Red River Education and Research Park:

A Unique Place-Based Venue for Linking Geology,

Other Field-Based Sciences, and Community

Gary M. Hanson and Amanda C. Lewis

Red River Watershed Management Institute, Louisiana State University in Shreveport,

One University Place, Shreveport, Louisiana 71115

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

Development of the Red River Education and Research Park

In 2001, the Louisiana State University (LSU) Board of Regents authorized the establishment of the Red River Watershed Management Institute (RRWMI) at LSU-Shreveport (LSUS). The Institute was tasked with conducting ongoing research, education, and outreach programs designed to ensure future water quality within this watershed and to enhance management of one of the largest river basins in the continental United States. Also in 2001, LSUS and the City of Shreveport signed a 20-year cooperative agreement in order to jointly manage C. Bickham-Dickson Park, a public park, located near the campus and in the floodplain of the Red River. Under the agreement the students and faculty of LSUS will conduct watershed education and research in the 585-acre Red River Education and Research Park (RRERP) under the auspices of RRWMI. The RRERP was developed on the premise that a public park (C. Bickham-Dickson Park), located in a river floodplain, could serve as a unique venue for providing science education for the general public and field research opportunities for university students and faculty (Fig. 1). An advisory committee consisting of representatives from recreational and outdoor organizations, LSUS, City of Shreveport, related state and federal agencies, and local schools was developed. The committee recommendations included the need to characterize the geology and hydrology of the floodplain park. Working with support from LSUS, the community, federal agencies, and industry partners such as Halliburton and AEP-SWEPCO, the Institute has developed projects that are planned and executed by students and faculty. These projects serve to give students the opportunity to acquire hands-on work experience with state-of-the-art equipment while addressing real world problems.

Watershed Research at a Community Site

A unique aspect of this park project centers on its dual-use. Although research and education will be conducted throughout the park, the park will continue to function as a public park. Most watershed research sites are not normally open to the general public. Although some sites offer guided tours for the public, none are known to also serve as public or community parks. RRERP offers the unique possibility to expose the general public, and city employees/administrators to ongoing watershed research at a community site. Conversely, university students, faculty, and administrators have the unique opportunity to work with a municipality as it administers to the public needs. Dealing with real-world issues such as developing public policy, enactment and enforcement of permits, codes, laws, ordinances, and regulations is something that rarely involves those in academia. Political considerations relating to the operating and maintenance of the park will impact the research and education being conducting in the park. An unknown factor is how the public will accept this dual-use concept. Since the development of the multi-billion dollar Red River Waterway Navigation Project, the park floods more frequently and significant areas of the park are developing into new wetlands as the permanent groundwater table rises. In response to these hydrological and ecological changes, some of the traditional public uses of the park have been eliminated or altered. For example, playground equipment has been removed. From the watershed perspective, the changing ecosystem offers excellent opportunities to enhance awareness and education for the public. It is hypothesized here, that place-based community parks that incorporate research and education, as well as public recreation, can improve public awareness, education, and involvement of the natural environment. Because scientific research and education are being conducted in the local community by people from the community, public interest in and acceptance of results obtained will be enhanced. Public confidence and credibility gained by these researchers and their efforts can serve to increase local awareness and acceptance of watershed and environmental issues at national and global levels.

Research Endeavors

Geology

Exploration and characterization of the geology of the RRERP is essential to understanding the dynamics of this wetland. The geological composition will be established using a series of cores and by the development of monitoring wells. The first large diameter well was developed in February of 2002, by a consortium including MHC X-Ploration from Tyler, Texas, and Halliburton Energy Services (Fig. 2). The well was drilled and logged in the park to enable researchers to track changes within the park’s ground-water system. The 300 ft deep monitoring well was developed and students collected cuttings, described conventional cores, and observed wireline logging operations in the alluvium, and Midway and Wilcox groups. Halliburton Energy Services ran multiple state-of-the-art open-hole logging tools (including MRIL [magnetic resonance imaging log] and an imaging log); that are used typically for evaluating oil and gas wells. Students were allowed to observe the process and had first hand training in analysis of sediment/rock properties and micro-fossils. The second phase of geological work has developed around the use of a truck-mounted Geoprobe^® unit. The Geoprobe^® uses direct-push technology to develop small diameter monitoring wells. These typically shallow wells will be developed to evaluate the Red River Alluvial Aquifer. The aquifer is now a focus of Haynesville Shale operators as they use this non-potable, abundant water source for frac water in lieu of the highly stressed Wilcox Aquifer. Multiple boreholes have been cored and ten small-diameter monitoring wells have been developed to characterize this aquifer. A hydraulic profiling tool has also been purchased, which will be used to measure the pressure response of the soil to injection of water and create real-time profiles of soil hydraulic properties.

