Water and Watersheds Edited by Johnnie E. Smith txwaters_cover.indd 1 8/31/16 3:15 PM TEXAS WATERS Exploring Water and Watersheds EDITED BY JOHNNIE SMITH About the Texas Waters Curriculum Project This project’s aim is to inform and educate the citizens of Texas about the most precious natural resource Texas possesses, its water. Many challenges face our state concerning water, in particular in our aquatic habitats, the water for wildlife. Texas Parks and Wildlife wants you to know that we value the natural and cultural resources of Texas and want there to always be drinkable, swimmable, and fishable waters in our great state. The curriculum was adapted and edited by Johnnie Smith, Texas Parks and Wildlife Conservation Edu- cation Manager. Nancy Herron, Outreach and Education Director for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, provided leadership, direction, as well as content review. The Texas Waters curriculum project was funded by the Sport Fish Restoration Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The information, drawings, photos and / or other content in this curriculum can be used for noncommercial and / or educational purposes as long as they are not reproduced for sale or presented as original works. Credit lines must be maintained if already displayed in this curriculum. Organizations seeking to use drawings, artwork, or photos that were used by this curriculum with specific permission must obtain their own permission from the source. Reproduced information that is utilized verbatim should be credited as follows: “Information courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife: Texas Waters.” In accordance with Texas State Depository Law, this publication is available at the Texas State Publications Clearinghouse and/or Texas Depository Libraries. © Texas Parks and Wildlife, PWD BK K0700-1931 (8/17) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department | ii | Texas Waters: Exploring Water and Watersheds Acknowledgements The Texas Waters Curriculum project was funded by the Sport Fish Restoration Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was made possible through the support and contributions of several agencies and many individuals. Special thanks go to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency who granted permission to use and adapt their Watershed Academy Web materials for this project.. This content was the primary source for Texas Waters. In addition, the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service’s Texas Watershed Steward’s Handbook, the Texas Water Development Board’s State Water Plan, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s 2014 National Climate Assessment all granted permission to use and / or adapt mate- rials for this project. Thanks go out to the American Institute of Biological Sciences, Baylor University, Canadian Science Publishing, the City of Austin, the Guadalupe- Blanco River Authority, the Lower Colorado River Authority, the National Water Management Center, the Texas Agrilife Extension Service, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas Water Development Board, The Groundwater Foundation, The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, the U. S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and Zara Environmental, LLC. Additional contributors and reviewers include: Sally Alderman Kira McEntire R. D. Bartlett Monica McGarrity Dr. Timothy Beardsley Temple McKinnon Nathan Bendik Wyman Meinzer Lisa Benton Melissa Mullins John Botros Earl Nottingham Kathryn Burger Tulsi Oberbeck Dee Ann Chamberlain Dr. Howard Perlman Stephen Curtis Rima Petrossian Chase Fountain Thera Pritchard Robin Gary Dr. Larry Redmon Julia Gregory Katie Reeves Tom Harvey Clint Robertson Nancy Herron Dr. Rudolph Rosen Gordon Linam Cindy Loeffler Joshua Schauer Dr. Sandra Johnson Cappy Smith Cindy Kreifels Jan Surface Dr. Jean Krejca Valerie Taber Genevieve Lung Cinde Thomas- Jimenez Stephan Magnelia Dr. Kevin Wagner Marsha May Dr. Mark Wentzel Texas Waters: Exploring Water and Watersheds | iii | Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Introduction Texas’ hydrology seems to be an ongoing cycle of feast or famine. The National Drought Mitigation Center calls this pattern of flood and drought the “Hydroillogical Cycle.” Public awareness and a willingness to conserve water is most evident when strict water conservation efforts are in place and the drought is regularly in the news. But, when lake levels and aquifers run high, water use and conservation no longer makes headlines. Sadly, water awareness in Texas is not as “top-of-mind” as we wish it were. Although studies show that knowing the source of one’s drinking water is one of the greatest predictors of water conservation practices, in a 2014 statewide survey conducted by the Texas Water Foundation, only 28 percent of Texans indicated they “defi- nitely know” the source of their drinking water. In addition, most Texans don’t pay for the true value of their water. At most, they pay for water infrastruc- ture and the cost of delivery. In fact, many Texans pay more for their cell phone plan than they do for the life sustaining water that is readily available at their faucet. At times, it seems our priorities are a bit out of whack. Our economy, our natural ecosystems, and our very way of life in Texas are reliant on fishable, swimmable, drinkable water. We need water that is available in sufficient quantities to sustain life, not only in our urban centers, but also in the rural Texas countryside. Perhaps more importantly, Texas needs clean water, in the right amounts, with seasonal variability to sustain the diverse aquatic ecosystems throughout our great state. I hope you’ll find the contents of this curriculum challenging and enlightening, encouraging and empower- ing. I hope that you’ll take away a new understanding of Texas Waters, from the nuts and bolts of the individual watershed and ecosystem structures, to the big picture of how they all tie together to create the beautiful mosaic that is Texas. Mostly, I want to inspire your appreciation and love of the outdoors, and create in you a willingness to protect and conserve it. Johnnie E. Smith Conservation Education Manager, Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) Texas Parks and Wildlife Department | iv | Texas Waters: Exploring Water and Watersheds Table of Contents About the Texas Waters Curriculum Project ................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iii Introduction .................................................................................................................................iv Chapter One: Texas Aquatic Habitats and the Species They Support ....................................................... 1 Questions to Consider................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................1 Rivers and Streams ....................................................................................................................................... 2 Species as Indicators of Stream Health ..................................................................................................2 Aquifers and Springs ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Aquifers .................................................................................................................................................7 Springs ..................................................................................................................................................9 Aquifer and Spring Ecosystems ...........................................................................................................11 Significant Species ...............................................................................................................................12 Wetlands ..................................................................................................................................................... 16 What determines a wetland? ...............................................................................................................16 Types of Wetlands ...............................................................................................................................16 Significant Species ...............................................................................................................................18 Bays and Estuaries ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Seagrass ...............................................................................................................................................21 Significant Species ...............................................................................................................................21 Gulf Coast .................................................................................................................................................. 23 Texas Gulf Ecological Management Sites (GEMS) ..............................................................................23
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