exTRA by the Trinity River Authority of Texas

For the second time in the past three months, Sherman is making moves to acquire land for the future expansion of its water treatment plant. The City Council voted last week to purchase an additional 60 acres of land adjacent to its existing facility. The plan is to already have the land acquired ahead of future needs for the city. The purchase also comes after multiple efforts by the city to enhance its water production over the past year.

An iconic fixture located in downtown Frisco could soon see a colorful facelift. A proposal from the downtown advisory board to install color-changing LED lights onto the historic downtown Frisco water tower was shared with City Council on Feb. 10 during the annual winter work session. The proposal came ahead of major construction projects set to begin later this year in The Rail District.

A neighborhood near River Legacy Park in Arlington has had some unwelcome visitors recently — feral hogs, invasive animals known for causing destruction across Texas and much of the country.

“We’ve had hogs come up and they’ll root up the grass and pretty much kill the grass,” resident Kevin Simpkins told KXAS-TV (NBC 5). “They get their tusk and snout and nose under there and they just peel back the grass supposedly looking for grubs.”

When it comes to upgrading key infrastructure across the city, Denison is looking to FEMA for some financial assistance. The City Council recently approved applying for more than $2.28 million in funding for multiple electrical and power upgrades for several water production sites.

The CDC is now adopting wastewater surveillance for information on COVID-19 trends. Meanwhile, Texas A&M virologists and researchers have been ahead of the game conducting this study now for over a year. The Texas A&M global health research complex (GHRC) state of the art equipment has supported this study. Sewer water can, strangely enough, share important information about viruses.

The Tyler City Council voted on Wednesday to authorize a $292,000 contract with KSA Engineers, Inc. for the design, construction management, and construction inspection of the West Second Street Elevated Storage Tank rehabilitation project. The one-million-gallon water storage tank located on the south side of West Second Street and Butler Avenue was inspected in the fall of 2019 and identified as needing rehabilitation.

Samsung’s semiconductor facility spilled a large amount of acidic wastewater into its stormwater pond and into a tributary of Harris Branch Creek in Northeast Austin, killing virtually all aquatic life within the 1.5-mile stretch. As much as 763,000 gallons of the acidic waste was discharged into the waterways for a period of up to 106 days.

It’s been almost one year since the historic winter storm of February 2021. Our staff members who worked during that event could probably tell you what they were doing every hour of the five days they spent at City Hall, working around the clock to keep power to our city’s lift stations, stop emergency water line breaks and protect the residents of our great city. 

A very special thank you to those who worked through the recent winter weather to provide essential services. Our hard-working, dedicated staff won't be stopped come ice or snow. They get the job done to ensure our customers throughout the Trinity River basin do not experience an interruption in service. We couldn't do it without you!

Pearland City Council opted to move away from establishing a stormwater drainage utility fee and instead has begun to look at the viability for a future bond program to fund needed drainage projects in the city. Council members at the Feb. 14 regular meeting opted to take no action on a resolution that would have called for the stormwater utility fee to go to voters in May if it had passed, Pearland City Attorney Darrin Coker said. Feb. 14 was the final day for council to call for a May election on the item, he added.

San Antonio leaders hosted a virtual town hall meeting to discuss the proposed project to remove over 100 trees from Brackenridge Park on Thursday, February 10. Here's a breakdown of the major takeaways from the town hall meeting.

Director of Public Works Rudy Flores emphasized that public safety and the integrity of Sealy’s public water system could be at risk if the city’s infrastructure concerns continue to be dismissed. During last Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Sealy City Council at the W. E. Hill Community Center, Flores explained just how old some equipment is.

Aging and failing infrastructure in downtown Sherman may soon be getting some much needed repair and replacement. The Sherman City Council voted this week to move forward with early phases engineering and design for improvements to downtown sewer infrastructure following a study that found hundreds of faults and defects in downtown lines.

League City officials have implemented Phase 1 of the city's drought contingency plan in an effort to save water after a water line break, according to a Feb. 7 news release. After discovering a leak in the city's main 42-inch water line between Hwy. 3 and Walter Hall Park, officials are asking residents to limit discretionary use of water, which includes sprinklers, landscape watering and outside car washing.

The City of Austin is still under a boil-water notice, but the calls to reduce water usage have been lifted. The notice was issued Saturday, after human error led to issues at the Ullrich Water Treatment Plant, the city’s largest water treatment facility. As the city worked to get the plant fully operational again, it was urging businesses and residents to conserve water as much as possible.