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Matagorda Bay Tag

October 7, 2019
Blog Environmental Flows Take action Wildlife

Newly Launched Matagorda Bay Ecosystem Assessment can Inform Conservation Efforts

By Danielle Goshen, Water Policy & Outreach Specialist, Galveston Bay Foundation Some places truly do have it all. Matagorda Bay, located along the coast in Southeastern Texas is a veritable treasure trove of charismatic species. Relatively undeveloped compared to other Bay systems along the Texas coast, Matagorda Bay is home to many species listed as threatened and endangered on both the federal and state level. A few of these at-risk species include the Kemps Ridley and loggerhead sea turtles, interior least tern, and piping plovers. Even a few members of the last wild migrating flock of whooping crane, whose recovering population has been recently estimated to be just over 500, have been spotted hunting blue...

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by Danielle Goshen
Danielle Goshen
Danielle Goshen
Water Policy & Outreach Specialist at Galveston Bay Foundation
Danielle joined the Texas Living Waters Project in August 2019. Her interest in environmentalism and curiosity on how natural systems function inspired her to attend the University of Toronto for her undergraduate degrees in environmental geography and environmental studies. Later, she continued her studies at the University of Georgia School of Law. During that time, Danielle interned at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 4 office and served as a Georgia Sea Grant Legal Fellow working on coastal resiliency projects. Danielle enjoys playing competitive sports with friends and going on outdoor adventures with her dog, Bozeman.
Danielle Goshen
Latest posts by Danielle Goshen (see all)
Danielle Goshen
Danielle Goshen
Water Policy & Outreach Specialist at Galveston Bay Foundation
Danielle joined the Texas Living Waters Project in August 2019. Her interest in environmentalism and curiosity on how natural systems function inspired her to attend the University of Toronto for her undergraduate degrees in environmental geography and environmental studies. Later, she continued her studies at the University of Georgia School of Law. During that time, Danielle interned at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 4 office and served as a Georgia Sea Grant Legal Fellow working on coastal resiliency projects. Danielle enjoys playing competitive sports with friends and going on outdoor adventures with her dog, Bozeman.
Danielle Goshen
Latest posts by Danielle Goshen (see all)
Danielle Goshen
Danielle Goshen
Water Policy & Outreach Specialist at Galveston Bay Foundation
Danielle joined the Texas Living Waters Project in August 2019. Her interest in environmentalism and curiosity on how natural systems function inspired her to attend the University of Toronto for her undergraduate degrees in environmental geography and environmental studies. Later, she continued her studies at the University of Georgia School of Law. During that time, Danielle interned at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 4 office and served as a Georgia Sea Grant Legal Fellow working on coastal resiliency projects. Danielle enjoys playing competitive sports with friends and going on outdoor adventures with her dog, Bozeman.
Danielle Goshen
Latest posts by Danielle Goshen (see all)
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November 4, 2013
Blog Drought Environmental Flows Water Conservation

Let’s Talk About Turf

Now that we have survived another hot, dry summer and are firmly in the fall season, it is time to turn off the irrigation systems and take a moment to think about lawns. Outdoor water use can be a significant part of a household’s total water use, especially if the home has an irrigation system.  Homes with irrigation systems can use 50% to 100% more water on average than homes where someone manually irrigates with a hose and/or sprinkler. What Cities Can Do A new study from the Texas Water Resources Institute at Texas A&M shows that 46.6% of municipal water use is for “urban irrigation”, defined as lawns and golf courses.  This amounts to 2.262...

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by Jennifer Walker
Jennifer Walker
Deputy Director, Texas Coast and Water Program at National Wildlife Federation
Jennifer has 17 years experience focusing on water policy/resources issues in Texas with an emphasis on water planning, water conservation and bay and estuary protection issues. Jennifer strives to work collaboratively and approach resource management challenges with a solution-oriented perspective. She serves on the Water Conservation Advisory Council of Texas and is Chair of Austin's Water Forward Task Force. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the Colorado River Alliance. Jennifer has a BS in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. Jennifer and her family like to camp near rivers where they can listen to the frogs sing at night.
Latest posts by Jennifer Walker (see all)
Jennifer Walker
Deputy Director, Texas Coast and Water Program at National Wildlife Federation
Jennifer has 17 years experience focusing on water policy/resources issues in Texas with an emphasis on water planning, water conservation and bay and estuary protection issues. Jennifer strives to work collaboratively and approach resource management challenges with a solution-oriented perspective. She serves on the Water Conservation Advisory Council of Texas and is Chair of Austin's Water Forward Task Force. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the Colorado River Alliance. Jennifer has a BS in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. Jennifer and her family like to camp near rivers where they can listen to the frogs sing at night.
Latest posts by Jennifer Walker (see all)
Jennifer Walker
Deputy Director, Texas Coast and Water Program at National Wildlife Federation
Jennifer has 17 years experience focusing on water policy/resources issues in Texas with an emphasis on water planning, water conservation and bay and estuary protection issues. Jennifer strives to work collaboratively and approach resource management challenges with a solution-oriented perspective. She serves on the Water Conservation Advisory Council of Texas and is Chair of Austin's Water Forward Task Force. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the Colorado River Alliance. Jennifer has a BS in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. Jennifer and her family like to camp near rivers where they can listen to the frogs sing at night.
Latest posts by Jennifer Walker (see all)
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October 1, 2013
Blog Drought Environmental Flows Water Conservation

Cutting off Matagorda Bay’s Water is Unwise and Inconsistent with Texas Law

Previously, we posted about LCRA’s decision to seek emergency authorization from TCEQ to allow them to diverge from their Water Management Plan and suspend river flows to Matagorda Bay LCRA submitted their request to TCEQ on Thursday, September 26th.  We will lay out the process at TCEQ in another post.  Our current guess is that TCEQ may not take action on the request until mid-late October. This request is unprecedented and should be approached with an abundance of caution.  It is important to know the water in question here is to provide “critical flows” to Matagorda Bay.  This minimal level of freshwater inflows is designed to provide a sanctuary area near the mouth of the...

