What is the BIG?
The Bacteria Implementation Group, familiarly known as the BIG, is a thirty-one-member committee that is preparing an implementation plan, or I-Plan, to remedy high levels of bacteria in waterways identified in four Total Maximum Daily Load projects in the Houston Region. The BIG is responsible for receiving input, establishing workgroups, facilitating communications, developing recommendations, and providing oversight in the development of the I-Plan. Activities of the BIG are open to all interested parties, and people are encouraged to attend meetings and participate in the various water quality issues pertinent to the I-Plan.
The draft I-Plan is a common-sense approach for reducing bacteria levels in our waterways and providing better services to citizens. However, for the plan to work, we need your help. With everyone pitching in together, we will reduce bacteria levels in our waterways.
On August 16, 2011, the Bacteria Implementation Group approved the draft I-Plan for the purpose of submitting it to the TCEQ for consideration. TCEQ is currently considering the I-Plan to determine whether to approve the plan for the purpose of soliciting formal comment. As of November 18, 2011, almost 100 organizations representing local governments, business, and environmental interests have passed resolutions in support of the Implementation Plan.
- Implementation Plan for Total Maximum Daily Loads for Bacteria in the Houston-Galveston Region (PDF) 13M, submitted to TCEQ for consideration. To request printed copies, please contact Rachel Powers at 713-993-4559 or rachel.powers@h-gac.com.
- A four-page summary is available here (PDF) 613K.
BIG Meetings
Meetings are located at the H-GAC offices in Conference Room A on the second floor unless otherwise noted.
BIG Annual Meeting: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 (Tentative)
The Implementation Plan calls for an annual meeting, at which an assessment of progress toward meeting the goals of the I-Plan will be presented. Particular questions that will be addressed in the report include:
- Does ambient water quality monitoring data indicate that bacteria levels are changing? If so, are bacteria levels improving or degrading?
- Do non-ambient water quality monitoring data indicate that implementation activities are reducing bacteria loading?
- Are implementation activities and controls being undertaken as described in this I-Plan? Which activities have been implemented and which have not?
H-GAC will be hosting a series of workgroup meetings beginning in December of 2011 to help determine the content of the annual report. Notes from past meetings can be found on the BIG Workgroup page.
- Wastewater Treatment Facilities: Tuesday, Januray 17, 2011, 1:30 to 3:30 pm, H-GAC Conference Room A, Second Floor. Agenda (PDF) 209kB
- Sanitary Sewer Systems: Thursday, January 26, 2012, 1:30 to 3:30 pm, H-GAC Conference Room C, Second Floor. Agenda (PDF) 195kB
- Storm Water & Land Development: Monday, January 30, 2012, 1:30 to 3:30 pm, H-GAC Conference Room C, Second Floor. Agenda (PDF) 204kB
- Construction: Thursday, February 9, 2012, 10:00 am to noon, H-GAC Conference Room B, Second Floor. Agenda (PDF) 393 kB
- Illicit Discharges & Dumping: Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 10:00 am to noon, H-GAC Conference Room B, Second Floor. Agenda coming soon.
- Onsite sewage facilities will meet in late Febraury or early March.
For more information please contact Rachel Powers:
rachel.powers@h-gac.com or (713) 993-4559
Past Meetings
- 2011 August 16: Meeting Summary Coming Soon. Agenda (PDF) 439K, Complete handout packet (PDF) 2M, July 19 Meeting Notes (PDF) 396K, Updated Acknowledgement Page (unformatted) (docx) 50K, TCEQ's Proposed Additional Pages (PDF) 57K, Letters and Resolutions of Support (PDF) 4.2M
- 2011 July 19: Agenda (PDF) 454K, Proposed addition to I-Plan: Signature page and acknowledgements (PDF) 339K, Handout packet (PDF)2011 March 15: Meeting Summary (PDF) 381K, Agenda (PDF) 137K, Handouts (PDF) 259K, Draft responses to comment (Excel worksheet),Draft responses to comment (PDF), Draft responses to comment (updated 3/15/2011) (PDF) 354K, Responses to comment (updated 3/29/2011) (Excel) 189K
