exTRA by the Trinity River Authority of Texas

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the City of Port Arthur's public water system to notify all customers to boil their water prior to consumption. The City of Port Arthur's water system pressure in the whole town of Sabine Pass went below the 20 psi state limit as a result of a water main leak.

NOAA released its latest El Niño discussion, which showed a 95% chance of the phenomenon hanging on through winter and a 71% chance of it being strong.

Several hundred customers in the Steiner Ranch community were fined or had their water shut off over the past week for violating restrictions meant to conserve water. Travis County Water Control and Improvement District No. 17 said it has been trying since July 5 to get violators in compliance of the restrictions, which include limiting irrigation to no more than two days a week.

Although our record summer heat has finally started to fade, the risk of wildfires remain high and every county in southeast Texas remains under a burn ban. 

“Here in Montgomery County, the Keetch Byram Drought Index, (KBDI) continues to reflect extreme drought conditions with some parts of the County as high as 794 on the 0-800 scale,” according to the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office.

The owners of one North Texas farm says she pays $190 for one bale of hay. When she started 20 years ago, she paid $25 per bale.

With rain in the forecast, the question now is whether it will actually help fill up our lakes from record low levels. Experts across Central Texas say it could take above-average rainfall for several weeks and potentially months to see higher lake levels, or it could even take flooding. 

The cities of Pflugerville and Hutto are both looking to build new water infrastructure that will increase capacity for their growing populations. Hutto’s fiscal year 2023-24 budget includes over $200 million for a new water storage tank, a well water-pumping site and wastewater infrastructure improvements to bolster the city’s water capacity.

Voices on the Water is a project undertaken by the Trinity River Authority of Texas to capture the stories and legacies of some of its longest-serving employees. Hear Jim's story and unique perspective from his amazing 50 years of experience at TRA.

The area — known as the Green Gate Grove Subdivision on Starling Circle south of Business 83 — is having a drainage system added to the neighborhood. The project includes adding more than 400 feet of concrete pipes that will help push storm water out of the subdivision and into a drainage ditch on East Tordillo Road.

As of Monday morning, Lake Mead's water level was just over 1,066 feet, a more than 20-foot increase since this time last year. Scientific measurements are used to document the water level, which is shared on the website Lakes Online daily, but the lake's visitors often use a shipwrecked speedboat to mark the change.

A Texas Girl Scout group may need to add a new badge to their sashes - the ability to escape an alligator. The incident happened as the spring area troop took an overnight camping trip to Huntsville State Park last weekend.

An air quality alert was issued by the NWS Fort Worth TX for Monday. The alert is for Wise, Denton, Collin, Hunt, Parker, Tarrant, Dallas, Rockwall, Kaufman, Hood, Johnson, Ellis and Henderson counties.

Natural disasters cost the US more than $57.6 billion. The figure does not include major disasters such as August’s Tropical Storm Hilary, as the damages are still being totaled.

Last week the City of Marfa received a new water storage tank that will replace the recently-deconstructed, leaking, over 50-year-old tank. The City on Friday posted a “Water Conservation Notice” to Facebook, instructing residents to “reduce water use as much as possible beginning Wednesday, September 6, until further notice” as the tank is replaced — a project expected to last two to three months.

The Environmental Protection Agency requires public water systems furnish the public with annual water quality reports, or Consumer Confidence Reports. The City of Orange’s report was delivered to residents by postal mail in July and is also available online the TCEQ website and on the City of Orange website.

Drought impacts will persist until the end of the year, but wetter conditions in the winter may be possible due to El Niño phase climate pattern.

Beaumont residents have experienced changes with the smell and taste of their water after the city converted its disinfectant from chloramine to free chlorine. This conversion removed ammonia from the water treatment to combat rising nitrification levels that were stripping chlorine residuals from the water.

The city of Waco is joining a class-action lawsuit against the makers and sellers of a firefighting foam linked to cancer and long-term environmental damage. The foams include chemicals such as perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and perfluorooctanic acid, which can cause cancer and contaminate soil and groundwater, according to a summary provided to the Waco City Council.

Nearly 40 percent of Polk County in eastern Texas is battling exceptional drought, the most severe classification of drought from the U.S. Geological Survey. The drought is much worse than in September 2022, when none of the county was suffering from exceptional drought. The dry period has depleted the water levels at Lake Livingston, a reservoir in Livingston, and now, debris is exposed.