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by Jennifer Walker
Jennifer Walker
Deputy Director, Texas Coast and Water Program at National Wildlife Federation
Jennifer has 17 years experience focusing on water policy/resources issues in Texas with an emphasis on water planning, water conservation and bay and estuary protection issues. Jennifer strives to work collaboratively and approach resource management challenges with a solution-oriented perspective. She serves on the Water Conservation Advisory Council of Texas and is Chair of Austin's Water Forward Task Force. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the Colorado River Alliance. Jennifer has a BS in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. Jennifer and her family like to camp near rivers where they can listen to the frogs sing at night.
Latest posts by Jennifer Walker (see all)
Jennifer Walker
Deputy Director, Texas Coast and Water Program at National Wildlife Federation
Jennifer has 17 years experience focusing on water policy/resources issues in Texas with an emphasis on water planning, water conservation and bay and estuary protection issues. Jennifer strives to work collaboratively and approach resource management challenges with a solution-oriented perspective. She serves on the Water Conservation Advisory Council of Texas and is Chair of Austin's Water Forward Task Force. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the Colorado River Alliance. Jennifer has a BS in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. Jennifer and her family like to camp near rivers where they can listen to the frogs sing at night.
Latest posts by Jennifer Walker (see all)
Jennifer Walker
Deputy Director, Texas Coast and Water Program at National Wildlife Federation
Jennifer has 17 years experience focusing on water policy/resources issues in Texas with an emphasis on water planning, water conservation and bay and estuary protection issues. Jennifer strives to work collaboratively and approach resource management challenges with a solution-oriented perspective. She serves on the Water Conservation Advisory Council of Texas and is Chair of Austin's Water Forward Task Force. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the Colorado River Alliance. Jennifer has a BS in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. Jennifer and her family like to camp near rivers where they can listen to the frogs sing at night.
Latest posts by Jennifer Walker (see all)
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September 19, 2013
Blog Drought Environmental Flows Water Conservation

LCRA to Take Matagorda Bay Off Life Support?

UPDATE 9/19: The LCRA Board voted 9-6 yesterday to seek emergency authorization from TCEQ to temporarily suspend freshwater inflows to Matagorda Bay. ORIGINAL POST 9/12: Matagorda Bay is the second largest estuary on the Texas Gulf Coast.  The Bay stretches over approximately 350 square miles and, in a normal year, receives an average of 1.8 million acre-feet of inflows from the Colorado River. So far this year, bay inflows have been about 150,000 acre-feet.   Tuesday, the LCRA Board met to discuss the fate of Matagorda Bay.  More about that in a moment – but first let’s explain how we got there. The Colorado and Matagorda Bay As the stewards of the Lower Colorado River, the LCRA is...

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by Jennifer Walker
Jennifer Walker
Deputy Director, Texas Coast and Water Program at National Wildlife Federation
Jennifer has 17 years experience focusing on water policy/resources issues in Texas with an emphasis on water planning, water conservation and bay and estuary protection issues. Jennifer strives to work collaboratively and approach resource management challenges with a solution-oriented perspective. She serves on the Water Conservation Advisory Council of Texas and is Chair of Austin's Water Forward Task Force. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the Colorado River Alliance. Jennifer has a BS in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. Jennifer and her family like to camp near rivers where they can listen to the frogs sing at night.
Latest posts by Jennifer Walker (see all)
Jennifer Walker
Deputy Director, Texas Coast and Water Program at National Wildlife Federation
Jennifer has 17 years experience focusing on water policy/resources issues in Texas with an emphasis on water planning, water conservation and bay and estuary protection issues. Jennifer strives to work collaboratively and approach resource management challenges with a solution-oriented perspective. She serves on the Water Conservation Advisory Council of Texas and is Chair of Austin's Water Forward Task Force. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the Colorado River Alliance. Jennifer has a BS in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. Jennifer and her family like to camp near rivers where they can listen to the frogs sing at night.
Latest posts by Jennifer Walker (see all)
Jennifer Walker
Deputy Director, Texas Coast and Water Program at National Wildlife Federation
Jennifer has 17 years experience focusing on water policy/resources issues in Texas with an emphasis on water planning, water conservation and bay and estuary protection issues. Jennifer strives to work collaboratively and approach resource management challenges with a solution-oriented perspective. She serves on the Water Conservation Advisory Council of Texas and is Chair of Austin's Water Forward Task Force. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the Colorado River Alliance. Jennifer has a BS in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. Jennifer and her family like to camp near rivers where they can listen to the frogs sing at night.
Latest posts by Jennifer Walker (see all)
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