Friday's meeting was held from 1-5 p.m. at the Jefferson Institute, 120 E. Austin St. in Jefferson. It was the first of its kind, and was designed to bring people with interests in the Caddo Lake area to decide what – if anything–should be done about the area's problems.

"Today is the first step of what is likely to be a long process in which people have the opportunity to discuss and debate every issue possible," said Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) commissioner Larry Soward. "(They will) throw out some options, discuss solutions, and at some point down the line, will start developing a strategy that we can implement and how we can go about implementing it."