exTRA by the Trinity River Authority of Texas

The move to Stage 2 restrictions is partially precipitated by the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District’s (BSEACD) move to Stage 3 restrictions for the Barton Springs aquifer. Buda receives approximately 25% of its water supply from the Edwards Aquifer.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is set to kick off its annual rainbow trout stocking and more than 20,000 fish are expected to be stocked along the Canyon Tailrace of the Guadalupe River in the New Braunfels area.

The City of Waco is once again urging residents and property owners to conserve water in order to avoid tighter watering restrictions during the ongoing drought. The Waco area has received rainfall in recent days, but that is not enough to mitigate the effects of a year-long drought in Texas, especially since Lake Waco receives its water from areas to our northwest.

If you’ve been waiting for autumn colors to reach the trees, now is the time. Mid-November is peak time for fall foliage in Texas, and as the days get shorter and cooler, the Texas Parks and Wildlife said the leaves have finally begun to change and drop.

Just this past summer, broken water lines triggered a 13-day boil water notice in Laredo and a major water outage in Odessa, and Zapata almost ran out of water after reservoirs reached dangerously low levels. Texas is in dire need of better water infrastructure. But to invest more wisely, state officials need to improve Texas’ long-term water plans. A sense of urgency should also apply to water conservation efforts.

Concerns over ecological damage to Corpus Christi Bay have delayed plans to convert sea water to drinking water for years in this booming Gulf Coast city, where environmentalists see water supply as a “chokehold” to block new fossil fuel infrastructure.

The Smith County Commissioners Court approved an agreement for a nearly $3.7 million water/sewer project on Tuesday. The agreement involves the City of Winona and the East Texas Municipal Utility District (ETMUD), and it will be paid for with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

Texas researchers are taking a closer look at the future of the Trinity Aquifer. The aquifer, which provides much of the drinking water to the Texas Hill Country, has seen a sharp decline amid rapid growth and years of extreme drought. The research could help conservationists plan for the future of the area and ensure residents have something to drink in the near future.

Treated effluent makes up 90 percent of the flow in the river. It keeps aquatic plants and animals alive. It cools generators at CPS Energy power plants. Some of it makes it all the way down to the coast, filling areas of the river along the way and nurturing fragile estuaries that depend on fresh water.

Over the past few years, several studies have shown that at least 40% of the world’s insects are dying at a rapid rate, and some research shows that 90% of certain species have already been wiped out.

A project expanding Pflugerville's surface water treatment plant is on track to begin construction following Pflugerville City Council's approval of a construction contract. The project will expand the water treatment plant's capacity from 17 million gallons per day to 30 million gallons per day, which the city projects will be enough to keep up with demand through 2029.

Over the last year, city of Schertz leaders have discussed plans to invest over $40 million in water, sewer and drainage projects throughout the city. According to city of Schertz staff, these projects are a mixture of investments in new infrastructure—mostly to accommodate new growth—and recapitalization projects to replace and maintain existing infrastructure.

As East El Paso continues to grow, what also must grow is El Paso Water’s Bustamante Wastewater Plant. Construction is underway to keep up with the growing city and strengthen the water system.

Work will include replacing some flow meters, which help facility workers accurately measure corrosive chemicals and helps compensate for pressure changes.

The Wichita Falls Alliance for Arts and Culture partnered with the City of Wichita Falls in efforts to beautify the city, something that Wichita Falls Utilities Operations Manager, Daniel Nix, said couldn’t have come at a better time. 

“We’ve replaced the roof, it’s time to repaint it and so we were looking at instead of just painting it the same dull brown that it has been for the last several decades is there an opportunity there to paint a more attractive mural,” Nix said.

City Council voted to approve the project at an Oct. 24 meeting. The water plant has both a ground storage tank that can hold up to 1 million gallons of drinking water and an elevated storage tank that can hold an additional 500,000 gallons.

Central Texas got two shots at significant rainfall this week, but the latest data show that drought continues to have a firm grip on the region, and forecasters expect a major factor in the drought, La Niña, to persist into the coming months. 

Texas’ biggest single solution to providing enough water for its soaring population in the coming decades is using more surface water, including about two dozen new large reservoirs. But climate change has made damming rivers a riskier bet.

The Harris County Commissioner’s Court approved an outdoor burn ban on Tuesday due to continuous drought conditions in the area. There are now 144 Texas counties with burn bans, including Harris, Galveston, Waller, Chambers and Liberty counties.

Lake Waco is near historically low water levels, and the city as a whole has been in a drought for over a year now. Although the Central Texas area got a little rain Monday night, unfortunately, it didn't change much.