exTRA by the Trinity River Authority of Texas

Sludge and wastewater dominated much of the discussion of the Nov. 21 Cleveland City Council meeting where a request for qualifications for engineering was approved to handle a water plant and a professional services agreement with HR Green regarding a pond cleaning project.

Texas experienced its worst drought ever during the 1950s. The state lost an estimated $22 billion in 2011 dollars. In 2011, Texas suffered its worst single-year drought. Farmers lost $7.62 billion, marking the costliest dry period in state history, according to Texas A&M University. Texas is near the end of its two wettest years in recent memory, but a five- to seven-year drought is coming, state Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, warned attendees of the 17th Annual Bell County Water Symposium on Wednesday.

AUSTIN — Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists have classified Lake Georgetown as infested with an established, reproducing population of invasive zebra mussels and have also changed the status of Lake Livingston to fully infested. Lake Georgetown is a 1,297-acre impoundment controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, located just north of Austin on the North Fork of the San Gabriel River. Lake Georgetown's infestation was confirmed by TPWD biologists after discovering larvae in routine water samples Oct. 27. A follow-up survey conducted by the Brazos River Authority and TPWD district fisheries biologists Nov. 6 also revealed young settled zebra mussels attached to rocks along the shoreline.

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is accepting applications for Fiscal Year 2018 Agricultural Water Conservation Grants. TWDB has up to $600,000 in grant funding available to promote agricultural water conservation. Applications are due to TWDB by noon on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018. “It’s a great investment for Texas and for Texas agriculture,” Kathleen Jackson, TWDB board member, said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network. “We’ve provided more than $100 million in grants and low-interest loans through this program, and the funding recipients over the last five years have reported saving over 193,000 acre feet of water. We’re very excited to be able to offer this program again.”

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB) - When it rains in Abilene, it often pours, and that leads to the usual street flooding. In a special-called meeting, the City Council will hear about a new master plan for storm drainage that looks at some problem areas. At this time, city staff isn't saying exactly what's being looked at, or how they chose which areas needed work, although they do say that there is a top ten list, along with an eleventh project that was identified. Another detail: water won't be moved from the streets to an underground drainage system.

HARLINGEN — A new and improved plan to protect the Arroyo Colorado watershed has won the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency. The green-lighting by the EPA means the new study replaces one adopted in 2007 and will provide a framework for cleaning up the heavily polluted waterway, which also serves as a key flood-control feature for the Rio GrandeValley.

Texas has made progress in addressing dam safety -- there is no doubt. But more needs to be done to keep Texans who live near dams safe. Twenty years after the Austin American-Statesman reported on widespread shortcomings in dam safety, another Statesman investigation by Ralph K.M. Haurwitz published recently found hundreds of dams in Texas remain at risk of failure.

The City of Garland is participating in the regional Holiday Grease Roundup, an annual campaign that addresses fats, oils and grease in the wastewater system. This program asks Garland residents to recycle their holiday cooking grease instead of pouring it down the drain.

About 90 miles from Arlington, nature is helping ensure the city's more than 380,000 residents have safe, high-quality drinking water. The George W. Shannon Wetlands near Corsicana was built by the Tarrant Regional Water District, Arlington's raw water supplier, to help meet the growing demands for water in Tarrant County and 10 other counties. It is located along the banks of the Trinity River adjacent to Richland Chambers Reservoir, within the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Richland Creek Wildlife Management Area. The project was completed in 2013. Recently, water utilities staff from Arlington, Fort Worth, and Mansfield, as well as Tarrant County Master Gardeners, toured the site.

LCRA and Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative representatives present a $20,000 grant to the Martindale Volunteer Fire Department for hydraulic extrication tools. The grant is part of LCRA's Community Development Partnership Program. Pictured, front row from left to right, are: Kimberly Smith, City of Martindale mayor; Lori A. Berger, LCRA Board member; Bill Hamilton, Martindale VFD president; Joyce Buckner, Bluebonnet representative; Richard Salmon, Martindale VFD board treasurer; and Laurel Schuelke, Martindale VFD bookkeeper. Back row, from left to right: Rick Arnic, LCRA Governmental and Regional Affairs representative; Adrian Castanon, emergency medical technician; Kaleb Kelley, firefighter/EMT; Max Ruozzi, firefighter; Milton Shaw, Bluebonnet director; and Drew Schulle, firefighter.

To the Editor,
In a recent letter to the editor, Mr. Craig Monk continues his campaign of misinformation regarding the Trinity River Authority. The Authority is not currently providing biosolids to farmers in Ellis County, and has no plans to do so. Mr. Monk provided no basis for his claim that the Authority will “be dumping contaminated sewage on Ellis County soon.” He does not, because he cannot.

Testifying before the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Environment recently, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) highlighted successes in the water sector’s response to recent hurricanes and urged structural changes to make restoration of water systems a higher priority during emergencies. Mike Howe, executive director of AWWA’s Texas Section and administrator for the Texas Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (TXWARN), explained how the TXWARN network quickly and successfully assisted Gulf Coast water and wastewater utilities following Hurricane Harvey’s landfall. TXWARN is part of the WARN program, a network of utilities helping other utilities to respond and recover from emergencies through mutual aid agreements.

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott and leaders of the Texas Legislature on Nov. 9 announced the approval of $90 million in emergency state funding to help Hurricane Harvey disaster-declared counties pay for the removal of debris. Cities and counties in impacted areas are responsible for 10 percent of costs associated with debris removal. The funding, to be administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, is intended to help alleviate that burden as the rebuilding process continues, the Governor’s Office said. “Today’s action is just one more step in a long process to help our cities and counties recover and I want to thank all the members of both the Texas House and Senate for their effort to secure this much-needed funding,” Abbott said.