Coastal Bend bays and estuaries are nursery grounds for fish and shellfish, and supply essential food and habitat for birds, fish, and other plants and animals. They are also home to ports, marinas, and commercial shipping activities. Coastal Bend beaches and estuaries are popular destinations for fishing, boating, swimming, sand-castle building, and birdwatching. Swimming and other types of water recreation are referred to as “contact recreation” in the state’s standards for water quality. High concentrations of bacteria may indicate a health risk to people who swim or wade in a water body—activities called “contact recreation” in the state’s standards for water quality.
The goal of the Corpus Christi Regional Water Quality Implementation Plan is to consolidate ongoing and newly developed Implementation Plans in the Coastal Bend region. Below is a compilation of Implementation Plans. Click on the title to learn more about TMDLs findings and monitoring.
Total Maximum Daily Load Program: Communities Working Together to Improve Water Quality
The TMDL program works with communities to take care of Texas by improving the quality of their streams, lakes, and bays through development of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) and their implementation plans (I-Plans). According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Total Maximum Daily Load is a scientifically-derived target for water quality that tells us the greatest amount of a particular substance that can be added to a water body without compromising its health. The TMDLs gives us a measurable goal to protect and improve the quality of our streams, lakes, and bays. For more on the TMDL program.
Corpus Christi Regional Water Quality Implementation Plan
- Corpus Christi Beaches
- CARP (Cole and Ropes Parks Bacteria Reduction Implementation Plan Coordination Committee)
- Poenisch Park Beach (TMDLs in development)
- Oso Bay & Oso Creek Bacteria Implementation Plan
Stakeholders, environmental organizations, and TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) are monitoring beach parks along Corpus Christi Bay and elsewhere in the Coastal Bend region. Data assessed from this program indicated bacteria concentrations were higher than the criteria for protecting the contact recreation use at Cole Park, Ropes Park, and Poenisch Park beaches. These beaches correspond to Segments 2481CB_03, 2481CB_04, and 2481CB_06 of the Texas Bays and Estuaries Basin. When bacteria counts are greater than the criteria, Texas Beach Watch recommends that people be advised not swim in the area.
Use this EPA website to Check Your Watershed
For more information about the Corpus Christi Bay Beaches TMDL, including an Interim Monitoring Report, and a Historical Data Review and Site Assessment, please visit: http://www.tceq.texas.gov/waterquality/tmdl/97-corpusbeachesbacteria.html
Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C § 1313(d)(1)(C), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) implementing regulation, 40 CFR § 130.7(c)(1), require the establishment of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for waters identified by states as not meeting water quality standards under authority of § 303(d)(1)(A) of the CWA. TMDLs are established at a level necessary to implement applicable water quality standards with seasonal variations and a margin of safety, accounting for lack of knowledge concerning the relationship between pollutant loading and water quality.