exTRA by the Trinity River Authority of Texas

City officials have adopted many plans related to the environment, including the Austin Climate Equity Plan in 2021. The plan was meant to respond to climate change by prioritizing greenhouse gas reduction, supporting community-led initiatives and setting a goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. This means local greenhouse gas emissions, such as those from fossil fuels and landfills, would be removed from the atmosphere through reductions, storage or carbon offset credits.

More than 5 million Texans, or one in six people in the state, live or work in an area susceptible to flooding, according to a draft of the state’s first-ever flood plan. The plan by the Texas Water Development Board is an effort to reduce the risk for those people by recommending solutions to harden Texas against floods and rising sea levels. The board was required to create the plan in a 2019 state law passed in response to Hurricane Harvey.

Summer is coming, and so is La Niña. According to the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, there is a 49% chance of La Niña developing between June and August this year, and forecasters say it will create conditions for an 'above-normal' hurricane season in Texas.

Rocks and debris that would normally be beneath the Rio Grande jut out from what are now wide, green banks on both sides of this international river between Mexico and this rural part of South Texas. As the water levels in the river drop daily, the banks grow wider and the town of Zapata worries it could soon run out of drinking water. Worse, they only have stored a day and a half of emergency water supplies.

During its May 22 meeting, Liberty Hill City Council approved a $55,800 contract for the replacement of a part essential to the daily function of the city’s wastewater treatment plant. Called a programmable logic controller, or PLC, the part is an electrical device used to manage various stages of water and wastewater treatment with little to no human intervention. 

Livingston City Manager Bill S. Wiggins touched on the recent flooding issues during the May 14 regular meeting of the Livingston City Council.

On Wednesday, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality verbally issued a final ruling on SAWS’ decade-old request to retain its rights to the treated wastewater that the utility releases into the San Antonio River. The agency’s three commissioners ruled in favor of SAWS, 3-0, granting SAWS a permit to retain its rights over the released water, without conditions.

The new plant will be located across from the city’s plant on Corporate Drive and will initially be capable of handling 1 million gallons of water per day, or MGD, according to city documents. That will be paired with the city’s existing plant, which is capable of 0.5 MGD, making the two plants capable of handling 1.5 MGD in total, documents show.

As Central Texas’ wettest month of the year (May) draws to a close, some will see this as a missed opportunity for beneficial rain leading into the summer months. This May, though, has brought significant positives with drought improvement throughout much of the area, as well as significant rises in Lake Buchanan.

According to Water Data for Texas, Canyon Lake is only 58% full right now and Medina Lake is just 2.6% full. That's creating obstacles for boaters like islands and trees that were once hidden and forcing boat ramps to close to the public in some areas.

City Engineer Chris Bogert said around $50 million is needed to fund four water plants during a second discussion about the city’s available water capacity at Conroe City Council’s May 22 workshop meeting.

“We’ve grossly underfed the infrastructure for years, and now we’re at a crossroads here,” Bogert said. “The development’s caught up.”

Officials say the current well provides only 30% of the city's water supply, with the rest coming from the Rio Grande.

“With the second well that we are going to add, our total capacity dependent on groundwater will be right at 50%,” Mercedes Assistant City Manager Javier Ramirez said. “As we continue to add from the groundwater capacity, we will decrease our dependence on the surface water."

For the second time in as many months, the College Station council tables a $1 million dollar contract to change the design of a sewer trunkline to keep it out of residential neighborhoods in south Bryan. On April 25th, the contract was tabled last month because the city of Bryan had not signed an interlocal agreement (ILA).

The severe heat and drought of the past two years were not anomalies, but rather part of a trend toward hotter summers and milder winters, the report says. Notably, the number of 100-degree days in Texas has tripled over the past 40 years. In 2023, Dallas-Fort Worth recorded 55 days of at least 100 degrees.

It’s not your imagination. Texas weather is getting hotter and more extreme, study finds (msn.com)

The city of Brownsville is making $14 million in improvements to their water infrastructure. The multi-million dollar project will upgrade water and wastewater lines that were first put in during the 1920s.

Current rules don’t require checks of traps set for mountain lions, leading to concerns that animals are left to die slowly and inhumanely. The new rules ban live mountain lions from being kept in a trap or snare for more than 36 hours. 

The San Antonio City Council could sign off on the rule changes next month, including implementing a drought surcharge on high-use customers.

In March, a Plano wastewater facility operated by the North Texas Municipal Water District malfunctioned and spilled 1.5 million gallons of sewage into White Rock Creek, which feeds into the East Dallas lake. E. coli levels spiked above our capacity to measure them using standard monitoring methods. All that poop forced Dallas to close White Rock Lake to water activities.

Due to a loss of water pressure the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the City of Nacogdoches PWS No. 1740003 to notify all customers in the area of EJ Campbell Blvd to Logan Cir.; Woden Rd (2259) to 4000 blk of SE Stallings Dr., Woden Rd to 3400 Blk of 2259 (see attached map) to boil their water before consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc). Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions).

Local lakes and rivers are high now, but lake officials say they will not stay that way for the summer. The lake is at 477.6 feet above sea level. That is 15.5 feet higher than the normal level. The corps has already released five feet of water, but they can’t release it too fast because of cities south, like Houston, already seeing flooding.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers talks lowering lake levels heading into summer (kxxv.com)

Crews hired by McLennan County worked with possible storms looming Wednesday to install flexible pipe to drain a swollen reservoir near Bruceville-Eddy that has flooded one home and threatened others.

"These are not normal amounts of rainfall that we have been getting," McLennan County Judge Scott Felton said in a Wednesday email. "We have to be ready to act to help preserve public health and safety."

The only way people can get to their homes in the Trinity River Oaks Subdivision is by boat. They have been dealing with high water since April 28, and some homes still have standing water inside.