Plant a native upland buffer near an artesian seep, Palmetto State Park's public day-use area, site 1

The survey above found a bare or thin upland buffer gap near Palmetto State Park's public day-use area around an artesian spring seep feeding the swamp; native buffer planting on the park's maintained trailside ground filters runoff before it reaches the seep, never touching the outlet itself.

Where

Palmetto State Park headquarters and day-use area, 78 Park Road 11 South, Gonzales, TX 78629 (Ottine, Gonzales County) · Open the map

Pay

$200 proposed

This packet is not funded yet, so this figure is a proposed price and not money waiting in escrow. If a buyer funds it, approved proof settles that price onchain. If nobody funds it, approved proof earns provable credit toward the work instead of cash. You see which before you claim, never after.

Proof

park staff approval confirm plus before after photos plus species record plus GPS

This is exactly what gets it approved. Nothing settles without it.

Level

intermediate

Open until

2026-09-05

Posted by

0x034F…6c89

The creator wallet. Its signature is what approves proof and settles the wage.

How this work is done

A documented method, so this packet comes out the same whoever does it. Typically 30–60 minutes. Method of record: EPA dry-weather / AMD field screening

Bring

• GPS phone
• pH meter or strips
• conductivity meter
• ammonia + iron test kit as specified
• surfactant screen if specified
• gloves
• camera

Steps

1. 1. Navigate to the outfall/reach; record GPS; photograph it, capturing any visible flow or staining.
2. 2. Note whether flow is present in dry weather (yes/no).
3. 3. Measure and record pH, conductivity, and each specified analyte per kit instructions.
4. 4. Log any color, odor, floc, or aquatic-life observation.
5. 5. Enter all readings with units, GPS, time, and photos into the proof record; sign.

If it does not match the plan

• Dry-weather flow present with elevated conductivity/ammonia/surfactants -> flag suspected illicit discharge for the responsible agency.
• pH < 6 with visible iron floc -> tag suspected acid mine drainage; recommend metals lab panel.

What counts as done

• Before photo of the bare or thin buffer gap
• Park staff approval of the planting location recorded
• Confirmation that this job never stepped off the boardwalk or maintained trail into the swamp, never waded, and never walked on saturated ground; that no water sample was collected from the artesian springs, seeps, or river and no plant was collected or its precise location published; that any river-adjacent work stayed bank-top only with the current weather and flash-flood forecast checked before starting; and that insect repellent, sun protection, and adequate water were carried given Central Texas heat, humidity, and mosquito/chigger/snake presence.
• Native species planted recorded
• After photo of the planted, mulched, watered in buffer gap

Proof is measured against these, not judged by taste.

The standard this serves

Watershed Health. A watershed is everything the land pours into a stream, and the stream keeps the record. The EPA's bioassessment method reads that record through the small creatures living in the gravel: mayflies and caddisflies mean clean water, only worms and midges mean trouble. Mastery looks like a person who can wade one riffle with a net and tell you how the whole valley is doing. That skill is built sample by sample. This packet is one of them: one site, one careful count, one entry in the long record of a stream.