Water quality goes downhill downstream from Amistad Dam

Senior Staff Writer

karen.gleason@delrionewsherald.com

The quality of the water in the Rio Grande between Amistad Dam and the Del Rio International Bridge shows some “bacteriological impairments,” and water quality begins to deteriorate below the international bridge, getting even worse farther downstream, IBWC officials say.

Elizabeth Verdecchia, of the IBWC Texas Clean Rivers Program, shared some of her findings regarding water quality in the Rio Grande as part of a public outreach meeting held by the International Boundary and Water Commission at the Del Rio Civic Center Tuesday night.

Verdecchia explained that the Texas Clean Rivers Program was created by the 1991 Texas Clean Rivers Act and is a state fee-funded program that samples water from every major river basin in the state.

In 1998, IBWC and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) agreed to allow the IBWC to administer the program for the Rio Grande.

Data is generated by collecting samples from 91 monitoring sites at the Pecos and Rio Grande rivers, as well as from creeks, streams and rivers in those basins.

“(The) data is used to identify water quality issues and establish priorities for corrective action,” Verdecchia said, noting the information is also used in published reports and during public outreach and education opportunities.

Verdecchia said the state sets various standards of good water quality, and that water quality monitoring below Amistad dam is particularly important because “the entire river below Amistad has been designated by the state of Texas as the sole source for drinking water.”

Verdecchia said water sampling shows “an impairment of bacteria” in the Rio Grande around Del Rio, Eagle Pass and Laredo, but noted bacterial contaminants in the Rio Grande around Del Rio have been decreasing in the past few years.

Verdecchia said water sampling from Lake Amistad shows no bacteriological impairment.

“You can go swimming in the reservoir without any worries. You can go swimming in the river below Del Rio, carefully,” she said.

Verdecchia said one of the actions she takes based on the water quality sampling is reviewing permits for proposed wastewater treatment plants and wastewater infrastructure projects.

Citizens could do their part in improving the water quality of the Rio Grande by properly maintaining their septic systems, picking up pet waste and controlling runoff by planting living buffers along the river, she advised.

Verdecchia also told those attending the meeting that the water quality of San Felipe Creek, one of the Rio Grande basin streams sampled by the program, “has some of the best water quality in the entire Rio Grande watershed.”

Verdecchia urged those attending the meeting to review the list of Texas impaired water bodies at www.texaswaterdata.org under “Clean Waters Act (CWA) Sections 305(b) and 303 (d) Integrated Report.”

She noted that more information and data about the water quality of the Rio Grande can be found on the USIBWC Texas Clean Rivers Program website at www.ibwc.gov/CRP/index.html

Reprinted by permission of the Del Rio News-Herald.