Caddo Lake Watershed And Environmental Flows Red River Valley Association Meeting June 1, 2016 Richard Lowerre Caddo Lake Institute Focus on Talk Why and How of Restoring and Protecting Instream Flows For Environmental Purposes Caddo Lake Watershed Natural History of Caddo Lake The Great Raft on the Red River About 100 Miles Long, Moving 1 Mile/Year CADDO LAKE INSTITUTE Founded in 1992 by Don Henley A nonprofit corporation for scientific and educational purposes To assist the communities of Caddo Lake to protect the Lake, wetlands and watershed. Ramsar designation Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge Protection of Instream or Environmental Flows www.caddolake.us What We Try to Do Assist the local communities with protection of Caddo Lake and thus, its watershed. Obtain Ramsar designation. Convert the Army ammunition plant to a wildlife refuge. Protect the water quality Address the problems of invasive species Assure adequate flows - amount and timing - to Caddo The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands Signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971 Over 160 Countries Have Joined Over 2000 wetland designated “Wetlands of International Importance,” with 160 million hectares Caddo Lake designated in 1993 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, International Affairs 1. Izembek National Wildlife Refuge(NWR) 2. Forsythe NWR 3. Okefenokee NWR 4. Ash Meadows NWR 5. Everglades National Park 6. Chesapeake Bay Estuarine Complex 7. Cheyenne Bottoms 8. Cache-Lower White Rivers 9. Horicon Marsh 10. Catahoula Lake 11. Delaware Bay Estuary 12. Pelican Island NWR 13. Caddo Lake 14. Connecticut River Estuary 15. Cache River-Cypress Creek Wetlands 16. Sand Lake NWR 17. Bolinas Lagoon 18. Quivira NWR 19. Tomales Bay 20. Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve 21. Grassland Ecological Area 22. Kawainui and Hamakua Marsh Complex From 22 sites – 1.3 million hectares of wetlands What Ramsar Does/Does Not Do Ramsar Does: Ramsar Does Not: Encourage nations to Impose restrictions on promote wetlands nations and landowners conservation and designate wetlands of Affect sovereignty rights international importance. – site listing is voluntary Provide guidelines, Act as a regulating entity educational materials, & or a UN convention proposals for protection of wetlands. Daily Average Streamflow in Big Cypress Creek at USGS Gage 07346000 60000 50000 40000 30000 Discharge (cfs) Discharge 20000 10000 0 8/1/1924 8/1/1927 8/1/1930 8/1/1933 8/1/1936 8/1/1939 8/1/1942 8/1/1945 8/1/1948 8/1/1951 8/1/1954 8/1/1957 8/1/1960 8/1/1963 8/1/1966 8/1/1969 8/1/1972 8/1/1975 8/1/1978 8/1/1981 8/1/1984 8/1/1987 8/1/1990 8/1/1993 8/1/1996 8/1/1999 8/1/2002 Environmental Flow Project Started in 2004 with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Nature Conservancy and others To bring scientist and stakeholders together to discuss what might be needed and possible to restore some of the historic functions of Big Cypress (and protect those functions for other rivers in the watershed.) Sustainable Rivers Project Goals of Instream Flows Project for the Caddo Lake Watershed in 2004 1. A consensus recommendation for instream flow regimes for the basin – not just below Lake O’ the Pines; 2. New Operating Plan for releases from Lake O' the Pines to provide more natural flows in Big Cypress Bayou; 3. Official recognition of the flow regimes in Texas programs; and 4. A Long-term Adaptive Management Process 2007 Senate Bill 3 TCEQ shall adopt appropriate environmental flow standards for most river basin … that are adequate to support a sound ecological environment, to the maximum extent reasonable considering other public interests and other relevant factors. The standards shall be recommended by scientist and stakeholders for each river basin, based on environmental flow regime Process to Develop The Recommendations December 2004 April 2005 2005, 2006. 2008. 2011, 2016 Major Participating Organizations (Over 100 participating organizations since 2004) Federal Agencies Universities U.S. Army Corps of Engineers East Texas Baptist University U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service LSU Shreveport USGS Texas Water Center Stephen F. Austin University TX A&M University USGS Nat. Wetland Resource Center Lafayette, LA Other Organizations American Electric Power State Agencies Ducks Unlimited LA Dept.. of Environmental Quality TX Greater Caddo Lake Association LA Dept.. of Wildlife & Fisheries Nature Conservancy TX Comm. on Environmental Quality Red River Valley Association TX Parks & Wildlife Dept.. TXU/Luminant Time Table for Major Activities 2004: Orientation Meeting (~60 scientists and stakeholders). 2005: Texas A&M Report - Summarizing the past research. 2005: First Project Workshop (~90 scientists and stakeholders). 2005 Began new research & field work to filling data gaps. 2006: Science Planning Meetings - to guide research. 2006: Second Project Workshop (~80 scientists and stakeholders). 2007: Science Planning Meetings – to guide research. 2008: Third Project Workshop (~ 75 scientist and stakeholders). 2009-11: Science Planning Meetings - to guide research. 2011: Fourth Project Workshop – (~ 75 scientist and stakeholders 2012-15: Science Planning Meetings –to guide research. 2014-16: Experimental reintroduction of paddlefish with transmitters 2016: Fifth Project Workshop Scheduled for December. Current Status Reach Consensus Recommendations: Reached in December 2011 Flows Workshop. Change in LOP Operating Plan: Five year experiment set up in 2011. Permanent change 2017? State Recognition of Flow Regimes: Included in the 2017 State Water Plan. Adaptive Management: Ongoing www.caddolakeinstitute.us/paddlefish_project.html Summary • 12 years of work for an on going experiment, • $5,000,000 in research, experiments, and the process, • 100 organizations, 200 participants working and learning together • Corps of Engineers fully cooperating • Potentially avoiding future fights over endangered species. www.caddolake.us www.caddolakedata.us Caddo Lake Institute www.caddolake.us www.caddolakedata.us [email protected] Caddo Lake.