Texas Water Monitoring Council

Texas Water Monitoring Council Meeting
March 9, 2000

Minutes

View the Minutes from other TWMC meetings:

• March 9, 2000
• February 3, 2000
• January 6, 2000
• November 5, 1999
• August 12, 1999
• June 3, 1999
• April 1, 1999
• February 4, 1999

The TWMC held this meeting at the U.S. Geological Survey in Austin on March 9, 2000. The meeting was well attended.

Meeting was called to order by Patrick Roques.

The accomplishments at the last meeting and topics for the day were reviewed.

The following upcoming events were discussed:

1. April 15th - May 15th is a month-long celebration of water in Texas. Eric Mendelman discussed Earth Day 2000. This is a one-day statewide monitoring event involving volunteer monitors and professionals. He is attempting to get monitoring commitments by April 1st and will keep in touch with participants by email.
2. The Texas Water Foundation is sponsoring Water Puzzle: Putting the Picture Together on April 19, 2000, in San Marcos, TX. Purpose: To provide decision makers with information which will enable them to make effective management decisions concerning their communities future water needs. Hosted by TAES, City of San Marcos, SWTSU, TPWD, Heart of Texas Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, TWDB, TNRCC, TWRI.
3. April 25-27, 2000 NWQMC National Monitoring Conference Hyatt Regency Austin, TX. Purpose: To implement a voluntary, integrated, nationwide strategy to improve water resource monitoring assessment and reporting.
4. 4. The Clean Rivers Program Planning Entities are holding basin monitoring coordination meetings next month. Basinwide monitoring activities for FY 2001 will be planned with other monitoring entities and volunteers in the basin.

Russell Pankratz highlighted changes to the TWMC website. Visit it at www.txwin.net then click on the Texas Water Monitoring Council.

Patrick Roques gave an update on the CWA Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters in Texas. This is a regulatory tool based on the assessment of water quality data contributed by monitoring entities including USGS, Clean Rivers Program Participants and TNRCC field staff.

Patsy Waters reviewed the balance sheet from the last conference (FY 1998). We agreed to have the same registration fee we had last year, a sliding scale for early registration.

Registration will be available through the website in April. An announcement will be mailed out as well. We will have a no refund policy but allow transfer of registration fee to another staff member. It seems that out-sourcing registration may be possible.

Eric Mendelman suggested a weblink during the meeting; Cindy Loeffler will investigate.

Cindy discussed adding new members to the council. The Charter Member agencies are set; general membership could change.

The agenda for the Congress was discussed. Leads were identified for the breakout sessions/committees. They will bring a handout of activities for the breakout session to future monthly meeting and these will be discussed and continuously refined over the next several months:

• Data Networks Committee-Miles Hall & Janie Hopkins
• Data Management Committee-Denis Qualls & Dana Barbie
• Quality Assurance/Quality Control Committee- Eric Mendlemen
• Public Outreach Committee-Dee Lurry
• Technology - Patrick Roques
• Vendor Challenge - Darrell reported that we would have a variety of vendors. He is soliciting questions from field staff to ask the vendors.

Meeting adjourned at 12:30 p.m. Next meeting scheduled for April 6, 2000 at USGS Bldg at 10:15 A.M. Room 133.

Texas Water Monitoring Council

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