exTRA by the Trinity River Authority of Texas

Pflugerville’s water and wastewater rates will increase beginning next month and again over the next five years to meet the needs of the city’s infrastructure, officials announced Tuesday night.

On Nov. 1, the average residential water customer will see a $20 monthly increase on their utility bill and commercial customers will see a $38.82 monthly increase on their utility bill.

On Sept. 17, 2020, the Irving City Council approved a $687.9 M Fiscal Year 2020-21 (FY 21) balanced operating budget. The adopted FY 21 budget is based on a stable property tax rate of $0.5941/$100 valuation, marking the seventh consecutive year without adjustment.

Interstate 45 expansion is about to begin through the city of Huntsville.  As expected, the Huntsville City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a utility agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for relocating water and sewer lines along and across the interstate.

Work to prevent flooding continues in Friendswood as the city collaborates with local and regional partners and solicits government grants to study and fund mitigation efforts. One major focus is the city’s push for federal grants to cover most costs for a proposed almost $79 million project called the Clear Creek In-line and Off-line Detention-Bay Area Boulevard Phase 1, which would would include measures such as terracing and additional detention to improve drainage and reduce flooding from storms.

"It's very important to make sure that this dam stays structurally-sound. Obviously if it were to breach, it would be a disaster," Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish explained. Built more than a half-century ago, the McMillan dam is in need of repair. A 2010 study conducted by the town of Ransom Canyon, determined that the dam did not meet safety design-standards set by the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) will make a presentation to San Jacinto County Commissioners Court on Wednesday, October 7 at 9am regarding Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF) grant approval to fund a Flood Early Warning System for San Jacinto County.

As a way to conserve water and reduce the freshwater consumed by their cooling tower, Sam Houston State University officials are wanting to reclaim untreated wastewater.  Under the new proposal, which will be presented to the Huntsville City Council on Tuesday, university officials are planning to construct a plant that would process the city of Huntsville wastewater and use the treated wastewater for their needs.

In advance of Energy Efficiency Day on Wednesday, October 7, 2020, the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) is announcing it has signed an agreement with Direct Energy to purchase power produced at a new solar energy plant being built in the Laredo area. 

Live Oak City Council on Sept. 29 approved the purchase of 50-acre feet of water using $300,000 from the city’s Economic Development Corporation budget. The city not only received the $300,000 for purchasing water rights but another $100,000 to be spent furthering the city’s business-oriented Visual Improvement Program (VIP) effort.

Soon some San Antonio Water System customers will be able to view their water usage in near real time as the utility embarks on a smart meter pilot project. The SAWS board approved several contracts totaling roughly $3 million Tuesday to jump-start the utility’s Connect H2O program, an advanced metering program that would enable SAWS to collect water consumption data automatically and remotely from each customer.

I, GREG ABBOTT, Governor of the State of Texas, do hereby certify that exceptional drought conditions pose a threat of imminent disaster in Andrews, Armstrong, Bailey, Brewster, Briscoe, Castro, Childress, Cochran, Collingsworth, Crane, Crosby, Culberson, Dawson, Dimmit, Deaf Smith, Ector, Floyd, Gaines, Glasscock, Gray, Hale, Hockley, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Lamb, Loving, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, Midland, Motley, Parmer, Presidio, Randall, Reagan, Reeves, Sutton, Swisher, Terrell, Terry, Upton, Uvalde, Ward, Wheeler, Winkler, Yoakum, and Zavala counties.