exTRA by the Trinity River Authority of Texas

Jenna Armstrong calls herself just a country girl born and raised out in the sticks outside of Lufkin, Texas. She used her East Texas roots and charm to rise through the ranks of Partnership Lake Houston to eventually become the Chief Executive Officer of the chamber and help lead the community through their worst natural disaster in Hurricane Harvey.

Residents can protect their home plumbing system and prevent sewer backups by recycling used cooking oil and grease at three locations in Arlington this holiday season. The 2021 Holiday Grease Roundup is in cooperation with the Wastewater and Treatment Education Roundtable, North Central Texas Council of Governments, and other area cities.

Here’s something we don’t get to say very often: It’s been a promising month for water in the Hill Country. With record sprawl pushing ever westward from I-35 and climate change threatening an age of Texan megadroughts, the water future of the Hill Country has looked increasingly fragile.

To avoid household and environmental damage as well as a costly plumbing bill, never put fats, oils and grease down the drain.

Fats, oils and grease come from meats, butters and margarine, lard, food scraps, sauces, salad dressings, dairy products and cooking oil.

The Lower Colorado River Authority Board of Directors on Nov. 17 approved a measure that could permit commercial dredging on the Highland Lakes despite community calls against ending a moratorium on the practice. The board passed the Highland Lakes Dredge and Fill Ordinance by a vote of 8-6 at its Wednesday meeting in Austin as well as modified the Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance. 

Katy City Council authorized Mayor Bill Hastings to sign an agreement with ARKK Engineers for engineering design, repair and construction services for the rehabilitation of the water tanks at Katy’s Water Plant No. 6 at 27515 Highway Blvd. for about $1.6 million during their only regular November meeting. Funding for the project will come from the city’s Enterprise Fund, which may only be used for waterworks projects, City Administrator Byron Hebert said.

(from left to right) Carol E. Haddock, PE, Director of Houston Public Works; Texas State Representative Trent Ashby; Claude Thomas; U.S. Congressman Brian Babin; David Leonard, David B. Leanord , TRA board member; ETEC Board President Greg Jones; Kathleen Jackson, PE, Texas Water Development Board Director; and Dr. Jerry F. House, D.Min, TRA board member.

East Texas Electric Cooperative (ETEC), the Trinity River Authority (TRA), and the city of Houston officially “flipped the switch” at the R.C. Thomas Hydroelectric Project Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, during the facility’s dedication ceremony. The celebration featured honorable guests, such as U.S. Congressman Brian Babin, representatives from the city of Houston, members of the R.C. Thomas family, and elected officials in and around the facility’s footprint.

An aerial sewer line was struck by a large tree Thursday morning after a severe thunderstorm, and as a result, raw sewage is spilling in White Rock Creek. Although the city of Plano has experienced this leak of domestic wastewater, the public drinking water is not affected and continues to be safe for consumption,” the city of Plano said in a Thursday press release.

Two years after a spillway collapse led to the dewatering of Lake Dunlap, the Lake Dunlap Water Control and Improvement District (WCID), in partnership with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA), is thrilled to announce that construction has finally begun on the new hydraulic crest dam. If all goes according to plan, this new dam will replace the damaged one by December of 2022 to Spring of 2023.

In order to meet the needs of a growing population and to shift from reliance on groundwater to surface water as the source for its drinking water, the City of Houston and four regional water authority partners are currently undertaking a 320mg/d, $1.765-billion design-build expansion of the Northeast Water Purification Plant (NEWPP).

After launching an educational program in July to address illegal dumping, specifically pet waste in storm drains, The Woodlands Township officials said the effort is slowly moving forward. John Geiger, manager of the Environmental Services Department for The Woodlands Township, said to date with community volunteers about 1,000 storm drain inlets have been marked with no dumping signage.

Ovivo Inc. ("Ovivo"), a global provider of water and wastewater treatment equipment, technology and systems, is pleased to announce a major investment of more than 25 million US dollars for the construction of a state-of-the-art facility that will produce Cembrane's unique patented Silicon Carbide ("SiC") flat sheet membranes in the United States.

A $25,000 grant will help the Double Horn Creek Water Supply Corp. install a 40,000-gallon water storage tank to support area firefighting efforts. The grant came from the Lower Colorado River Authority and Pedernales Electric Cooperative through the LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program.

For the very first time, KFOX14 got an up-close look at the El Paso Water Frontera Force Main wastewater pipeline project and what's being done to stop the 10 million gallons of wastewater that flow into the Rio Grande every day. Chief Technical Officer Gilbert Trejo guided the KFOX14 team through the construction that's happening at Atlantic Road and Hidden Way in the Upper Valley.

City Council member are planning for the future and the possibility that the Rio Grande River won’t be enough to use it as a water source.  Studies in having a secondary water source continue as well as the price tag that may come with it.

In August, the city spoke on water improvement projects and Graham City Manager Brandon Anderson gave an update on a timeline of water roadblocks and where the city was headed on future projects. The Graham City Council was updated Thursday on major projects within the city which were the Texas Street water line improvement project, improvements to the Tackett Lift Station, an update on financing for the alternate water line to the city and movement on an elevated water tank for Spivey Hill.

The Conroe City Council is revisiting its wastewater treatment plant project after several cost cutting measures may have left the plant without odor control measures. The new plant, which is being constructed on 25-acres of a 50-acre greenfield site east of Interstate 45 north of South Loop 336, will have a six million gallons a day capacity with the ability to be expanded to 12 MGD.