Stephen F. Austin State University

Growing a 50-foot border of trees along streams and creeks deters about 11,831 tons of sediment from infiltrating East Texas waterways where it would eventually fill up precious storage space in local reservoirs, according to the Texas Forest Service.

This and other techniques are called Best Management Practices. The Texas Forest Service has promoted these voluntary guidelines with landowners, loggers and timber management companies for nearly two decades. As of 2005, TFS surveys showed that 92 percent of Texas landowners apply these techniques.

In 2003 the Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $367,200 grant which partially funded a four-year study to determine whether these practices are effective in protecting water quality. The results are currently under review at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Computerized equipment was set up at four sites on private timber stands previously owned by Temple-Inland and International Paper within an hour radius of Lufkin. Although the timberstands changed ownership, the new owners — Campbell Group and Timberstar, respectively — recognized the benefit of continuing the project, said Hughes Simpson of Lufkin.

Simpson is the BMP coordinator for the Texas Forest Service who oversaw the study. After each heavy rainstorm, monitoring equipment recorded changes in water depth and automatically collected post-storm samples to identify the level of storm water runoff.

The field study began in July 2003 and concluded in September 2008.

Based on what he has seen in the field, Simpson said, it appears "BMPs are effective in protecting water quality."

Throughout the study they tracked various aquatic life identified in the streams.

"East Texas streams are extremely diverse in aquatic life," Simpson said. "We identified over 100 different species of insects and almost 49 different species of fish."

Good water quality is critical to maintaining conditions suitable to these diverse aquatic species. Which is why maintaining a border of mixed hardwoods along streambeds is so critical, said staff forester Shane Harrington. Tree cover prevents streambeds from overheating and deters erosion. Increased temperatures and soil-runoff both decrease the amount of oxygen available to aquatic life.

"Researchers at SFA are currently reviewing our results," Simpson said. "Other universities, as well as state and federal agencies, may also participate in the review process. After this process is complete, the results will be submitted for peer review and published in several scientific journals."