Double Bayou Watershed Protection Plan Developed by The th June 7 , 2016 Cover photo of East Fork Double Bayou at Sykes Road Sampling Station. ii Double Bayou Watershed Protection Plan Prepared for the Double Bayou Watershed Partnership By Dr. Stephanie Glenn and Ryan Bare Houston Advanced Research Center Funding for the development of this Watershed Protection Plan was provided through a federal Clean Water Act §319 (h) grant to the Houston Advanced Research Center, administered by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. i Acknowledgements This document is a collaborative effort between many groups, committees, stakeholders and individuals. Cooperation between groups and individuals has been paramount to the success of the Double Bayou Watershed Protection Plan development process. Every person and group has played an important role in the process. The Double Bayou Watershed Partnership (Partnership) expresses thanks to members of the stakeholder workgroups, who committed great amounts of time and energy to participate in the Double Bayou Watershed Protection Plan development. The members of the Agriculture, Feral Hogs and Wildlife Workgroup, the Recreation and Hunting Workgroup and Wastewater and Septic Workgroup supported and directed the process; without them, development of this plan would not have been possible. The Partnership also wishes to thank the stakeholder members of the Geographic Task Force, who spent extra time on aiding with the efforts of on-the-ground fact checking for spatial analysis. The Partnership would like to thank the following entities for their technical assistance and advice: • Texas Commission on Environmental Quality • Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board • Texas Parks & Wildlife Department • USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency • USDA Farm Service Agency • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service • U.S. Geological Survey • Texas A&M AgriLife Research The Partnership wishes to thank: Linda Shead of Shead Conservation Solutions for efforts in the development of Section 2.2 Human History and Chapter 3 Public Participation of the document, as well as time in reviewing the document. Bradley S. Neish of HARC for SELECT modeling, SELECT chapter contributions and review and the generation of Partnership map figures. Lisa Marshall of TCEQ for her time in reviewing the document. Dr. Stephanie Glenn, Linda Shead and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service for all photos contained in this document (Specifically, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service through Mark Tyson for feral hog images). TJ Helton and Brian Koch of the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board for their time in reviewing the document and providing technical support throughout the process. The Partnership also wishes to extend thanks to those who helped with meetings and workshops, specifically: Meeting Logistics: Chambers County Precinct Two for making space available for general stakeholder meetings at the Double Bayou Community Building, the White’s Park Community Building, and the Oak Island Community Building. ii Chambers County Economic Development Office for providing a sound system for general meetings and workshops. Chambers County Parks Department for arranging the set-up of tables and chairs for meetings in the community buildings. Chambers County Emergency Management for use of the screen for general meetings and workshops. Chambers Recovery Team for providing space for multiple workgroup meetings. Chambers-Liberty Counties Navigation District and Chambers County Engineering Office for meeting space for the Geographic Task Force. Refreshments: • Chambers County • Guy Robert Jackson • Chambers County Appraisal Company • Jeri’s Seafood • Chambers County Recovery Team • Samson Energy • Chambers-Liberty Counties Navigation District • Shead Conservation Solutions • Trinity Bay SWCD #434 • Trinity Bay Conservation District • Galveston Bay Foundation Workshops: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, for Texas Watershed Steward Training and Feral Hog Workshop Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and others for Riparian Workshop Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, for Septic System Workshop Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Well Owner Network, Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, and others for the Well-Owner Workshop Guest Presenters at General Meetings: Linda Broach, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, for PCB/Dioxin presentation and water quality Q&A Ryan Gerlich, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, for OSSF presentation Jennifer Peterson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, for Lone Star Healthy Streams presentation Stephen Scalise, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, for Local Government and Small Business Assistance presentation Charlene Bohanon, Galveston Bay Foundation, for Cease the Grease presentation Scott Jones, Galveston Bay Foundation, for Galveston Bay Report Card presentation The Partnership is especially grateful to the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Galveston Bay Estuary Program for funding support. Funding provided through these agencies allowed for development of Double Bayou Watershed Protection Plan and established a solid foundation for watershed stewardship in the Double Bayou Watershed. iii Statement of Purpose A healthy Double Bayou is vital to support regional commerce, while providing native riparian habitat and recreation opportunities in Chambers County. The land surrounding the West and East Forks of Double Bayou provide excellent grazing and farming. In 2012, the West Fork of Double Bayou was listed by the State of Texas for elevated levels of bacteria and low dissolved oxygen. The East Fork of Double Bayou was identified as a concern for near-nonattainment of water quality standards for elevated levels of bacteria and as a water quality concern based on screening levels for low dissolved oxygen. In response, the Double Bayou Watershed Protection Plan was developed using a stakeholder process driven by public participation to provide a foundation for restoring and maintaining water quality in the Double Bayou Watershed. Development of the Plan involved assessing key water quality issues in the Double Bayou Watershed and determining nonpoint sources of pollution that contribute to these issues. With this knowledge, management programs and public outreach efforts have been developed to restore and protect the vital water resources of the watershed. Stakeholders are any individual or group that may be directly or indirectly affected by activities implemented to protect water quality such as citizens, businesses, municipalities, city and county governments, nonprofit organizations and state agencies. This document is a means by which stakeholders can become familiar with the Double Bayou Watershed and be active watershed stewards by making a difference in the quality and health of their streams through voluntary management practices. The document is a starting point to focus restoration efforts and enable financial and technical assistance to facilitate improvements in the Double Bayou Watershed. The Double Bayou Watershed Protection Plan is intended to be a living document, adjusted to include new data and modified as conditions in the watershed change over time. It will evolve as needs and circumstances dictate and will be guided by stakeholders as they undertake active stewardship of the watershed. iv Table of Contents Page Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... ii Statement of Purpose ..................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xi Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... xii 1 Watershed Management........................................................................................................ 14 1.1 What is a Watershed? ..................................................................................................... 14 1.2 Watersheds and Water Quality ....................................................................................... 14 1.3 Water Quality Standards ................................................................................................ 15 1.4 A Watershed Approach to Water Quality Management ................................................ 16 1.4.1 Watershed Approach ............................................................................................... 16 1.4.2 Watershed Protection Planning for Double Bayou ................................................. 16 2 State of the Double Bayou Watershed .................................................................................. 18 2.1 Double