Texas General Land Office Awarded Bacteria Monitoring Grants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $379,140 to the Texas General Land Office (GLO) to monitor enterococcus bacteria levels in waters along the Texas Coast. Enterococcus bacteria, which thrive in waters contaminated by storm or sewage runoff, will be monitored by GLO’s Texas Beach Watch program.

Utilizing grants appropriated by Congress in the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000, the Texas Beach Watch program will work in conjunction with the EPA to monitor pathogen indicators at all high-use beaches in the state. The program will also be required to notify the public in the event these pathogen indicators are in excess of EPA-recommended criteria.

For more information on EPA grants, visit www.epa.gov/region6/gandf/index.htm. For more information on activities in EPA Region 6, visit www.epa.gov/region6.

Source: U.S. EPA