Fish, Wildlife Service Seeks
"Partnership" With Landowners

By David Bowser

AMARILLO — Craig Giggleman is with the government. He's here to help you.

That was the message Giggleman, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, brought to the High Plains Beef Conference.

"We are there to assist ya'll," Giggleman said.

Giggleman spoke to cattlemen at the conference with regard to the FWS's role in the issuance of clean water permits.

"At this point, I'm pleased with the results so far," he said. "We've reviewed about 78 permits. We have not caused any to not be issued. We've worked through the kinks with the TNRCC Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission). I have not reviewed a permit that I would consider at this time a contested permit."

Giggleman said he's worked closely with Ben Weinheimer at the Texas Cattle Feeders Association on wastewater permits for feedyards in the state.

In September 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency authorized the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission to handle the Clean Water Act, including wastewater treatment facilities and confined animal feeding operations facilities.

Giggleman said the FWS is involved in the permitting process now because of things that happened in the past.

"In the past, my predecessors at the field office commented with regard to state permits," Giggleman said. "At the time, the state was not mandated to respond to it. Nine times out of 10, comments that were provided to the state were wadded up and thrown away."

But that has changed.

"Now, they have to respond to our concerns," Giggleman said.

Those concerns, he said, are with regard to officially "endangered" and "threatened" species of animals.

The main species of concern, the "trust species," are the whooping crane, the interior least tern, the bald eagle, the Arkansas River shiner and the Concho water snake. The whooping crane and interior least tern are listed as endangered species. The bald eagle, Arkansas River shiner and Concho water snake are listed as threatened.

"These are not the only trust species we have listed in this area," he said. "These are aquatic or aquatic-dependent species."

He notes that the state of Texas is in the central flyway for migratory birds.

"It's a migratory pathway for birds coming up from South America, and vice versa, during the migratory season," Giggleman said. "Those are the trust species that could possibly be impacted."

From a historical perspective, Giggleman said, Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge provides an example of what can go wrong when there are no regulations concerning clean water.

Up until the 1960s the lake provided swimming, fishing and water skiing. Now, it is "dead."

"We know back then a lot of things occurred at Buffalo Lake," Giggleman explained. "This was before any kind of regulations."

There were direct discharges by area feedyards into Tierra Blanca Creek that feeds into Buffalo Lake.

"At that refuge, in doing some backtracking to find out what had happened there, we've got documented spills. These are on databases right now. That's not to say that other things didn't happen."

Wastewater spills from feedlots in 1964, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, and 1973 went into Tierra Blanca Creek, wiping out the fish in Buffalo Lake, Giggleman said.

"This got so bad that in 1977 and 1978, they had to close the lake," he said. "The lake was closed because of health concerns."

Ammonia values going into the lake were greater than three milligrams per liter.

"That was on the average," Giggleman said. "You had ammonia values hitting that water somewhere between 35 and 40 milligrams per liter."

To fish, ammonia is toxic at about two milligrams per liter depending upon the species, he noted.

"We did studies up there in 1991 and in 1994," Giggleman said. "In 1991, it was like a red flag. 'The world's going to end. Something bad's going on up there.'"

In 1994, verification and confirmation samples were taken.

"The sediments were high in nutrients," Giggleman said. "The soil was saturated with nutrients."

At that time the agency concluded the refuge could no longer maintain a viable lake. It wouldn't support it. The hydrology, he said, was not there.

"The lake no longer exists, nor will it be managed as a lake in the foreseeable future," Giggleman said.

They sampled again last month, Giggleman said, and the results indicated that the phosphorus and nitrates are elevated. Ammonia is detectable, Giggleman said, but it's not elevated.

"That's good," he said.

To the south of the Panhandle, Giggleman said FWS was involved in sampling water in the mid-Brazos watershed.

"We have over 200 dairies within this watershed," he noted.

The FWS was contracted by the Army Corps of Engineers through the Brazos River Authority last year to sample water in the Brazos. They sampled the Bosque, the North Bosque, the Leon River and the Lampasas River.

