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Caddo Lake Watershed
And
Environmental Flows
Red River Valley Association Meeting
June 1, 2016
Richard Lowerre
Caddo Lake Institute
Focus on Talk
Why and How of
Restoring and Protecting
Instream Flows
For Environmental Purposes
Caddo Lake Watershed
Natural History of Caddo Lake
The Great Raft on the Red River
About 100 Miles Long, Moving 1 Mile/Year
CADDO LAKE INSTITUTE
Founded in 1992 by Don Henley
A nonprofit corporation for scientific and educational purposes
To assist the communities of Caddo Lake to protect the Lake, wetlands and watershed.
Ramsar designation
Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Protection of Instream or Environmental Flows
www.caddolake.us
What We Try to Do
Assist the local communities with protection
of Caddo Lake and thus, its watershed.
Obtain Ramsar designation.
Convert the Army ammunition plant to a wildlife
refuge.
Protect the water quality
Address the problems of invasive species
Assure adequate flows - amount and timing - to Caddo
The Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands
Signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971
Over 160 Countries Have Joined
Over 2000 wetland designated “Wetlands of International Importance,” with
160 million hectares
Caddo Lake designated in 1993
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, International Affairs
1. Izembek National Wildlife
Refuge(NWR)
2. Forsythe NWR
3. Okefenokee NWR
4. Ash Meadows NWR
5. Everglades National Park
6. Chesapeake Bay Estuarine Complex
7. Cheyenne Bottoms
8. Cache-Lower White Rivers
9. Horicon Marsh
10. Catahoula Lake
11. Delaware Bay Estuary
12. Pelican Island NWR
13. Caddo Lake
14. Connecticut River Estuary
15. Cache River-Cypress Creek Wetlands
16. Sand Lake NWR
17. Bolinas Lagoon
18. Quivira NWR
19. Tomales Bay
20. Tijuana River National Estuarine
Research Reserve
21. Grassland Ecological Area
22. Kawainui and Hamakua Marsh
Complex
From 22 sites – 1.3 million hectares of wetlands
What Ramsar Does/Does Not Do
Ramsar Does:
Encourage nations to promote wetlands conservation and designate wetlands of international importance.
Provide guidelines, educational materials, & proposals for protection of wetlands.
Ramsar Does Not:
Impose restrictions on nations and landowners
Affect sovereignty rights – site listing is voluntary
Act as a regulating entity or a UN convention
Daily Average Streamflow in Big Cypress Creek at USGS Gage 07346000
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02
Dis
ch
arg
e (
cfs
)
Environmental Flow Project
Started in 2004 with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, the Nature Conservancy and
others
To bring scientist and stakeholders together
to discuss what might be needed and
possible to restore some of the historic
functions of Big Cypress (and protect those
functions for other rivers in the watershed.)
Sustainable Rivers Project
Goals of Instream Flows Project
for the Caddo Lake Watershed in 2004
1. A consensus recommendation for instream flow
regimes for the basin – not just below Lake O’ the
Pines;
2. New Operating Plan for releases from Lake O' the
Pines to provide more natural flows in Big Cypress
Bayou;
3. Official recognition of the flow regimes in Texas
programs; and
4. A Long-term Adaptive Management Process
2007 Senate Bill 3
TCEQ shall adopt appropriate environmental
flow standards for most river basin … that are
adequate to support a sound ecological
environment, to the maximum extent reasonable
considering other public interests and other
relevant factors.
The standards shall be recommended by scientist
and stakeholders for each river basin, based on
environmental flow regime
Process to Develop
The RecommendationsDecember 2004
April 2005
2005, 2006. 2008. 2011, 2016
Major Participating Organizations
(Over 100 participating organizations since 2004)
Federal Agencies
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
USGS Texas Water Center
USGS Nat. Wetland Resource
Center Lafayette, LA
State Agencies
LA Dept.. of Environmental Quality
LA Dept.. of Wildlife & Fisheries
TX Comm. on Environmental Quality
TX Parks & Wildlife Dept..
Universities
East Texas Baptist University
LSU Shreveport
Stephen F. Austin University
TX A&M University
Other Organizations
American Electric Power
Ducks Unlimited
TX Greater Caddo Lake Association
Nature Conservancy
Red River Valley Association
TXU/Luminant
Time Table for Major Activities
2004: Orientation Meeting (~60 scientists and stakeholders).
2005: Texas A&M Report - Summarizing the past research.
2005: First Project Workshop (~90 scientists and stakeholders).
2005 Began new research & field work to filling data gaps.
2006: Science Planning Meetings - to guide research.
2006: Second Project Workshop (~80 scientists and stakeholders).
2007: Science Planning Meetings – to guide research.
2008: Third Project Workshop (~ 75 scientist and stakeholders).
2009-11: Science Planning Meetings - to guide research.
2011: Fourth Project Workshop – (~ 75 scientist and stakeholders
2012-15: Science Planning Meetings –to guide research.
2014-16: Experimental reintroduction of paddlefish with transmitters
2016: Fifth Project Workshop Scheduled for December.
Current Status
Reach Consensus Recommendations: Reached
in December 2011 Flows Workshop.
Change in LOP Operating Plan: Five year
experiment set up in 2011. Permanent change
2017?
State Recognition of Flow Regimes: Included in
the 2017 State Water Plan.
Adaptive Management: Ongoing
www.caddolakeinstitute.us/paddlefish_project.html
Summary
• 12 years of work for an on going experiment,
• $5,000,000 in research, experiments, and the
process,
• 100 organizations, 200 participants working and
learning together
• Corps of Engineers fully cooperating
• Potentially avoiding future fights over
endangered species.
www.caddolake.us
www.caddolakedata.us
Caddo Lake Institute
www.caddolake.us
www.caddolakedata.us
Caddo Lake
