"Stay Connected in The Texas Hill Country" • Current News For Leakey & Surrounding Areas

By Lee Sweeten

3/9/10 

It is early Sunday Morning March 7, 2010 and as I sit here with my coffee I can hear the sounds of light rain on the tin roof…  To me that sound is one of the most relaxing and refreshing sounds there are.  It seems especially nice this year as we are coming out of a bad drought.  The signs of Spring are popping up all over the District.  Weeds and grass are beginning to shoot up and the fruit trees are in bloom.  Soon, you will get that irresistible urge to go out and begin work in the yard and garden.  When you do, think about drip irrigation and mulch for your plants and think about xeriscape.  Think how many hours you spent last year mowing, weed eating and watering..  If you cut the size of the lawn down by half, then you would have extra time and extra money to spend on something else and of course you would be conserving water. 

March 7 – 13, 2010 is National Groundwater Awareness Week.  As you know, Groundwater is defined as water percolating below the surface of the ground.  In Texas, groundwater provides 59% of all freshwater used, supplies 79% of the water used by agriculture and is a source of drinking water for over 6.95 million Texans.  For more information on National Groundwater Awareness Week visit

http://www.tgpc.state.tx.us/Natl_GW_Week_flyer_2010.pdf

This week, the USGS is supposed to be in Leakey to equip and set up the new monitor well.  The well should be extremely beneficial in monitoring water levels of the Frio River Alluvial Aquifer and will be one of our indicators for our drought plan for that area of the District.  As soon as the data becomes available online we will post a link on our webpage.  We are also looking for additional wells that we can monitor water levels.  The ideal well would be one that is not used or is used only seasonally.  This allows for a more accurate picture of water level fluctuations. 

We continue to monitor stream flows on the Nueces and Frio Rivers and these are published on our web page at www.recrd.org If you do not have internet access and would like a copy of the latest graph, call the office at (830) 597-3322 or just drop by our office on East Fourth Street (FM 337) in Camp Wood.  While we are in and out, normally there is someone there between 8 AM and 12 Noon Monday thru Friday.

Our thanks again go out to the all of those individuals who participated in the recent clean up along the Nueces River.  In the last article I failed to mention a couple of key individuals and I apologize for that.  Pamela Winfield Rosar and her husband Wolfgang were instrumental in putting this project together.  Wolfgang and Pamela not only participate in these organized events but can often be seen picking up trash along River Road.  If a few more people were as dedicated, there would be no need for the River Clean Up Days.

The District in conjunction with the Texas Agrilife Extension Service in Edwards and Real County will be conducting the annual Private Well Water Screening on April 6^th, 2010.  This well screening day is designed to inform private water well owners and users on the condition of their well water of possible contamination from common contaminants.  These contaminants are fecal coliform, salinity and nitrate.  While in the past this service has been free of charge, this year the cost is $5.00 per sample.  More information will follow in next week’s edition.

As always if you have a question about this article or other District activities, please contact our office at (830) 597-3322 or email recrd@swtexas.net

Remember to do your part…   Be water Smart…