Texas Environmental Flows Science Advisory Committee

The next meeting of the Texas Environmental Flows Science Advisory Committee (SAC) will be held on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 9:00 AM. The meeting will be held at the Texas Parks and Wildlife offices located at 4200 Smith School Rd, Austin, Texas, 78744. The meeting agenda will be posted here upon development.

The Texas Environmental Flows Science Advisory Committee will serve as an objective scientific body to advise and make recommendations to the Environmental Flows Advisory Group on issues relating to the science of environmental flow protection and develop recommendations to help provide overall direction, coordination, and consistency relating to:

• Environmental flow methodologies for bay and estuary studies and instream flow studies;
• Environmental flow programs at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Texas Water Development Board; and
• The work of the basin and bay expert science team described in Texas Water Code Section 11.02362.

Guidance documents developed by the SAC are located on the Environmental Flows Resources website.

Basin and Bay Expert Science Team (BBEST) Review

Framework for SAC Review of BBEST Reports (Second Edition)

Framework for SAC Review of BBEST Reports (First Edition)

SAC Memo: Review Comments on Nueces Report

SAC Memo: Review Comments on Colorado/Lavaca Report

SAC Memo: Review Comments on Guadalupe/San Antonio BBEST Report

SAC Memo: Review Comments on Sabine/Neches BBEST Report

SAC Memo: Review Comments on Trinity/San Jacinto BBEST Report

Members of the Texas Environmental Flows Science Advisory Committee

• Robert Huston, Chair
• Robert Brandes, PhD, P.E., Vice-Chair
• Paul Jensen, PhD, P.E.
• Mary Kelly
• Fred Manhart
• Paul Montagna, PhD
• Edmund Oborny
• George Ward, PhD
• James Wiersema

BBEST Reimbursement Documents

• Travel Reimbursement Policies
• Compensation Request Form - PDF
• Compensation Request Form - WORD
• 2010 Travel Information Form - PDF
• 2010 Travel Information Form - WORD
• Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification W-9
• Application for Payee Identification Number
• Direct Deposit Authorization

Texas Environmental Flows Science Advisory Committee Meetings

August 13, 2008

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Article 1, Senate Bill 3
  • Overview of the S.B. 3 Process and Role of the Science Advisory Committee
  • Science Advisory Committee Background
  • Final Report: Science Advisory Committee Report on Water for Environmental Flows, October 26, 2004
  • Final Report: Environmental Flows Advisory Committee, December 2006 (Appendices E and F only)

September 3, 2008

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Duties of the Science Advisory Committee Expressly Stated in S.B. 3
  • Texas Instream Flow Program: Sound Science for Healthy Texas Rivers
• Presentations
  • S.B. 2/Texas Instream Flow Program
  • Desktop Methodology/Lyon's Method
  • Bay and Estuaries Methodology and Activities

October 1, 2008

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Texas Instream Flow Program Studies of Potential Interest to Senate Bill 3 Basin and Bay Expert Science Teams
  • TPWD Sept. 26, 2008 Website Suggestions
  • Science Advisory Committee Workplan 10/1/2008
  • Caddo Lake Environmental Flows Project Summary
  • Caddo Lake Environmental Flow Orientation Invitation Summary
  • Scope of Work to Conduct Literature Survey and Write Summary Report
  • Summary: Environmental Flows Study 2004-2008
  • Sample Building Block or Environmental Standard
  • Cypress River Basin Map
• Presentations
  • Environmental Flows in the Cypress River Basin
  • Quantifying Environmental Flow Components Using IHA

November 5, 2008

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Basin Literature Review Scope of Work
  • State of Current Knowledge of the Angelina-Neches River Basin
  • San Jacinto River Instream Flow Literature Review
  • Compilation and Evaluation of Existing Environmental Information on the Trinity River, Texas
  • Policy Decisions that Must be Made to Apply the State Methodology
  • Incorporation of Sediment Transport Estimates into Flow Recommendations
  • Ecological Limits of Hydrologic Alteration (ELOHA) Fact Sheet
  • Decision Points Relevant to Using Hydrology Data to Quantify Environmental Flow Recommendations
• Presentations
  • Policy Decisions Required for Application of the State Methodology
  • Discussion of Previous SAC Comments and Galveston Bay Technical Subcommittee Activities
  • Examples of Sediment Transport Issues for Texas Senate Bill 3
  • Sediment Transport Issues
  • Instream Flow Assessment Tools and Considerations
  • Decision Points Relevant to Using Hydrology to Quantify Environmental Flow Recommendations

December 5, 2008

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees

January 7, 2009

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Thoughts on Inflows and Adaptive Bay Management
  • Nutrient Inputs to Galveston Bay
• Presentations
  • Inflow-Pattern Approach to Estuary Evaluation
  • Geographic Scope of Instream Flow Recommendations
  • Thoughts on Inflows and Adaptive Bay Management

February 4, 2009

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Use of Hydrologic Data in the Development of Instream Flow Recommendations for the Environmental Flows Allocation Process and the Hydrology-Based Environmental Flow Regime (HEFR) Methodology
  • Fluvial Sediment Transport
  • Nutrient and Water Quality Overlay on Hydrology Based Instream Flow Recommendations
• Presentations
• Instream Flows vs. Freshwater Inflows
• HEFR - Derived Inflows for the Guadalupe Estuary, NWF's Perspective
• More on Sediment Transport

March 4, 2009

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Hydrology-Based Environmental Flow Regime (HEFR) Potential Enhancements and Modifications
  • Sabine‐Neches Estuary and Lower Tidal Sabine River: A System in Transition
• Presentations
• Application of HEFR at Brazos River at Richmond
• Region H Environmental Flows Study Results
• Results of the December 2008 Workshop on Environmental Flows in the Cypress River Basin
• Overlays to Hydrology-Based Environmental Flow Regimes

