Mission, History and Accomplishments

Rio Grande International Study Center Mission Statement:  To preserve, protect and foster respect for the Rio Grande-Rio Bravo, its watershed, environment and cultures, through research, education and bi-national stewardship and alliances with individuals, agencies and organizations.

History of the Organization:  The Rio Grande International Study Center was founded in 1993 in response to growing concern about the quality of the water supplied to the communities of the lower Rio Grande basin.  At that time, millions of gallons of raw sewage per day were being released into the river, as well as heavy metals, petrochemicals and other industrial pollutants.  Very little was being done at any level, local to federal, to address the health and environmental hazards presented by the contamination of the Rio Grande.  The long-term prospect of diminished flow there were actually times when the river did not reach its outlet into the Gulf of Mexico and its potential for economic disaster were likewise neglected.  RGISC (pronounced RISK) was incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization on January 25, 1994, specifically to study these problems and to effect solutions to them.  It has historically received support from the City of Laredo, from Webb County, and from private foundations and individual contributions.  Many of RGISC’s accomplishments in the last fifteen years, from citizen activism to nature trail construction and maintenance, have been the work of literally hundreds of volunteers who have been inspired to give their time, money and labor to preserve the Rio Grande and its environmental heritage.

RISC’s overarching goal is to act as change agents and stewards for the preservation and restoration of the environment of the Rio Grande Basin.  It pursues these goals through independent research, community education, support for the passage of local ordinances that protect environmental and ecological resources, monitoring water quality and quantity, and the formation of alliances with similarly minded organizations on both sides of the Rio Grande.  RGISC takes as its area of interest the entire Rio Grande watershed, which includes portions of Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, as well as the five Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila, Chihuahua and Durango.

Some highlights of the organization’s accomplishments are:

  • Eighteen years of monitoring the water quality of the Rio Grande at various sites from the Columbia Bridge 19 miles north of Laredo to the village of San Ygnacio 30 miles south of the city.  This monitoring is done in cooperation  with the City of Laredo, the Texas Commission for Environmenal Quality and the International Boundary and Water Commission (1991-present).
  • Receipt of the Texas Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence, 1995.
  • Meadows Foundation Grant of $56,000.00 to prepare site for the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center at Laredo Community College, 1995-96.
  • Cooperation with the South Texas Environmental Education Research (STEER) in providing medical students and students in medically related fields with education in border environmental problems.
  • Participation in the passage of Laredo’s first hazardous materials ordinance, requiring safe handling and cleanup of toxic substances.
  • Involvement in the creation of the Citizens’ Environmental Advisory Committee (CEAC) to provide input to the Laredo City Council on environmental issues.
  • Webb County Heritage Foundation Meritorious Service Award presented to Dr. James Earhart and Dr. Thomas Vaughan, founders and current Board members.
  • A lawsuit against the United States Border Patrol that resulted in increased community awareness of the effects of riverbank destabilization and erosion on river water quality, 1998.
  • The creation of the Paso del Indio nature trail, which extends the scope of the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center into the actual riparian ecosystem that borders the Rio Grande, 1999.
  • Cooperating with the City of Laredo to establish the local annual Día del Río, a celebration of the river that includes a week-long series of presentations, cultural events and cleanup projects along the riverbank, 1999.
  • Creation of the River Curriculum learning community, a program implemented through Laredo Community College and Texas A&M International University that trains future educators in teaching environmental science through an integrated, interdisciplinary approach, initially funded by a National Science Foundation grant, 1998-2001.  The project has been resumed after a change in Laredo Community College administration and is currently ongoing.
  • The establishment of the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center at Laredo Community College, which provides a living laboratory for life science students from Laredo and Webb County and for the community at large.
  • The passage of the City of Laredo’s Green Space Ordinance, which requires developers to include parkland within all new subdivisions and requires the preservation of vegetated buffers along streams and surrounding wetlands, 2004.
  • An ongoing campaign to reduce solid waste by limiting the use of plastic bags by grocery stores and other retail merchants, 2004-present, which has been especially successful with local outlets of major chains such as HEB and Wal-Mart, which now provide reusable bags for Laredo customers at minimal cost (99¢ each).
  • An ongoing grass-roots campaign to force cleanup of the highly contaminated Anzon antimony smelter site on Manadas Creek within the Laredo City limits, 2006.
  • Establishment of Laredo’s first elementary-school level organization, Young Environmental Partners (YEP) at Bruni Elementary School, 2007.
  • An ongoing campaign to document and protect a rare colony of beavers (Castor mexicanus) on Manadas Creek, 2004-present.
  • An ongoing experiment to determine whether carrizo cane (Arundo donax) can be used for livestock feed; preliminary results positive,  2008-present.