Rgisc Inc.

“Rgisc solicits annually to the public to become members by contributing funds in different levels.”

“A draft of form 990 is presented to the board of directors for review prior to cpa's electronic submission of tax return.”

“Rgisc monitors and enforces compliance at least annually and when new officers, board members and key employees are added.”

“Compensation is reviewed by board of directors and any decision made is based on comparable pay in similar positions, demographics of region, and merit.”

“The executive director makes recommendations on compensation of other key employees. This is reviewed by board of directors and any decision made is based on comparable pay in similar positions, demographics of region, and merit.”

“Governing documents are available upon request.”

“The rgisc mission is to preserve and protect the rio grande-rio bravo, its watershed and environment, through awareness, advocacy, research, education, stewardship and bi-national collaboration for the benefit of present and future generations.”

“Biology, chemistry, geography, and ecology lessons into the project for a meaningful experience 3)expected accomplishments - increase the number of participating student teams by at least 20% based on previous year's participation; increase the number of middle and high schools from both laredo school districts by at least 30% based on last year's participation. Dia del rio - river cleanup and paso del indio nature trail work day: 1)goal - several hundred volunteers are called by rgisc to clean up sections of the river and the paso del indio nature trail. The goal is to instill respect and "care" for our natural resources through hands-on activities in our community, which includes trash removal, mulching of trails, planting native plants, trees, shrubs and wildflowers, and potting native tree seedlings at the nursery of the lamar bruni vergara environmental science center. 2)objective - recruit volunteers and promote the event; and measure the weight of garbage collected and disposed of as a baseline measure for future endeavors. 3)expected accomplishments - increase river sections cleaned by 20% compared with prior year; and have a baseline number on the weight of garbage/trash collected and disposed of for this event. Dia del rio - community talk in 2016, we invited a river expert from boston - bob zimmerman, executive director of the charles river watershed association - through a state grant from humanities texas. Zimmerman gave a community talk about the experiences of restoring the charles river from a once highly polluted and shunned river, to one that now accommodates public swims in summer. Dia del rio - public kayak excursions 1)goal - reconnect laredoans with the river by providing kayak excursions in october. 2)objective - continue offering kayaking excursions on the river to promote river conservation programs and selected topics such as river's flora, fauna, endangered species, and other critical issues. 3)expected accomplishments - increase the level of public participation by at least 35% compared to prior year's level of participation in terms of river art submissions. Also get at least 20 people on the two public kayak excursions. Dia del rio - rivers and shivers at father mcnaboe park in 2016, we partnered with the city of laredo parks and leisure department to host a community-wide event to close out the month-long celebration of dia del rio. The goal was to provide greater awareness about our organization in a family atmosphere.”

“Attended multiple talks by birding experts. Rgisc oversaw all details of the festival and worked in partnership with the local monte mucho audubon society and city's convention & visitor's bureau. The festival also included various community outreach events for locals: -a highly successful bird art contest that was open to the community, and received nearly 300 quality art submissions, and -a fun with feathery friends children's event at the laredo public library, for nearly 100 youth to learn about local birds and how to use birding optics.”

“Initiate the dialogue to establish the city's environmental services department. Rgisc opposed building a border wall within the river vega. It has advocated vigorously against aerial spraying of the herbicide imazapyr by the u.s. Border patrol on or near the river, where it represents a hazard to humans and river wildlife. Rgisc also brought attention to the near destruction of a critical inner city wetland at lake casa blanca by acquiring 13,000 signatures and holding countless meeting with city council members, and the u.s. Army corps of engineers. In january 2013, the city council eventually voted to sell all of this land for development with very little being preserved as a wetland feature. Manadas creek & wetland restoration project on a branch of manadas creek, near the intersection of i-35 and mines road, lies one of laredo's last remaining wetlands. Unfortunately, this isolated and fragile eco-system has become the resting place for tons of trash during rain events, and hundreds of shopping carts from the north creek shopping plaza. The enormous quantity of trash drew the attention of biology students at st. Augustine high school, which has partnered with rgisc to undertake a long-term manadas creek & wetland restoration project over the course of two years. We spent numerous day-long cleanups for several months with the high school, and volunteers from high school rotc programs and university students. We also invited the public to join us the 3rd saturday of each month to help restore this severely impaired area.”

“Description of other exempt purpose accomplishments general: river monitoring: measure and document water flow and the level of pollutants and pathogens in the rio grande. For more than 20 years, rgisc has conducted monthly sampling of water at multiple points along the river and submitting the data to federal and state agencies. Plastic bag reduction campaign in july 2016, we attended a hearing at the fourth court of appeals in san antonio regarding the laredo plastic bag reduction ordinance, which was passed in 2014 and took effect in 2015, with the goal of reducing the nearly 120 million plastic bags consumed each year in laredo. We held a press conference on the eve of that hearing and penned opinion pieces supporting the ordinance. The appellate court ruled against the city, in a 2-1 vote, and the city appealed to the texas supreme court which agreed to hear the case. We are awaiting a date for that hearing, and are working with attorneys from austin who will file an amicus brief on our behalf with the texas supreme court. Proposed industrial waste landfill in july 2016, we submitted written comments and raised concerns with the texas commission on environmental quality about the proposed class i landfill. It would be one of the largest in the state and bring in 1-3.65 million tons of waste - industrial solid and liquid waste, and municipal waste - per year. We also attended and spoke at a state hearing held in the summer with our concerns focused on the floodplain, potential air impacts for nearby colonia residents, and the types of industrial waste that is planned for the site, such as coal ash. As of december 2016, the state had found several deficiencies with the application and new legal issues by opponents were brought to eh courts. Aerial spraying in 2016, we began to closely monitor new state plans to aerial spray chemicals onto the river banks to reduce an invasive species, known as arundo donax or giant river cane. We also began to do outreach by phone and in-person visits with other communities along the river about these plans, and to gather resolutions opposing this proposal. We, instead, support the scientifically successful usda methods to reduce the water-intensive cane with biological agents and mechanical topping methods. We vigorously oppose aerial spraying of the herbicide imazapyr and other chemicals on or near the river, where it represents a hazard to humans and river wildlife. Proposed oil refinery in november 2016, we learned of plans to construct the first oil refinery in the united states since the 1970s less than 5 miles upwind from the small and rural webb county community of bruni. This is located about 45 miles to the southeast of laredo. Plans call for processing 50,000 barrels of crude per day and shipping it via rail, thru laredo into mexico. We are concerned about the potential impacts (air and water) and significant health risks for bruni residents and students who attend the ms/hs campus that serves that entire region. We held a meeting with the county judge to gather more information, and began to consult with scientists who work with communities living next to refineries to better understand the environmental and public health risks. We joined forces with surrounding landowners and ranches, as well as environmental and social justice organizations and formed the south texans against the refinery (star) coalition. We began plans for hosting the first of several community town hall events to bridge the gap of transparency and information for these affected communities. Nature education: in 2016, rgisc organized various cleanups throughout the community, particularly along creek systems and other waterways: 1.a two-day blitz at lake casa blanca international state park to remove tons of trash left behind by thousands of visitors over the easter weekend, and 2.a cleanup at falcon lake in zapata county, downstream from us, with about 70 high school students. Rgisc also provided numerous t”

“Unrealized gain on investments 11”