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January 18, 2002

TFB Board initiative explores source of E. coli in Lake Waco

By Mike Barnett
Editor

Texas Farm Bureau, in cooperation with the City of Waco, the Brazos River Authority and the State Soil and Water Conservation Board, is conducting a study to attempt identification of the source of E. coli in Lake Waco.

The project was instigated by the TFB Board of Directors following allegations that E. coli is contaminating the water in Lake Waco and is coming from the upstream dairy industry in Erath County. In addition, talks are currently being conducted with cities in the Lake Belton watershed to study the feasibility of extending the project there.

"This was a Board initiative," said Ned Meister, TFB director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities. "We felt that if there is bovine E. coli, we need to know that. Then we would work with agencies like the Soil and Water Conservation Board and the Natural Resource Conservation Commission and maybe some others that can help with some of their on-site, on-land type of programs to help reduce the impact.

"But then again, if it isn't bovine E. coli, we need to know that, too. We can spend a lot of time chasing problems that aren't and spend a lot of resources. But if we can focus in on the true problem, we're going to save not only taxpayer money, but a lot of time by a lot of people involved in trying to resolve these problems associated with agriculture and water quality."

The DNA-typing will be performed by Parsons Engineering, a nationwide company that has a regional office in Austin. The original intent was for Farm Bureau to carry the load. After looking at the cost, however, a decision had to be made to either limit the study or bring in some cooperators.

"We thought two things," Meister recalled. "We can make a determination of whether it is a bovine source or not. Or, we could go out and seek some partners in the process and see if there was an interest in working together to determine sources of bacteria. And this would also bring in some additional expertise and some additional dollars to pay for the project. We decided to go with the partnership."

The cooperative effort will kick off this month in earnest and will move forward throughout 2002. Testing will be done at high-flow and low-flow in strategic, agreed-upon areas in the North Bosque watershed. E. coli bacteria samples will be taken from species for comparison purposes. Current plans call for testing human, dairy cattle, beef cattle, poultry, and various wildlife species in the watershed. Cooperators in the project will also undergo training so that in-kind work (to keep costs down) performed by the partners will be conducted in a specific way to ensure quality assurance and control.

"We want this to meet EPA and TNRCC standards so that when the job is done, that information will be readily available and usable in their water quality database," Meister said.

In fact, as EPA water quality standards move from fecal coliform to E. coli as an indicator of water quality impairment, this study could put Texas ahead of the curve.

"E. coli seems to be that one bacteria that indicates true water quality problems," Meister said. "Nationally and in the state, EPA is moving toward the E. coli standard. They're not there yet. But what we'll do is basically stay ahead of the game. And maybe we can set some of the parameters determined by EPA."