john_tiff@nps.gov
Historian, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, Texas

brian_carey@nps.gov
Chief, Resources Management and Visitor Protection, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, Texas


Back to Chapter 4: Resource Risks

River management and the Upper Colorado River Recovery Implementation Program
By John Wullschleger

Mysterious tadpole die-off in Whiskeytown
By Jennifer Gibson

Calling for stronger fossil resource protection: A report to Congress
By Julia Brunner and Lindsay McClelland

Off-road vehicles in Big Cypress to be managed in consideration of natural resources
By Robert V. Sobczak and Antonio J. Pernas

Change in status of lynx and black-tailed prairie dog

Virus responsible for amphibian deaths in parks

Exotic invertebrates spread

Award-Winner Profile - Maintenance Chief Merry Petrossian recognized with award

Ozone standards exceeded in parks

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In December 1996, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park inaugurated a partnership with the Colorado River Watch Network (CRWN) of the Lower Colorado River Authority to assess and monitor the water quality of the upper Pedernales River. The partnership between CRWN and the park was born of a mutual need to gather basic water quality data from the Pedernales, a tributary of the Colorado River. Approximately one mile of the river forms the southern boundary of the park’s LBJ Ranch District, the setting for the Texas White House located near Stonewall, Texas.

Training, equipment, and support from CRWN have enabled the park to conduct a low-cost, carefully targeted water quality–monitoring program. Two sites in the park are monitored by park staff on a biweekly schedule for temperature, pH, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, nitrate nitrogen, and E. coli bacteria. These water quality–monitoring sites are the only ones on the upper Pedernales; only one additional monitoring site exists on the entire river. The data are provided to CRWN staff, who also make periodic site visits to audit the data collection and verify that the methodology used complies with their standards.

Monitors have found consistently high fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria counts since the initiation of the monitoring program. Likely sources of water quality degradation include agricultural runoff and failing septic systems in the unincorporated areas of Gillespie County. Based on the high quality and consistency of park observations, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission added this section of the Pedernales River to the Environmental Protection Agency’s 303(d) list of impaired surface waters. Monitoring data have also been used in the development of the park’s 1999 General Management Plan. In that year, CRWN presented the park with an “Outstanding Partner” award “for exceptional dedication and leadership through superb quality and consistent environmental monitoring.”

Late in 2000 the park began a biomonitoring program to gain further information about the river and its health. Twice a year, park staff will collect and identify a sample of the benthic invertebrate fauna. Comparing the samples over time will provide additional indications of changes in water quality in the Pedernales River.

Park management originally entered into this partnership in order to gather baseline data and to ensure that agricultural activities associated with the maintenance of the cultural landscapes at the LBJ Ranch would not further impact the already impaired water quality of the Pedernales River. Along with an increase in the park’s standing in the scientific community due to this exemplary partnership have come additional opportunities to develop relationships with new people and organizations in the local community. These relationships will serve as catalysts for the improvement of the overall water quality of the Pedernales River in years to come.

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Last Updated: 06/17/2001
Direct comments on this website to jeff_selleck@nps.gov