April 7, 2009

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Fluvial Sediment Transport Overlay to HEFR (draft)
• Nutrient and Water Quality Overlay to HEFR (draft)
• Presentations
• Using SAM to Determine the “Effective Discharge”

May 8, 2009

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Fluvial Sediment Transport Overlay to HEFR (draft)
  • Freshwater Inflows Methods Guidance (draft)
• Presentations
  • TWDB Research Program/SAC Consideration

June 5, 2009

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Methodologies for Establishing a Freshwater Inflow Regime for Texas Estuaries
  • Biological Overlay Workgroup Update
  • Fluvial Sediment Transport as an Overlay to Instream Flow Recommendations for the Environmental Flows Allocation Process
  • Initial Discussion of Implementation Issues
• Presentations
• Nutrient and Water Quality Overlay to Hydrology-Based Instream Flow Recommendations

July 15, 2009

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Methodologies for Establishing a Freshwater Inflow Regime for Texas Estuaries
  • Biological Overlay Workgroup Update
  • Fluvial Sediment Transport as an Overlay to Instream Flow Recommendations for the Environmental Flows Allocation Process
  • Initial Discussion of Implementation Issues
  Presentations
  • Nutrient and Water Quality Overlay to Hydrology-Based Instream Flow Recommendations

August 5, 2009

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Methodologies for Establishing a Freshwater Inflow Regime for Texas Estuaries
  • Biological Overlay Workgroup Update
  • Fluvial Sediment Transport as an Overlay to Instream Flow Recommendations for the Environmental Flows Allocation Process
  • Initial Discussion of Implementation Issues
  Presentations
  • Nutrient and Water Quality Overlay to Hydrology-Based Instream Flow Recommendations

September 9, 2009

• Agenda
• Minute
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Methodologies for Establishing a Freshwater Inflow Regime for Texas Estuaries
  • Biological Overlay Workgroup Update
  • Fluvial Sediment Transport as an Overlay to Instream Flow Recommendations for the Environmental Flows Allocation Process
  • Initial Discussion of Implementation Issues
  Presentations
  • Nutrient and Water Quality Overlay to Hydrology-Based Instream Flow Recommendations

October 7, 2009

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Methodologies for Establishing a Freshwater Inflow Regime for Texas Estuaries
  • Biological Overlay Workgroup Update
  • Fluvial Sediment Transport as an Overlay to Instream Flow Recommendations for the Environmental Flows Allocation Process
  • Initial Discussion of Implementation Issues
  Presentations
  • Nutrient and Water Quality Overlay to Hydrology-Based Instream Flow Recommendations

November 4, 2009

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Methodologies for Establishing a Freshwater Inflow Regime for Texas Estuaries
  • Biological Overlay Workgroup Update
  • Fluvial Sediment Transport as an Overlay to Instream Flow Recommendations for the Environmental Flows Allocation Process
  • Initial Discussion of Implementation Issues
  Presentations
  • Nutrient and Water Quality Overlay to Hydrology-Based Instream Flow Recommendations

December 2, 2009

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Draft Framework for SAC review of BBEST work products
  • Draft Implementation Document

January 13, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Framework for SAC review of BBEST work products
• Presentations
  • Environmental Flow Regime - Trinity and San Jacinto Rivers
  • Recommendations for Freshwater Inflow to Galveston Bay
  • Development of Freshwater Inflow Recommendations - Trinity/San Jacinto/Galveston Bay
  • Development of Instream Flow Criteria - Trinity/San Jacinto
  • Sabine-Neches BBEST Environmental Flow Recommendations
  • Sabine-Neches BBEST Biological Considerations
  • Sabine-Neches BBEST Environmental Flow Recommendations - Instream Flow Regime Application Example

February 11, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • HEFR Survey Results
  • Potential HEFR Enhancements and Modifications
  • Discussion Paper: Moving from Instream Flow Regime Matrix Development to Environmental Flow Standard Recommendations
• Presentations
  • Water Markets for Environmental Flows

March 17, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • SAC Liaison Assignments

April 14, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Resource Agency Monitoring Programs Questionnaire

May 12, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • HEFR Update Memo
  • HEFR Enhancements Memo

June 15, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Presentations
  • How Do Various Flow Recommendations Compare to Each Other?

July 14, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Summary of Analysis Methods Used to Test Application of Environmental Flow Regimes
• Presentations
  • Environmental Flows in the Cypress River Basin

August 11, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees

September 8, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Handouts
  • Environmental Flow Regime and Analysis Recommendation Report - Cypress Flows Project
  • Trinity/San Jacinto/Galveston Bay BBASC Facilitator's Report
• Presentations
  • Cypress Flows Project

October 6, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees
• Presentations
  • SB2/Texas Instream Flow Program update

November 10, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees

December 8, 2010

• Agenda
• Minutes
• Attendees

January 12, 2011

• Agenda
• Attendees

February 9, 2011

• Agenda

May 11, 2011

• Agenda
• Attendees

Presentations

• Excerpts of Geomorphic Change Associated with Dams
• A Conversation About Dams

• Instream Flow: Why Should We Care About Fluvial Geomorphology?

Reports and Other Information Provided to the Science Advisory Committee

Review of Desktop Methods for Establishing Environmental Flows in Texas Rivers and Streams

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For answers to any other questions about this committee please call or e-mail Cory Horan at 512-239-4026 or through the main Water Supply Division line, 512-239-4691.