KINGSVILLE, Texas — The "Bringing Baffin Back" program by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi's Harte Research Institute targets stormwater and water quality issues in Baffin Bay using nature-based solutions and community-driven efforts.
"All of these little blue lines are the creeks and streams that connect down through the watershed to Baffin Bay," Athena Frasca, the program's watershed restoration coordinator, said.
Frasca explained that the institute has been involved in projects monitoring the water quality since 2013.
"And that research has pointed towards the watershed...around the bay, is being a source of both nutrients and bacterial pollution to the bay itself, and that has degraded the water quality," Frasca said.
The institute is developing four preliminary designs for nature-based solutions in Kleberg County that will improve stormwater mitigation, enhance water quality, and create additional green space.
On Thursday, the program hosted a free community event to educate residents about these proposed solutions. Attendees from across the Coastal Bend showed support for the bay's restoration efforts.
David Siemonsma, a Premont resident interested in the initiative, emphasized the bay's regional significance.
"It's an important asset to this area and I think we need to do things to preserve its sanctity," Siemonsma said.
Kingsville residents also expressed their commitment to protecting the bay for future generations.
"It's ecologically important to Kingsville to Loyola beach to the different people, and if they don't take care of it now, it won't be there later," Marsha Miller, a resident of Kingsville for 11 years, said.
The institute's approach prioritizes local community engagement, with researchers actively seeking input from area stakeholders throughout the planning process.
"We want to make sure that all these projects that connect the dots between the watershed and the bay take stakeholders' priorities in mind and are of interest to them and of value to the people that actually live, work, and recreate in these areas," Frasca said.
For more information about the "Bringing Baffin Back" initiative, click here.
If you want to be apart of the Survey Harte Research Institute is doing regarding the Baffin Bay, click here.
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