Subcommittees of the Galveston Bay Council (the Council) meet quarterly or as needed to facilitate The Galveston Bay Plan’s day-to-day implementation activities. This includes developing projects and programs for each of the specific actions in The Plan.
Subcommittee meetings are open to the public. Meetings take place at the Estuary Program office at 17041 El Camino Real, Ste. 210 Houston, TX 77058. If you would like a copy of past agendas, meeting minutes, or presentations please contact our office at (281) 218-6461 or send an email to gbep@tceq.texas.gov.
Upcoming Meetings: TBD March 2023
Coordinator: Lisa Marshall (Interim), Lisa.Marshall@tceq.texas.gov
Chair: Cindy Wilems, Galveston Bay Foundation
Vice Chair:
The purpose of the PPE subcommittee is to advise the Council and the Estuary Program staff on matters pertaining to education and outreach. The subcommittee performs the following functions:
- Provide a forum for information sharing and coordination of bay-wide education and outreach activities.
- Facilitate and assure agency commitments to implement public participation and education actions of The Plan.
- Make recommendations to the Council concerning proposed PPE projects.
- Identify potential funding sources.
- Develop and recommend to the Council annual priorities for implementation of the PPE action plans.
- Provide updates of agency/organization activities that implement The Plan.
- Assess the success of PPE action plans.
January 2021 PPE Meeting Minutes
April 2021 PPE Meeting Minutes
September 2021 PPE Meeting Minutes
March 2022 PPE Meeting Minutes
March 2022 PPE Presentation: Wildly Healthy, Climate Ready: Using Nature to Build a Better Houston – Jaime Gonzalez, The Nature Conservancy.
June 2022 PPE Presentation: Community-Based Engagement in 2022: Learning from the Galveston Bay Public Perception Assessment, Dr. Erin Kinney, Houston Advanced Research Center and T’Noya Thompson, NAAEE, HARC, Conservation Nation, Cincinnati Zoo, and Southeastern University.
September 2022 PPE Meeting Minutes
November 2022 PPE Presentation: Connecting the Environmental Community – Charlotte Cisneros, Citizens Environmental Coalition.
November 2022 PPE Presentation: Women in Coastal Science Program and other Galveston Park Board Programs – Elizabeth Schneider, Galveston Parks Board.
Upcoming Meetings: March 22, 2023
Coordinator: Lindsey Lippert, Lindsey.Lippert@tceq.texas.gov
Chair: Philip Smith, Galveston Bay Foundation
Vice Chair: Scott Alford, Natural Resource Conservation Service
The purpose of the NRU subcommittee is to advise the Council and the Estuary Program staff on matters pertaining to habitat/living resource conservation and balanced human uses. The subcommittee performs the following functions:
- Provide a forum for information sharing and coordination of habitat/living resource conservation and balanced human uses activities.
- Facilitate and assure agency commitments to implement habitat/living resource conservation and balanced human uses actions of The Plan.
- Make recommendations to the Council concerning proposed NRU projects.
- Identify potential funding sources.
- Develop and recommend to the Council annual priorities for implementation of the NRU action plans.
- Provide updates of agency/organization activities that implement The Plan.
- Assess progress towards NRU action plans.
The Invasive Species Work Group is a work group of the NRU subcommittee. The purpose of the group is to foster a dialogue between the various government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders that are interested in or affected by invasive species in the Galveston Bay watershed. The group explores numerous issues and ideas related to managing invasive species for maximum ecological, economic, and societal benefit.
January 2021 NRU Meeting Minutes
Upcoming Meetings: March 8, 2023
Coordinator: Christian Rines, Christian.Rines@tceq.texas.gov
Chair: Brian Koch, Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board
Vice Chair: Justin Bower, Houston-Galveston Area Council
The purpose of the WSQ subcommittee is to advise the Council and the Estuary Program staff on matters pertaining to water and sediment quality. The subcommittee performs the following functions:
- Provide a forum for information sharing and coordination of bay-wide water and sediment quality activities.
- Facilitate and assure agency commitments to implement water and sediment quality actions of The Plan.
- Make recommendations to the Council concerning proposed WSQ projects.
- Identify potential funding sources.
- Develop and recommend to the Council annual priorities for implementation of the WSQ action plans.
- Provide updates of agency/organization activities that implement The Plan.
- Assess the success of WSQ action plans.
March 2021 WSQ Meeting Minutes
September 2021 WSQ Meeting Minutes
December 2021 WSQ Meeting Minutes
March 2022 WSQ Meeting Minutes
September 2022 WSQ Meeting Minutes
December 2022 WSQ Presentation: An Overview of Phase One: The Galveston Bay Regional Monitoring Database – Ryan Bare, Ph.D., Houston Advanced Research Center.
December 2022 WSQ Presentation: Occurrence of Microplastics in Tributaries to Galveston Bay – Zulimar Lucena, United States Geological Survey.
December 2022 WSQ Presentation: Outreach Implementation for Galveston Bay Water Quality Projects– Kendall Guidroz, Houston-Galveston Area Council.
Upcoming Meetings: March 8, 2023
Coordinator: Lisa Marshall (Interim), Lisa.Marshall@tceq.texas.gov
Chair: George Guillen, Environmental Institute of Houston, University of Houston-Clear Lake
Vice Chair: Michael T. Lee, U.S. Geological Survey
The purpose of the M&R subcommittee is to advise the Council and the Estuary Program staff on matters pertaining to monitoring and research. The subcommittee performs the following functions:
- Establish final design specifications for the Galveston Bay’s Regional Monitoring Program.
- Oversee implementation of the program.
- Ensure comparability of monitoring efforts.
- Direct and approve future monitoring design modifications.
- Secure institutional support for the program.
March 2021 M&R Meeting Minutes
September 2021 M&R Meeting Minutes
December 2021 M&R Meeting Minutes
March 2022 M&R Meeting Minutes
September 2022 M&R Meeting Minutes
December 2022 M&R Presentation: An Overview of Phase One: The Galveston Bay Regional Monitoring Database – Ryan Bare, Ph.D., Houston Advanced Research Center.
December 2022 M&R Presentation: The Galveston Bay Dolphin Research Program – The Importance of Long-term Monitoring – Kristi Fazioli, Environmental Institute of Houston, University of Houston at Clear Lake.
Upcoming Meetings: January 4, 2023
Coordinator: Lisa M. Marshall, Lisa.Marshall@tceq.texas.gov
Chair: Glenn Clingenpeel, Trinity River Authority
Vice Chair: Albert Gonzales, Low-income Communities
Membership is composed of the Chairs of the five standing Council subcommittees, the former Council Chairs, the present Council Chair and Vice Chair, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality representatives on the Council. The B&P subcommittee meets on an as needed basis. The subcommittee performs the following functions:
- Provide a forum for coordination among subcommittees to discuss projects and policies crossing issue areas.
- Provide a forum for discussing subcommittee organizational, procedural, and functional activities.
- Recommend annual and/or biennial goals to the Estuary Program and the Council.
- Make recommendations to the Council Chair and the Estuary Program Director regarding issues to be brought before Council, including presentations, roundtable discussions, or issues for Council comment.
- Oversee drafting of Council comments on issues potentially impacting The Plan’s implementation.
- Provide nominations for Council vacancies.
- Provide review of federal projects for consistency with The Plan.
September 2019 B&P Meeting Minutes
October 2020 B&P Meeting Minutes
January 2021 B&P Meeting Minutes
April 2021 B&P Meeting Minutes