Lake O' the Pines water release to help scientists study Big Cypress' ecosystem

LONGVIEW — Recent rains have created an abundance of water in Lake O' the Pines, allowing for scientists to continue an ecosystem study that could benefit water resources throughout Texas, officials say.

Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will systematically release water from the Lake O' the Pines reservoir into Big Cypress Bayou, which feeds Caddo Lake. Scientists will study how releases at different levels affect the movement of sediments and aquatic life in the bayou and Caddo Lake, according to Niki McDaniel with the Nature Conservancy of Texas.

"What we're trying to do is understand the river system so that we can have a great idea of the best way to use it wisely," McDaniel said Wednesday. "This is an issue of water for wildlife and for people."

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey began placing instruments in Big Cypress Bayou on Tuesday to measure water levels, water quality and other data, McDaniel said.

The water release is part of a multiyear study of environmental flows at Caddo Lake that began in 2004 with a series of science-based workshops organized by the nature conservancy and the Caddo Lake Institute, a nonprofit scientific and educational corporation aimed at protecting the ecological, cultural and economic integrity of Caddo Lake and its surrounding wetlands and communities.

The conservancy requested changes in the way water is released from the reservoir in August 2005, but prolonged drought conditions throughout Northeast Texas had prevented the releases, officials said.

Dick Bartlett is a former Caddo Lake resident who was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Texas Environmental Flows Advisory Committee. He said every basin and bay ecosystem in Texas could be affected by Caddo Lake studies if legislators will follow the committee's recommendations.

The study's results could lead to better ecological performance in Texas lakes and waterways for fish and humans, he said.

"What we're doing here is conservation for people here at the lake," Bartlett said. "The most important thing is we're pioneering a process (at Caddo Lake) where a lot of stakeholders have gotten involved around the lake. They've had a chance to provide input to the process and learn. It's incredible what the local people have provided in the process along with the scientists and biologists."

According to the conservancy, Caddo Lake supports the richest array of aquatic creatures in the area, with more than 20 mussel species and 90-plus species of fish, including uncommon species such as paddlefish. More than 150 nations signed a treaty naming Caddo Lake as the United States' 13th wetland of international importance.

"Caddo Lake is one of our most valuable, most unique and least well-known natural treasures in Texas," said Carter Smith, director of the Nature Conservancy of Texas, in the release. "It is absolutely fitting that the state's only natural lake be the site of these important environmental flows studies."