- 2011 February 15: Agenda (PDF) 140K, Public Comment Log (PDF) 245K, Complete handout packet (PDF) 982K, Draft Meeting Summary (PDF) 197K
- 2010 November 16:Meeting Summary (PDF) 240 K Agenda (PDF) 140K Updated Roster (PDF) 80K Public Comment Plan (PDF) 124K Implementation Plan 11/12 (PDF) 3.7M Proposed Changes 11/15 (PDF) 265K Questions for Discussion (PDF) 139K Implementation Plan 11/9 (PDF) 3.7M Implementation Plan updated 11/7 (PDF) 3.7M
- 2010 October 19: Agenda (PDF) 134K Updated Roster (PDF) 80K Summary (PDF) 255K BIG Revised Project Area Map (PDF) 514K Implementation Plan (PDF) 2M Implementation Plan updated 10/18/2010 (PDF) 4.58M Significant Changes to the Draft I-Plan since September 21, 2010 (PDF) 178K Table - Assessment Units in the BIG project area (PDF) 105K Public Comment Plan (PDF) 89K LID Workshop Flyer (PDF) 165K CWI Agenda - LID & Sustainability in the Houston Area (PDF) 44K
- 2010 September 21: Agenda (PDF) 64K Summary (PDF) 255K Link to Workgroup Drafts BIG Project Area Discussion (PDF) 367K Assessment Unit Table (XLS) 57K Project Area Map small (PDF) 1M Project Area Map large (PDF) 4M Significant Changes to the Draft I-Plan since May 2010 (PDF) 368K Proposed Public Comment Plan (PDF) 319K
- 2010 May 18: Agenda (PDF) 64K Handouts (PDF) 147K Summary (PDF) 98K
- 2010 April 20: Agenda (PDF) 71K Handouts (PDF) 7.94M Summary (PDF) 131K Maps: Agriculture (PDF) 1M Changes in AUs (PDF) 623K Cities (PDF) 889K Impaired Waterways (PDF) 621K Impervious Surface (PDF) 613K Level of AU Impairment (PDF) 630K Monitoring Stations (PDF) 641K MS4 (PDF) 995K MUDs (PDF) 762K Population (PDF) 788K TMDL Project Areas (PDF) 633K Watersheds (PDF) 421K WWTP Outfalls (PDF) 703K WWTP Service Areas (PDF) 962K
- 2010 March 16: Agenda (PDF) 104K Handouts (PDF) 457K Summary (PDF) 288K
- 2010 February 16: Agenda (PDF) 104K Handouts (PDF) 730K Summary (PDF) 248K
- 2010 January 19: Agenda (PDF) 66K Handouts (PDF) 1.07M Summary (PDF) 169K
- 2009 December 15:Agenda (PDF) 101K Handouts (PDF) 192K Summary (PDF) 121K
- 2009 November 17: Agenda (PDF) 102K Handouts (PDF) 764K Summary (PDF) 171K
- 2009 October 20: Agenda (PDF) 72K Handouts (PDF) 155K Summary (PDF) 359K
- 2009 September 15: Agenda (PDF) 72K Handouts (PDF) 218K Summary (PDF) 154K Presentation TCEQ (PDF) 482K Presentation URS (PDF) 4.8M
- 2009 August 18: Agenda (PDF) 72K Handouts (PDF) 391K Summary (PDF) 172K
- 2009 July 21: Agenda (PDF) 71K Handouts (PDF) 148K Summary (PDF) 408K
- 2009 June 16: Agenda (PDF) 70K Handouts (PDF) 484K Summary (PDF) 240K
- 2009 May 19: Agenda (PDF) 80K Handouts (PDF) 596K Summary (PDF) 148K
- 2009 April 21:Agenda (PDF) 98K Handouts (PDF) 660K Summary (PDF) 314K
- 2009 March 17: Agenda (PDF) 71K Handouts (PDF) 487K Summary (PDF) 175K
- 2009 February 17:Agenda (PDF) 78K Handouts (PDF) 467K Summary (PDF) 334K
- 2009 January 20: Agenda (PDF) 137K Handouts (PDF) 439K Summary (PDF) 348K
- 2008 December: No meeting in December
- 2008 November 18: Agenda (PDF) 76K Handouts (PDF) 217 K Summary (PDF) 392K
- 2008 October 28: Agenda (PDF) 77K Handouts (PDF) 651K Summary (PDF) 307K
- 2008 September 16: Meeting cancelled due to Hurricane Ike
- 2008 August 19: Agenda (PDF) 65K Handouts (PDF) 233K Summary (PDF) 363K
- 2008 July 22: Education Session: Agenda (PDF) 60K Handouts (PDF) 3.2M
- 2008 July 8: Agenda (PDF) 64K Handouts (PDF) 550K Summary (PDF) 125K
Workgroups
On November 18, 2008, the BIG established fourteen workgroups to address specific water quality issues pertinent to the I-Plan:
- Agricultural Sources
- Animal Sources
- Construction Sources
- Land Development Sources
- Illicit Discharges and Dumping Sources
- On-Site Sewage Facility (OSSF) Sources
- Residential Sources
- Sanitary Sewer System Sources
- Stormwater System Sources
- Waterwater Treatment Facility (WWTF) Sources
- Research
- Monitoring and Plan Revision
- Coordination and Policy
- Watershed Outreach
A detailed description of the workgroups can be found here: BIG Workgroups (PDF) 220K
All interested parties are welcome and encouraged to participate in one or more workgroups. A meeting schedule for upcoming meetings can be found here.
Contact
For more information contact:
Rachel Powers
(713) 993-4559
Rachel.Powers@h-gac.com
Last updated January 9, 2012