ILLUSTRATED FLORA OF EAST TEXAS - Brit - Botanical Research ...

PRESENT AND FUTURE OF CADDO LAKE/INTRODUCTION 155
Service in 2004, and control of the rest will be transferred after appropriate decontamination
(Federal Register 2000; Texas Education Agency 2001; Draper 2004). A further
indication of the region’s value is its selection as a Ramsar Wetlands Area in 1993 (Ingold
& Hardy no date; Caddo Lake Institute 2001b). The Ramsar Convention, named for its
1971 place of adoption (Ramsar, Iran), is officially known as the “Convention on Wetlands
of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat,” and is considered “the first
modern global nature conservation treaty” (Navid 1989). The objectives of the more than
135 member nations are to stem the loss of wetlands and to ensure their conservation
(Caddo Lake Institute 2001b; Ramsar.org 2004).
As with any natural resource having economic value, Caddo Lake is vulnerable to
both misuse and non-sustainable uses. One such threat is the recent (2002) effort by the
City of Marshall (Harrison County) to divert large amounts of water—approximately 5.5
million gallons (20.8 million liters) daily—from the Caddo Lake watershed for industrial
use (Chapman 2002; Deluca 2002; Davis 2004). Such a major hydrological change would
have devastating ecological consequences, as well as major negative impacts on the local
economy, and it has been challenged in court by a group known as the Caddo Lake
Coalition (Deluca 2002). Unfortunately, as water demand increases and drier western
parts of the state need ever greater amounts of water, many of East Texas’ rivers and reservoirs
may be the target of such transbasin water marketing schemes (Davis 2004).
Another possible threat to Caddo Lake is pollution and the resulting contamination
of the lake’s water and living organisms. There has been considerable concern in the area about
mercury levels in Caddo Lake, and in 1995 the state of Texas imposed a fish consumption
advisory for largemouth bass and freshwater drum because of suspected mercury contamination.
A subsequent study of various fish species (Giggleman et al. 1998) found levels
of a number of metals (e.g., chromium, lead, mercury, selenium) that exceeded the State
of Texas aquatic life protection criteria. However, levels of all of these “were below the
established action levels for human consumption” (Giggleman et al. 1998).
A further source of pollution concern is the Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant (now
the Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge), operated by the U.S. government from 1943 to
1997. That facility is known to have groundwater and soil contamination due to chlorinated
solvents and spent explosives (Giggleman et al. 1998). In 1990 it was designated a superfund
site, and cleanup activities, expected to continue until around 2015, have begun
(Texas Education Agency 2001). The Army is reported to have already spent $82 million
on the cleanup and another $23 will be needed to complete the effort (Associated Press
2004). Caddo Lake thus faces a number of conservation challenges and only time will tell
how the people of Texas treat this unique component of their natural heritage. B