Sunset Advisory Commission Invites Public Input on the Angelina & Neches River Authority of Texas
May 22, 2024ANRA to Host Annual Texas Clean Rivers Program Steering Committee Meeting
The Angelina & Neches River Authority (ANRA) will host its annual Texas Clean Rivers Program Steering Committee Meeting at 1:00 p.m. on July 30, 2024, at the Texas Forestry Association, located at 1903 Atkinson Drive, in Lufkin. An online option will be available to those unable to attend in-person.
The meeting will feature presentations from ANRA staff, Texas Water Resource Institute staff, Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful Director, Ashley Villarreal, Texas Conservation Alliance Community Conservation Coordinator, Jose Lopez, The Citizen Nac Building and Booking Manager, Sam Hernandez, and Independent Filmmaker, Curtis Craven.
ANRA’s Clean Rivers Program Coordinator, Andrew Henry, said, “This meeting is a chance for the public to get involved and voice their concerns about water quality in our basin and learn about what we’ve been doing, where, and what is planned for the future.”
Attendees will have opportunities to ask questions, discuss water quality issues and potential solutions, and learn about ways that they can further become involved in decision-making, regarding these issues and solutions.
“Without stakeholder (public) input, ANRA must decide which watersheds to prioritize and conduct work in, and while we do our best to ensure we monitor and remediate the areas in our basin with the greatest need first, this has a possibility of not aligning with the priorities of the public. With stakeholder input, we can prioritize areas the public wants to see action in. Our stakeholders have the ability to steer ANRA toward water quality improvement projects they want to see done,” Henry said.
The Texas Clean Rivers Act of 1991 was enacted by the Texas State Legislature to ensure the comprehensive regional assessment of water quality in each river basin through a local, watershed-based approach. As a partner in the Texas Clean Rivers Program (CRP), the Angelina & Neches River Authority is the lead agency for regional water quality assessments in the Upper and Middle Neches River Basin Study Area.
The goal of the Clean Rivers Program is to maintain and improve the quality of water resources within each river basin in Texas through an ongoing partnership involving the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), other agencies, river authorities, regional entities, local governments, industries and citizens. Long-term goals, include: provide quality-assured data to the TCEQ for use in water quality decision-making, identify and evaluate water quality issues, promote cooperative watershed planning, inform and engage stakeholders, maintain efficient use of public funds, and adapt the program to emerging water quality issues.
The program’s watershed management approach is designed to identify and evaluate water quality issues, establish priorities for corrective action, work to implement those actions, and adapt to changing priorities.
Visit www.anra.org for more information about ANRA’s partnership with the Texas Clean River Program and water quality information in the Neches River Basin.
For more information about the meeting, call (936) 632-7795 or email ahenry@anra.org.
To join the meeting virtually, please use the Microsoft Teams link below.
Meeting ID: 231 605 367 943
Passcode: tmdpyc