TCEQ ISSUES PERMIT FOR BRAZOS RIVER AUTHORITY

  

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approved a water right permit that will make additional water supply available for use in the Brazos River basin.

The permit is one of the first to be issued by the state that will include environmental flow provisions.

Phil Ford, the General Manager and CEO of Brazos River Authority says that “… the permit will appropriate a new, reliable supply of water to help meet a variety of water needs within the Brazos basin, without the costly and time-consuming construction of new reservoirs”.

The permit will allow the River Authority to use naturally occurring flows in the basin and return flows from wastewater treatment plants in conjunction with the water supply in the 11 existing reservoirs. Lake Somerville is one of the reservoirs that the River Authority has contracts with in the Brazos Valley.

The application for the System Operation Permit was filed in 2004 in response to the increasing growth in Texas' population. The Brazos River Authority says that this permit will eventually allow them to write new contracts for long-term water supply.