The Plum Creek Current

Winter 2023

Dear Stakeholders and Friends of Plum Creek,

Firstly, I hope everyone in the Plum Creek watershed is doing well. My name is Sean Melvin and I am delighted to be the new Watershed Coordinator for the Plum Creek Watershed Partnership. I am so excited to be serving this wonderful watershed. If you haven't seen my introduction on our social media pages, here is a little bit about myself.

I am a native of Tennessee and that is where my passion for water quality started. I have always loved recreating in our rivers, lakes, and streams. So, when I graduated from the University of Tennessee, I made it my goal to protect and conserve the waters of my community. In Tennessee, I worked with Knox County Stormwater monitoring water quality and working with the public through outreach and engagement. Then in Florida, I was the Environmental Specialist for St. Johns County doing environmental compliance. Now, my home is Texas, and I look forward to all that we can accomplish together in this watershed. I hope with all my experience and expertise, I can serve this watershed well. I can not wait to meet everyone!

All the best,

Sean Melvin

Watershed Coordinator

830-557-7358

smelvin@plumcreekwatershed.org

Upcoming Events

The 38^th Annual Great Texas River Clean up

Join the Partnership and the City of Kyle for the 38th Annual Great Texas River Clean Up on March 4th to help clean up Plum Creek! We will meet at Waterleaf Park at 8:30 a.m. for registration and a FREE breakfast will be provided for volunteers. A pizza lunch will be available for volunteers at 11:30 a.m. back at Waterleaf Park. To help the Plum Creek cleanup, register at the link below.

Volunteer Sign Up

Feral Hog Bounty Claim Event

Caldwell County’s 2023 Feral Hog Bounty Claim program will begin soon! Caldwell County and the Partnership will be accepting hog tails for bounty claims at Smith Supply in Lockhart. $5 will be awarded for each feral hog tail delivered. The dates and event details for bounty collection will be announced soon. Stay connected so you do not miss out.

Get Involved

Join the Plum Creek Stewards!

The Partnership is looking for more people to join the Plum Creek Stewards! The Plum Creek Stewards is a monitoring group made up of citizen scientists that visit self-selected sites monthly to collect data on air and water temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and much more. This group works under the umbrella organization Texas Stream Team. This is a great opportunity to engage with your local environment and to learn about water quality and the science that goes into it.

If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a citizen scientist volunteer and helping collect important data within the Plum Creek watershed, reach out to Sean Melvin at smelvin@plumcreekwatershed.org.

Steering Committee Meeting

On January 12th the Plum Creek Steering Committee held its quarterly meeting at the Lockhart State Park. The Steering Committee was introduced to the new Watershed Coordinator and discussed other updates within the Plum Creek Watershed Partnership. You can find the meeting summary and other related information below.

The next Steering Committee meeting will be held in April in Kyle.

Meeting Material and Summary

Funding for the development and support of the Plum Creek Watershed Protection Plan is through a Clean Water Act grant provided by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.