Onalaska Senior High School Installs Aquatic Plant Tanks

Lake Livingston Reservoir & Riparian Habitat Enhancement Project:

Onalaska, Texas, ^{May 16, 2014}:  Mr. Adam Graham’s students at the Onalaska ISD Senior High School have recently completed building three aquatic plant tanks to grow “American Water Willow” for the Lake Livingston Native Aquatic Plant Project.  This project is sponsored by the Piney Wood Lakes Chapter of Texas Master Naturalist (PWLCTMN), Texas Parks and Wildlife, Inland Fisheries Division, and the Trinity River Authority.  A total of nine ISD’s have expressed interest in growing these plants to revitalize the shoreline around Lake Livingston, and Onalaska is the first school district to start production.

It was an “all hands on” project with Mayor Roy Newport and School Superintendent Lynn Redden, Jim Meyer and Tom McDonough of the PWLCTMN, all helping Mr. Graham and his students install the tanks and plants.  This project will have long lasting effects on the Lake’s fisheries, birds and reptiles, which will benefit the communities around the Lake.

The real work starts now, according to Jim and Tom.  These plants need to be split every six weeks, thus doubling the number of plants each time.  When the tanks are full, the students will plant 2/3 of these plants into the lake’s shoreline in 1 to 2 feet of water.  The goal of the PWLCTMN is to transplant 10,000+ plants a year into the lake.  We hope to have 25 tanks installed at the 9 ISD campuses by year-end.  Tanks cost approxamitly $ 650 each to build and set up for the first year; then it is estimated to cost $200 to $250 per year to maintain production and transplanting.

We also want to thank our other advisors for their help on this project.  They are “Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership” and the “Livingston-Polk County Chamber of Commerce” and our Onalaska Partner,  “The Onalaska Bass Club”.  For additional information on this project, please contact Tom McDonough at tlm77351@iCloud.com or Jim Meyer at jameyer06@gmail.com .

“We’re Bringing Lake Livingston Back to Life!”