exTRA by the Trinity River Authority of Texas

Residents of the West Texas city of Odessa may again safely drink tap water without having to first boil it, the city announced Saturday. The decision to lift the boil water order came after water samples sent for testing Friday were determined to be safe by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the city said.

Lake Somerville near Brenham entered the first stage of a drought watch due to the dry conditions in the lower Brazos River basin, the Brazos River Authority announced Thursday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on Yegua Creek, which is 94 percent full as of Wednesday, became the 10th of 11 lakes under the river authority's jurisdiction to enter the first stage of a drought watch.

The City of Euless ordered a halt to nonessential water use, restricting most outdoor watering, after a high service pipeline at a Trinity River Authority plant broke. The Trinity River Authority, which supplies water to Euless, experienced a "significant leak" on a high service pipeline on Tuesday evening.

Managers of the Tarrant Regional Water District allowed a former employee to take over this year’s Oktoberfest festival but later reneged after she contracted for 1,000 kegs of German beer and other items, the former employee claims in a lawsuit. Shanna Granger filed the claim this week in Tarrant County District Court. It seeks up to $1 million.

Howard Slobodin, general counsel for the Trinity River Authority which serves as an administrative agent for Region C, told The Texan that he isn’t sure about the sufficiency of Lake Texoma’s water supply abilities beyond its current output. He also said that the region is already utilizing conservation and re-treatment.

North Texas officials on Tuesday formally broke ground on a $223 million project to improve the Trinity River floodway in Dallas. The Army Corp of Engineers is overseeing work to raise certain sections of the levees along the river by 2 to 6 feet and reduce the slope on some portions along the 23-mile network of barriers that hold back floodwaters.

The Llano County Commissioners Court voted to formally request a contested case hearing on a private recreational dam proposed on the South Llano River. The vote came during a special meeting Monday, June 6. 

The city of Shenandoah is one step closer to the expansion of its wastewater treatment plant after securing $6.5 million in financial assistance from the Texas Water Development Board in March. During a May 25 meeting, the council approved the sale of tax and revenue certificates of obligations for the loan that will be repaid entirely with water and sewer revenue bonds.

A nearby river authority recently reached a $69 million agreement with the city of Houston to purchase a proposed reservoir project that, if completed, might one day provide water to thousands of homes across the region. The Brazos River Authority purchased about 70 percent of project rights for the Allens Creek Reservoir Project from Houston – a move that gives Houston the ability to purchase some water from the reservoir should the project ever move forward, according to a news release.

A West Texas city’s water system lost pressure after a break in a major water main, leaving tens of thousands of customers with dry taps Tuesday. Odessa’s water system’s 165,000 customers’ water taps lost pressure or went completely dry after the 24-inch main broke late Monday afternoon, according to the city’s social media pages.

The Trinity River Authority, the City’s water supplier, notified the City there is a break in a 48-inch water line that supplies the south side of Bedford. In an effort to conserve as much water as possible throughout the system and continue providing enough water for drinking and bathing to all residents, the City is requesting residents to pause all sprinkler systems over the next five days while critical repairs are made to the water line.

El Paso residents saw first hand the deadly dangers of flooding during summer 2021. With monsoon season around the corner, the risk of flooding once again looms.

Cedar Park City Council approved alternative water sources in the city’s Drought Contingency and Water Emergency Plan on consent at the June 9 meeting. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ, is now requiring water suppliers to select alternative water supply sources in their Drought Contingency and Water Emergency Plan.

While Central Texans cool down in area lakes this summer, lake ecologists at Baylor University are busy in a lab studying the tiniest organisms in the water. “We culture these microorganisms in the lab we grow them up across conditions we think are environmentally relevant,” Thad Scott, a PhD professor of Biology at Baylor explained.

Scaling back the use of yard irrigation systems is a big focus of Austin's Stage 1 water restrictions. "We want folks to, you know, take care of the appropriate maintenance for your irrigation systems, make sure that they're watering in the right places and only the right places. Stage one isn’t a shut down, the rules provide some options for residential customers. 

It looks as if Corpus Christi Water (CCW), formally known as Corpus Christi Water Utilities, is having to change course on its recent announcement that the city would be adding water from the Colorado River to its water blend. This water began reaching customers’ homes on Wednesday, May 11, but now the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) intends to curtail or suspend contractual access to water from the Colorado River due to the ongoing drought.