Today's Families and Beef Consumption

Last updated: 6/12/200

Problems of the Texas Beef Industry

Last updated: 6/12/200

Five Total Maximum Daily Loads for Indicator Bacteria in Four Austin Streams

The report provides an overview of Waller Creek as well as detailed information about land use, flow duration, and TMDL of bacteria.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This document describes total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for four Austin streams and their tributaries in which concentrations of indicator bacteria exceed the criteria used to evaluate attainment of the contact recreation use. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) first identified the impairments to the Spicewood Tributary to Shoal Creek (Segment 1403J) and Taylor Slough South (1403K) in the 2002 State of Texas Clean Water Act Section 303(d) List (TCEQ, 2002), adding Waller Creek (1429C) and Walnut Creek (1428B) when the list was updated in 2006. The impaired segments and corresponding assessment units (AUs) are: Spicewood Tributary to Shoal Creek (1403J_01); ? Taylor Slough South (1403K_01); ? Walnut Creek (1428B_05); ? Waller Creek (1429C_02, 1429C_03); Together these four freshwater streams total approximately 31.6 miles in length with watersheds covering 63.465 square miles. They are almost entirely within the City of Austin full purpose, planning, or exterritorial jurisdiction. They are almost entirely within Travis County, except that the Walnut Creek watershed includes a very small portion of Williamson County. Currently, there are not any permitted domestic wastewater discharges within the watersheds of any of these streams. The Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF), operated by the City of Austin, discharges its effluent directly into the Colorado River instead of Walnut Creek. There are not any permitted industrial bacteria discharges within the watersheds. The Freescale Semiconductor WWTF only discharges bacteria-free process water. The primary loads are from various nonpoint sources that enter the streams via stormwater. The Spicewood Tributary to Shoal Creek is an intermittent freshwater stream approximately 1.4 mile in length from MOPAC/Loop-1 upstream to its headwaters near Spicewood Springs Road and Mesa Drive. The watershed is about 0.650 square miles and is entirely located in the City of Austin. There are no regulated wastewater discharges within this watershed. Taylor Slough South is a perennial freshwater stream approximately 1.1 mile in length from Lake Austin upstream to its headwaters near West 35th Street and MOPAC/Loop-1. The watershed is 0.650 square miles and is entirely located in the City of Austin. There are no regulated wastewater discharges within this watershed. Waller Creek is a perennial freshwater stream approximately 6.7 miles in length from its confluence with Lady Bird Lake upstream to its headwaters near Northcrest Boulevard and West St. Johns Avenue. The watershed is 5.648 square miles and is entirely located in the City of Austin. There are no regulated domestic wastewater discharges within this watershed. Walnut Creek is a perennial freshwater stream approximately 22.4 miles in length from its confluence with the Colorado River upstream to its headwaters near McNeil Drive and Parmer Lane. The watershed is approximately 56.517 square miles and is mostly in the City of Austin full purpose jurisdiction. However portions are in the planning, or exterritorial jurisdictions. Currently, there is only one industrial wastewater discharge located within its watershed, the Freescale Semiconductor plant, which only discharges bacteria-free process water into Walnut Creek AU 1428B_01. Escherichia coli (E. coli) are the preferred indicator bacteria for assessing the contact recreation use in freshwater, and were used for development of the TMDLs, with one exception. Fecal coliform bacteria were used for assessment of Walnut Creek AU 1428B_02 because it was the standard when data were collected in 1999. E. coli data are not currently available, but will be collected in the future. The criteria for assessing attainment of the contact recreation use are expressed as the number (or “counts”) of bacteria. The primary contact recreation use is not supported when the geometric mean of E. coli samples exceeds 126 most probable number (MPN) per 100 milliliters (mL), or the geometric mean of fecal coliform samples exceeds 200 MPN per 100 mL. For the 2012 assessment period, the geometric means of all AUs examined exceeded 126 MPN/100 mL E. coli or 200 MPN/100 mL fecal coliform, indicating non-support of primary contact recreation. Possible sources of indicator bacteria within the watersheds of the impaired AUs are stormwater runoff from regulated storm sewers, illicit discharges from storm sewers, sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs), and unregulated sources such as wildlife, unmanaged feral animals, and pets. Load duration curve (LDC) analyses of instream flows were used to estimate allowable pollutant loads and specific TMDL allocations. Because bacteria loads are usually highest at high flow, the very high flow regime was used as the critical flow for determining the TMDL. Predictions of future growth of existing or new domestic point sources were not necessary. The City of Austin has informed TCEQ that it intends to accommodate all growth with its central wastewater treatment system, which discharges directly into the Colorado River instead of these watersheds. The wasteload allocation (WLA) for regulated stormwater was based on the percentage of each watershed regulated under a Phase I or Phase II Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) stormwater permit. Compliance with these TMDLs is based on keeping indicator bacteria concentrations in the selected waters below the geometric mean criterion of E. coli less than 126 MPN/100 mL or fecal coliform less than 200 MPN/100 mL.Waller Creek Working Grou

Texas 4-H Beef Project

6 pp., 1 photoThis tri-fold brochure explains the opportunities in 4-H beef projects, the membership requirements, potential costs, goals and objectives, volunteer leader opportunities, and career development possibilities

Building My Professional Identity

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/oer/1003/thumbnail.jp

Texas 4-H Swine Project Guide

12 pp., 6 photos, 4 illustrationsThis guide for 4-H members explains how to select a good animal, build proper facilities, manage an animal's feeding and nutritional requirements, and take care of health concerns. There is also information on training and showing a pig

Simulated Energy Savings Comparison Between Two Continuous Commissioning® Methods Applied to a Retrofitted Office Building

Continuous Commissioning® (CC®) was performed on a 24,446 square foot institutional building used primarily to house offices and conference rooms. The building was constructed in 1950, and then had a complete Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) retrofit in 2001 to include new equipment and Direct Digital Control (DDC). Following the retrofit, CC was carried out in this building, mainly implementing outside air temperature (OAT) based temperature and static pressure reset strategies. In 2008, a second round of CC was performed (and is still in progress), which has focused on incorporating demand based reset strategies in addition to the reset strategies already in place. This paper examines the advantages of demand based reset strategies used in conjunction with outside air based reset strategies, with this building serving as a case study. In a more general sense, the building also serves as a case study of the benefits of performing multiple rounds of CC in a facility over time. Predicted energy savings from the second round of CC over the first round were reported. Since the second round of CC was still in progress as of completion of this paper, savings were predicted using simulation models developed in Energy Plus, a commercial simulation software package. Actual savings achieved from CC will be determined and presented in a 2nd paper when sufficient post-CC data have been obtained. This paper also mentions two specific challenges that were encountered and addressed during the second round of CC, including: 1) control of terminal boxes with inline electric reheat, and 2) control of a constant speed multi-zone air handling unit with zone temperature control. Recommendations were made to optimize control relative to these and other issues, in order to improve comfort and energy efficiency in the facility

Putting the Pieces Together

This publication provides activities to help develop youth leaders. It is suitable for use with 4-H clubs and for other youth activities

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta