Western States Water Council Spring 2021

Western States

Water Council

Spring 2021

Earl Lott

Director, Office of Water

March 23, 2021

Outline

TCEQ’s Office of Water

General Information about Texas

Challenges

Successes

Texas is a very large and

diverse state

 Texas is the 2

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

Division

Water Quality

Planning Division

Water Supply

Division

Water Availability

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

 1,800 routine monitoring

sites statewide

 SWQM Lab

 TMDLs, NPS, Estuary

Programs

 Sugarland Lab

Clean Rivers Program Planning Areas

1. Ca nadian Rive r Basin

2. Re d River Bas in

3. Sulph ur R iver Bas in

4. Cypre ss C reek Basi n

5. Sabin e River Basin

6. Ne ches River Basin

7. Ne ches -Trin ity C oasta l Basin

8. Trinity Riv er Basin

9. Trinity-S an Jacinto Co astal B asin

10. San Jacinto Riv er B asin

11. San Jacinto-B razos C oast al Ba sin

12. Br azos River Basin

13. Br azos-Color ado Coas tal B asin

14. Co lorado River Basin

15. Co lorado- Lava ca Co astal Basin

16. Lavaca Rive r Basin

17. Lavaca-Gu adalupe Coastal Bas in

18. Guadalu pe Rive r Basin

19. San Antonio R iver Basin

20. San Antonio-Nu eces C oas tal Ba sin

21. Nu eces R iver B asin

22. Nu eces-R io Gr ande Co asta l Bas in

23. Rio G rand e Basin

River and Coastal Basins

Red River Aut hority

Sulphu r River B asin Aut hority

Nor theast Tex as M WD

Sabine Riv er Auth ority

Angelina & Ne ches R iver Authority

Low er N eches Valley Authority

Trin ity R iver A uthority

Hou ston -Galv eston A rea Coun cil

Bra zos Riv er Auth ority

Low er C olorado River Author ity

Lav aca-Na vidad R iver A uthority

Guadalup e-Bla nco Rive r Authority

San Antonio Riv er Authority

Nue ces River Authority

Interna tiona l Bou ndary &

Wa ter C ommis sion

Texas River Basins

and

Clean Rivers Program

Planning Areas

El Pas o

Mi dlan d/

Od ess a

Lub bo ck

Abi len e

Am aril lo

W aco

Aus tin

San

Ant oni o

Co rpus

Ch risti

Ho usto n

Bea um on t

Lon gvi ew

Da llas

0 100 200 Miles

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

Endangered

Species

Freshwater Mussels

Smalleye and Sharpnose

Shiners

Peppered chub

Successes

Making Program Information Available

to the Public

Seagrass Monitoring

Operating in a Virtual World

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