BACKGROUND AND GOALS

Areas of the Upper Guadalupe River are commonly used for contact recreation, creating potential for exposure to water-borne bacteria.  Two areas of particular interest include the area in and around Guadalupe River State Park as well as within the city of Kerrville.  Water quality testing found that in a small segment of the river within the city of Kerrville, bacteria levels are elevated, posing a risk to people who swim or wade in them. Swimming and wading are called contact recreation in the state's standards for water quality, referring to all recreation in which people come in direct contact with the water.  Guadalupe State Park has high levels of contact recreation accompanied by concerns about visitor exposure to E. coli.  Texas Stream Team's activities around Guadalupe River State Park will support volunteer sampling of E. coli and other baseline parameters and report findings to park staff and other concerned individuals.

TCEQ Fact Sheet

TEXAS STREAM TEAM ACTIVITIES ON THE GUADALUPE RIVER

Texas Stream Team volunteer monitoring in the Guadalupe River is quite extensive thanks to the on-going and committed efforts of the Lindheimer Master Naturalists.  Over 45 sites are monitored regularly on the Guadalupe River above San Marcos.  Three of these sites are within Guadalupe State Park, one is located just upstream, and one is monitored just downstream of the Park.  

Texas Stream Team has conducted data reports and developed maps for the Guadalupe River above San Marcos.  Data reports on volunteer-collected data on the Guadalupe River are available for download.  Maps are also available for download.

Plans are underway to analyze volunteer and professional water quality data and present the results to community members and other stakeholders at Guadalupe River State Park in 2009.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

TCEQ TMDL, Kerrville: http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/implementation/water/tmdl/65-guadalupeabovecanyon.html

Lindheimer Master Naturalists: http://grovesite.com/page.asp?o=tamu&s=LC&p=112412

TPWD Guadalupe River State Park: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/guadalupe_river/