exTRA by the Trinity River Authority of Texas

The city of Trinity hopes that its ongoing problem with water quality will be solved this week. At a recent meeting, the council approved an emergency expenditure to connect the city’s two water sources to eliminate quality and service problems. Those problems include boil water notices for the city, which has happened twice this year. The city currently is under a boil water notice.

Tomball City Council approved two agenda items at its Jan. 3 meeting to purchase additional water and gas meters and transmitters in anticipation of growth projected for 2022. In total, the new meters and transmitters will cost the city more than $783,000. Public Works Director Beth Jones said the city had originally budgeted funds for meters to cover about 300 new homes this year, but the city is now projecting about 1,300 new homes to be constructed.

McKinney residents will see construction begin on a new sewer transfer pipeline along Wilson Creek in 2022. The project is crucial to continue meeting the growing needs of McKinney and Prosper, McKinney City Manager Paul Grimes said. However, it will be “disruptive.” “[Our staff] are trying to mitigate some of the impacts, but it's definitely not going to be pleasant,” Grimes said. “We certainly urge folks to be patient and understand this really is progress. And you got to have these things if you like having water and sewer, which we all do.”

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) will soon begin taking grant applications for community projects. Applications for the next round of Community Development Partnership Program grants will be available online starting Saturday, January 1.  Most grants are for $25,000 or less, but each grant cycle includes several grants of up to $50,000.

Effective Jan. 1, Leander water customers will be charged under a new water billing system based on how much water a residential customer uses. Leander City Council approved this change Oct. 12. The tiered-rate system aims to encourage water conservation and is based on a recommendation from a 2021 city water rate study. While rates will increase for high water users, about 83% of residential water customers will see a decrease in their water bills, city Finance Director Robert Powers said Oct. 12.

Meadowlakes residents will see a $5 reduction on monthly sewer bills beginning Jan. 1, 2022, following a vote during a Dec. 21 City Council meeting. The reduction is possible because of federal pandemic relief funding received by the city. Rates went up $10 in October 2020 to generate additional income needed for a planned wastewater treatment plant renovation.

The city of Pflugerville is considering options for future water supplies for its growing population, including a new pipeline project that would cost an estimated $86 million. Another option the city is exploring is converting treated wastewater from certain Williamson County sources including the Brushy Creek East Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant East into drinking water for Pflugerville. 

By now, many of us are familiar with getting a COVID-19 test. But now, a different type of test for the virus is being conducted in East Texas. Researchers are finding the virus in our wastewater. Dr. Michelle Crum is an assistant professor at the UT Health Science Center in Tyler. She’s among the researchers looking for COVID-19 in East Texas wastewater. Crum says scientists first learned of its existence in wastewater towards the end of 2020.

Angel Parkway will finally expand from two to six lanes. The major road near Celebration Park separates Allen from the neighboring town of Lucas. The project has been put on hold due to difficulties in relocating water and sewer lines owned by the North Texas Municipal Water District, according to a city news release published in the Allen American. Once completed, FM2551/Angel Parkway will be redirected to align with Murphy Road in the south.

Lakeside residents on the three pass-through lakes in the upper part of the Highland Lakes chain shouldn’t expect any drawdowns in early 2022. The Lower Colorado River Authority typically lowers lakes in January and February. Pass-through lakes include Inks, LBJ, Marble Falls, and Austin.  The decision was made due to the relatively dry weather conditions, LCRA officials said in a media release.

In 2013, the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) completed construction of a 2,000-acre wetlands facility near its Richland-Chambers Reservoir in East Texas that allows the agency to take water from the nearby Trinity River, naturally filter it through man-made wetlands cells, and return it to the lake for use in Tarrant County. That innovative project, which can provide up to one-third of the total water supplied from that reservoir each year, has been so successful that TRWD is planning to build a second wetlands facility near its Cedar Creek Lake southeast of Dallas.

 Colorado Springs Utilities ("Utilities") has partnered with C-MOR Energy Services ("C-MOR") to advance their commitment to energy efficiency, employee safety and reducing carbon emissions. The municipally owned utility provides electricity, natural gas, water, and wastewater services to the Pikes Peak Region at competitive rates and has installed C-MOR's Guardian Series light towers on its location sites as one of its responsible environmental practices.

Frisco residents and businesses will be paying more for city utility services in January after the City Council’s September approval of a rate increase. Customers will see a 3% increase of the city’s rates for water, sewer and solid waste collection for December’s consumption. For water rates, the minimum residential bill will increase from $18.40 to $18.95.

During its December 21 meeting, the Bandera City Council unanimously approved a $45,530 bid for engineering services from Ardurra of San Antonio for the rehabilitation of the elevated water tank storage on Dallas Street. The money for the bid will be coming from federally awarded funding. The City of Bandera was awarded $215,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan (ARP), of which, 50 percent was granted this year; the remaining 50 percent will be granted in 2022.

When a tropical cyclone hits, the damage it causes can be fatal, severe and long-lasting. Though life-saving help arrives quickly, it takes years to recover. Hurricane Rita in 2005 taught that to Southeast Texas, which became a region of blue tarps on what remained of roofs amid the loss of almost the entire electric utility delivery system to neighborhoods for weeks, and in some cases, months.