- October 21 was Imagine a Day Without Water, a day to reflect on how valuable water is to all of us. Many Texans don’t need to imagine what a day without water would be like after the winter storm in February, but we should be preparing for more of these days in the future. Texas is facing a long-term water deficit and planning for this should begin as soon as possible.
- The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program is a financing tool designed to incentivize building more energy and water-efficient facilities. PACE has been vastly underutilized in the state of Texas, but there is immense potential to finance infrastructure for water reuse with the program, and interest has been growing. It has been adopted by 59 local governments in Texas and has funded $155 million worth of projects, with the Credit Human building in downtown San Antonio serving as a perfect example of the type of building that PACE can fund.
- EPWater officials announced that they have implemented the second phase of their mitigation plan to divert wastewater away from the Rio Grande to the Haskell R. Street Wastewater Treatment Plant. After multiple breaks to the Frontera Force Mains in August, EPWater was forced to divert wastewater to the Rio Grande. EPWater started the mitigation plan in late September to reduce the environmental impact on the Rio Grande and are working hard to keep the replacement Frontera Force Mains project on schedule– with completion estimated for December 2021.
- Austin Water is completing a new system at Ullrich Water Treatment Plant, Austin’s largest treatment plant, to prepare for future extreme flooding events. A new polymer chemical feed will speed up the treatment process by better equipping the plant to remove silt from the source water.
- The EPA has announced $6M in funding for five grants to support research on existing and new technology for detecting and monitoring viruses in wastewater intended for water reuse applications. “The research funded by these grants will coordinate water reuse research, help identify critical science gaps and accelerate opportunities for reuse.”
- This week's TWDB Drought Watch shows continued drought expansion, especially in West Texas and the Panhandle. La Niña will bring warmer and drier than average conditions to Texas this winter.