Water Quality Management in the Lower Rio Water Quality Management in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Arroyo ColoradoGrande Valley and Arroyo Colorado

Presented at the 17th Annual LRGV Water Quality Management Conference

South Padre Island, Texas

Kim D. Jones/Joe Hinojosa

May 20, 2015

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Environmental Engineer: What does it mean?

Environmental Engineer: What does it mean?

An Environmental Engineer is a professional that applies Science and Engineering principles to improve our environment (air, water, and/or land resources), to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms.

Environmental Engineering

• According to Fortune magazine, one of the hottest career paths for the next ten years is expected to be in environmental engineering.

• The article, "Hot Careers for the Next 10 years" puts the growth rate of demand for environmental engineers (at 54%) even higher than that of information systems managers, software engineers, and systems analysts.

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Program Specializations• Air Quality• Water Quality• Solid & Hazardous Waste

Management• Ecological Engineering• Environmental Modeling and

Informatics• Environmental Biotechnology• Geo-Environmental Systems

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Environmental Engineering Academic Programs

Environmental Engineering Academic Programs

• B.S. Program

The first and only B.S. Degree program in Environmental Engineering in South Texas started up in Spring 2009

• M.S. Program

• Ph.D. Program – only engineering Ph.D. program in South Texas

• Summer Programs

Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment

• Promote sustainable water management and conservation, and the development and implementation of new technology

• Provide leadership and coordination in the development of issues concerning the quality of ground-level air quality

• Energy research at the Institute focuses on further developing and promoting the use of new sustainable energy sources in the South Texas region.  Areas of study include citrus waste bio-refinery and solid waste bioreactors. 6

The Lower Rio Grande Valley

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LRGV NPDES Task Force Background

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• 17 Local governments comprise the Task Force, founded in 1998

• Task Force and workgroups meet regularly• A&M-K facilitates meetings and programs• Interlocal agreements

– Each member has one with A&M-K• Celebrated 17 years of existence in 2015

LRGV TPDES Stormwater Task Force

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• Jose Hinojosa, Chairperson• Santa Cruz Irrigation District #15

• Joe Figueroa, Vice-Chair• City of Brownsville

• David Salinas, Secretary/Reporter• City of Weslaco

• Kim D. Jones, Ph.D., P.E., Principal Investigator• A&M Kingsville

• Javier Guerrero, E.I.T., MS, Co-Principal Investigator• A&M Kingsville

REPRESENTATIVES

City of Brownsville – Jose Figueroa City of La Feria – Paula Rodriguez

City of Donna – Fernando Flores City of San Juan – Xavier Cervantes

City of Alton – Jeff Underwood City of Edinburg – Omar Cano City of San Benito – Jacinto Hinojosa Cameron County DD#1– Carlos Ayala

City of Los Fresnos – Carlos Salazar City of Weslaco – David Salinas

City of Mission – Juan De La Garza City of La Joya – Isidro Venecia

City of Palmview – Ramon Segovia City of Primera – Javier Mendez

Cameron County – Ernesto Hinojosa, P.E. City of Alamo – Ernesto Solis

Joe Hinojosa - Santa Cruz Irrigation District #15

SW Task Force Mission• Develop and implement Stormwater Management Plans

(SWMPs)– Regional plan (1st regional watershed plan)– Coalesce plans with partners

• Cities developing Best Management Practices (BMPs) that are innovative– Low Impact Development (LID)– Beyond compliance theme

• Partner and work with Arroyo Colorado Watershed Partnership (ACWP)

• Provide education and training (Soil Erosion Pollution Awareness, SEPA, LID Programs, others)

• Assist with partners’ TPDES program11

ARROYO COLORADO WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP

• Arroyo Colorado Watershed Protection Plan• Clean Water Act 319 Funding• Various Workgroups• Meets Quarterly in Weslaco• Going through and Update• Avoids Total Maximum Daily Loading (TMDL)

Mandates if successful

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More Partners• Arroyo Colorado Watershed Protection Partnership• Cameron County Coastal Community Coalition• UTPA Environmental Network• TCEQ Non Point Source Team• U.S. EPA Non Point Source CWA 319 program• Frontera Audubon, Valley Proud, other NGOs• Proposed National Estuary Plan for LL Madre

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