Hydrology

Surface water in the Red River watershed, including comprehensive sampling at the RRERP, is being monitored using state-of-the-art surface water monitoring and analysis technology including: a Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Platform (L-TEMP) to monitor water quality conditions over time and at multiple depths; a suspended water quality monitoring platform and rigid mount water profiling system; a telemetry enabled surface water monitoring site between the Red River and the RRERP; and the RV Khoury, a surveying and sampling boat equipped for lake and river coring, multi-beam sonar, acoustic doppler, and current profiling equipment (Fig. 3). A bathymetric survey has also been conducted on the RRERP oxbow lake (Old River Lake) and the adjacent portion of the Red River (Fig. 4).

Biodiversity

The biological community at the park was surveyed as a baseline component to monitor change in species composition at the RRERP. This baseline current description is increasing in importance due to the introduction of exotic species, the historic and continued human presence in the park, and the changing hydrology of the seasonally flooded wetland.

Flora. Researchers have documented 318 species of plants at the RRERP. One species, Carex decomposita (cypress-knee sedge), documented at the park is a globally rare (G3) and state critically imperiled (S1) species. Twenty-one percent of the flora consists of exotic (not native) species reflecting the degree of anthropogenic disturbance in the park (MacRoberts et al., 2008).

Fauna. Fish, mammal, bird, amphibian, and reptile species lists have been composed and are continuously updated. The area has become a bird hotspot, with 263 species of birds having been documented at the park (Bird Study Group, Shreveport Society for Nature Study, 2009). The fish community reflects the direct connection of the oxbow with the Red River and the origin of the oxbow from the Red River. The mammal, amphibian, and reptile communities consist of species that are common representatives of this northwest Louisiana area.

The vertebrate populations and the overall biodiversity seen at the park are reflective of the seasonal flooding that inundates the park and the historic and current usage of the park by humans. Continued studies are needed to supplement documentation of the species occurring at the park and monitor changes occurring as a result of new biotic perturbations. The Red River is the source for the seasonal flooding and natural flood cycles are now mediated by a series of locks and dams on the river. Many nonnative invasive plant species have been documented at the park (MacRoberts et al., 2008). The effect of these invasive species on fauna and on water quality will be an important question to address in the future. A large fish kill occurred during August of 2007, due to Hydrilla (an invasive nonnative aquatic plant) growth during a flood and die off of the Hydrilla after flood water receded. LSUS students and faculty were conducting water quality sampling and analysis prior to and during the fish kill. It appears the fish kill resulted from a drastic drop in dissolved oxygen (8 mg/L to 0.9 mg/L) caused by a sudden die-off of aquatic plants, as flood waters receded. In addition to several large paddlefish (Polyodon spathula), numerous small fish were observed floating dead in the lake.

Summary

The RRWMI uses cutting edge technologies to monitor watershed properties while training students using a hands-on approach. The RRERP continues to be a living laboratory; an outpost for wetlands experimentation, teaching, and public outreach. The plants and animals living at the park will continued to be monitored in conjunction with the invasive species and the water conditions at the park. Only through forming a complete picture of geologic, hydraulic, and biological conditions at the park over a long-term monitoring period can we fully understand the mechanisms at work in this wetland. The future management of this and other wetlands will benefit from training of students, education of the public, primary research, and applied research.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Red River Watershed Management Institute appreciates the support and cooperation of Louisiana State University in Shreveport, the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Environmental Projection Agency – Region 6, the City of Shreveport, Caddo Parish, AEP SWEPCO, Halliburton Energy Services, and MHC X-Ploration. Special thanks to Dr. Dalton Gossett, Dr. Stephen Banks, Dr. Michael MacRoberts, Barbara MacRoberts, and David Williamson for research contributions at the park.

REFERENCES CITED

Bird Study Group, Shreveport Society for Nature Study, 2009, Bird records of northwest Louisiana database: Unpublished database, data available to public.

MacRoberts, M. H., B. R. MacRoberts, and G. M. Hanson, 2008, Vascular flora of C. Bickham-Dickson / Red River Education and Research Park, Caddo Parish, Louisiana: An oxbow lake community, with comments on exotic/native species ratios: Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, v. 2, no. 2, p. 1389-1406.

Hanson, G. M., and A. C. Lewis, 2009, Red River Education and Research Park: A unique place-based venue for linking geology, other field-based sciences, and community: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 59, p. 329-335.

	Figure 1. The model used in the formation of the Red River Education and Research Park to integrate university, city, and community into a wetland education and research park.
	Figure 2. Halliburton workers prepare to perform a magnetic resonance imaging log (MRIL) at the Red River Education and Research Park.
	Figure 3. The Surface Water Monitoring Platform (SWAMP) and the RV Khoury surveying and sampling research vessel on the oxbow lake (Old River Lake) at the Red River Education and Research Park.
	Figure 4. Multi-beam sonar bathymetric survey of the oxbow lake (Old River Lake) at the Red River Education and Research Park and adjacent portion of the Red River. Deep water is blue in the illustration. Louisiana State University in Shreveport (LSUS) is located at the top left of the image.