"I got a little ticked off when I went out to the North Bosque to start sampling," he said. "I had heard so much from the EPA and TNRCC that everything was under control. When I went out on the North Bosque. Quite frankly, was like being in a wastewater treatment plant. It was terrible. There were all these promises from all these regulatory entities saying that everything was fine and no one needed to worry."

When he conducted his analysis, of the 12 segments he sampled, two were impacted. One was part of the North Bosque. The other was a segment down on Nolan Creek, near Bellville, which had earlier received a direct release from a water treatment facility.

They caught about 10 different species in Nolan Creek. In the North Bosque, they found only four different species. The four species they caught were all tolerant species.

This led to a confrontation with EPA at a time when EPA was trying to reissue a general permit.

"Since then, however, the EPA no longer issues a general permit. The state does."

Currently in dealing with the state, Giggleman said, the FWS has three primary areas of concern: the Canadian River, the Red River and the Colorado River.

The Arkansas River shiner is the species of concern in the Canadian River, he continued.

"It's a threatened species of fish," Giggleman said. "Historically, it's only been found in the main stem. It does not come down the tributaries of the Canadian."

About 85 CAFOs that are permitted in the watershed.

"That's not saying those CAFOs could, if something happens, discharge and wipe out the fish," Giggleman said. "That's not saying that at all. It just causes us to be alert. We need to do something to prevent any type of impact from happening if possible."

He said the Canadian has not been studied as much as the Red River or Brazos, but historically there has not been a fish kill associated with CAFO discharges on the Canadian since 1972.

"That means somebody has been doing something right," Giggleman said. "We love to see that, because 1972 was prior to the regulations being written. The industry up there seems to be functioning fine, but still it's on our alert status."

The main species of concern in the Red River drainage is the interior least tern.

They could be impacted, Giggleman said, if a facility fails and there's a direct discharge.

"It's possible, but highly unlikely," he said, "but the potential still exists."

Tierra Blanca Creek flows into the Palo Duro, which flows into the Red River, Giggleman pointed out, so Buffalo Lake is a concern there.

In their listing of impacted waters, the Prairie Dog Town fork of the Red River is still listed as being impaired due to low oxygen and elevated bacteria levels.

He said that may not be coming from the feedlots upstream.

"I don't know where it's coming from," he said.

The studies to date are inconclusive. Giggleman said the TNRCC is talking about a study to try to determine the source of the problem.

The concern in the Colorado River watershed is the Concho River water snake.

Giggleman said they figure about 10 CAFOs, including a feedlot, dairies and poultry operation, exist in that area.

One facility, a feedlot, has had problems since 1985, he noted.

"There have been several fish kills," Giggleman said. "the most recent was in 1996."

Giggleman said that under FWS regulations concerning the Endangered Species Act, they consider such fish kills a direct impact. In addition to the fish kills, Giggleman said, the feedlot was discharging waste in "critical habitat" for the Concho water snake.

"It is of concern for us," Giggleman said.

Giggleman thinks an informal cooperative partnership with landowners is the best way to work through such problems.

"With the regulations that are in place, there are ways to approach it," he said. "I don't think a hammer would do it."

The EPA and TNRCC are the designated enforcement authorities in such a case, Giggleman said, not the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"We can use the Clean Water Act, but where our authority comes from is the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Act," he pointed out.

Citing the North Bosque River situation, he also conceded that there is disagreement among FWS officials as to how the EPA and TNRCC are working on clean water problems.

"With the state taking over the general permitting process, we still have the authority to be involved," Giggleman said. "We reviewed and commented on the individual permit program."

He said he's worked with TCFA's Weinheimer concerning a number of cattle feeding facilities in the Panhandle.

"We ultimately are trying to reach out," he said. "We're trying to develop an informal partnership with the operators."

He said the operators are the ones in the trenches. They are the ones who see day-to-day what's going on.

"I live in Arlington, Texas," Giggleman said. "I cover 115 counties in North Texas. I can only be at certain places at certain times."

He said he has to rely on the operators, and he wants the operators to rely on the Fish and Wildlife Service.

"We want that informal partnership," he said. "That's it in a nutshell."