Texas Chapter; Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP America)

Conservation Concerns in Texas: Air, Water, Public Lands

Air Quality

Texans in many of the state's cities breathe air that does not meet federal ozone standards. In a March 10, 2009 submission to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality recommended that counties in the following metro areas be designated as "non-attainment" for EPA's eight-hour ozone standard of 0.075 parts million: Austin, Beaumont-Port Arthur, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, San Antonio, and Tyler.

Water Quality

The 2010 edition of the Texas Water Quality Assessment, a biennial report filed with EPA, shows that 44 percent of rivers and streams that were assessed are "impaired," meaning they do not meet water quality standards necessary for protecting beneficial uses such as fishing or recreation. Only 12.3 percent of Texas' river and stream miles were assessed, however. The state is behind on preparing a "total maximum daily load" (TMDL) for impaired waters. A TMDL is a pollution budget - the maximum amount of pollution a water body can sustain and still meet water quality standards. Nearly 60 percent of imapired rivers and streams need a TMDL.

The state has assessed 73 percent of lakes, reservoirs, and ponds. In acres, 38 percent are impaired, and TMDLs are needed on 86 percent of the impaired waters. All of the 388,200 square miles of coastal shoreline were classified as "impaired."

Public Lands

Texas national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges are great places to recreate. Big Bend National Park in west Texas, however, is endangered by reduced water flows in the Rio Grande and by sulfate deposits from coal-fired power plants, which alter soils and plant communities. Big Thicket National Preserve in east Texas, sometimes called America's biological crossroads, is endangered by development on surrounding lands, which has subjected the preserve to invasive species, pesticide runoff, and fragmentation of wildlife migration routes.

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