Clean Coast Texas Collaborative

Project Summary

The Meadows Center and the Texas General Land Office are leading the Clean Coast Texas Collaborative, which will provide coastal communities with technical assistance on best practices to reduce nonpoint source pollution and incorporate stormwater management techniques.

As a primary component of the recently launched Clean Coast Texas initiative, the Collaborative encompasses a dynamic team of scientists, educators, engineers and communication professionals, who will work with communities throughout the Texas Coastal Zone to address stormwater management and water quality concerns. Partners in the collaborative include the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Services’ Texas Community Watershed Partners, the Texas Sea Grant College Program and Doucet & Associates.

The Clean Coast Texas Collaborative will deliver customized local workshops in four communities on topics related to sustainable stormwater management such as green infrastructure case studies, data driven community planning for resilience and determining optimal locations for small-scale green infrastructure projects like rain gardens. The Collaborative will also enhance efforts of the Meadows Center’s Texas Stream Team program to bring training opportunities, equity and access to citizen scientists of diverse education levels and backgrounds.

In conjunction with these workshops, the Clean Coast Texas Collaborative will engage with local officials to provide technical support for initiating community projects such as developing and refining local ordinances, the adoption of sustainable stormwater design manuals, building comprehensive plans specific to local demands including population and economic projects and creating conceptual designs to construct, or improve, green infrastructure.

These projects will showcase how Texas coastal communities can create tangible environmental benefits that can be easily translated to other coastal communities while supporting their local economies through the restoration of coastal natural resources, improved water quality, and mitigation of coastal erosion.