Western States Water Council Spring 2021 Earl Lott Director, Office of Water March 23, 2021 General Information about Texas
TCEQ’s Office of Water Outline
Challenges
Successes Texas is a very large and diverse state
Texas is the 2nd largest state in the Union 268,820 square miles of wetlands Arid regions in the western part of the state, 7,000 lakes, 3,700 named streams, and 15 major rivers Texas borders the Gulf of Mexico, shares an international river boundary with Mexico, shares river boundaries with Oklahoma and Louisiana and is part of 5 Interstate Compacts
TCEQ’s Office of Water strives to protect the State's water resources consistent with sustainable economic development, working towards clean and available water.
Earl Lott – Director
Water Quality Water Quality Water Supply Water Availability Division Planning Division Division Division
Water Quality Division
Wastewater discharge permitting
4,069 individual wastewater discharge permits and 32,515 authorizations under general permits for storm water, wastewater, and concentrated animal feeding operations
Clean Water Act Section 401 Certifications
Implements procedures to maintain water quality and manages the Pretreatment Program. Water Quality Planning Division Establishes water quality standards
Monitors, assesses, and reports conditions in Texas waterbodies
Texas River Basins Clean Rivers Program Planning Areas and Red Riv er A uthority Brazos Riv er Authority 1 Sulphur Riv er B as in Authority Lower Colorado River Authority 1,800 routine monitoring Clean Rivers Program Northeast Tex as M W D Lav ac a-Navidad River A uthority Sabine Riv er Authority Guadalupe-Blanco Riv er A uthority Angelina & Neches Riv er Authority San Antonio Riv er Authority # Planning Areas Amarillo Lower Nec hes V alley A uthority Nueces River Authority Trinity River A uthority International B oundary & sites statewide Houston-Galv es ton A rea Council W ater Commis sion 2 Lubbock # 3
Dallas 4 # SWQM Lab Longview # Abilene # 12 8 Midland/ 5 # Odessa El Paso # 6 # W aco
14 6 23 10 TMDLs, NPS, Estuary Aus tin # # Beaum ont Houston # # 7 18 San # Antonio 16 11 19 9 River and Coastal Basins 15 13 Programs 17 1. Canadian River B asin 21 13. Brazos -Colorado Coas tal B as in 20 2. Red Riv er Bas in 14. Colorado River Basin 3. S ulphur Riv er Bas in 15. Colorado-Lav aca Coastal Basin 4. Cypres s Creek Basin 16. Lavaca River B asin # 5. S abine River Basin 17. Lavaca-G uadalupe Coastal Bas in Corpus 6. Neches River Basin 18. Guadalupe River Basin Christi 7. Neches -Trinity Coastal Basin 19. San Antonio River Basin 22 0 100 200 Miles 8. Trinity Riv er Bas in 20. San Antonio-Nueces Coas tal Bas in 9. Trinity-S an Jacinto Coas tal B asin 21. Nueces River B asin 10. San Jacinto Riv er B as in 22. Nueces-Rio Grande Coastal Bas in 11. San Jacinto-B razos Coastal Basin 23. Rio G rande Bas in Sugarland Lab 12. Brazos River Basin Water Availability Division
Water Rights Permitting
Watermaster Programs for the Concho River, Rio Grande, South Texas area, and middle and lower Brazos River
Supports five Interstate River Compact Commissions
Groundwater protection activities Water Supply Division Oversees production, treatment, delivery and protection of drinking water to approximately 28,000,000 Texans. Regulates more than 7,000 public water systems Provides technical and financial assistance
Provides general supervision and oversight of water districts to ensure bond applications, engineering plans, and district formations meet agency rules
Challenges
Winter Storm Uri
1944 Treaty – Mexico’s Water Debt
Endangered Species Winter Storm Uri Widespread power outages led to disruption in water supplies across the state Over 2,000 boil water notices affecting over 13 million Texans OW’s response activities Drafted technical guidance for public water systems (PWS) for responding to freezing weather conditions along with guidance relating to Boil Water Notices (BWN), funding sources for repairs, and emergency water hauling operations Assistance to the public relating to BWNs Found labs for PWS seeking laboratory services Completed 34 engineering reviews for emergency authorizations from impacted water systems Many of the same WSD staff that worked overtime during Winter Storm Uri were also working many hours to provide technical assistance for a cross-contamination event in San Angelo
1944 Treaty – Mexico’s Water Debt
The Mexican waters of the international Rio Grande Basin are vital to ensuring that Texas water right holders can irrigate crops, supply water to municipalities, and conduct industrial operations along the Rio Grande.
Deficit in the 2015 – 2020 Cycle and Minute 325 Freshwater Mussels
Endangered Smalleye and Sharpnose Species Shiners
Peppered chub Successes Making Program Information Available to the Public
Operating in a Virtual World
Seagrass Monitoring TCEQ NPS Viewer GIS tool and information hub for watershed planning and implementation TCEQ Water Rights Viewer Operating in a Virtual World
Annual Public Drinking Water Conference
EPA National Compliance Initiative
Pretreatment Virtual Audits
Online Water Use Reporting Seagrass Monitoring Earl Lott Director, Office of Water