Water District calls the decision a win-win for the environment and families of Belterra.

AUSTIN, Texas – The State of Texas has given the green light for the innovative and pioneering water reuse plan for the Belterra neighborhood in Dripping Springs.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) unanimously approved the permit that clears the way for the Hays County Water Control and Improvement District #1 (Water District) to pursue its two-pronged strategy to conserve groundwater and control costs for Belterra families by reusing the community’s clean-recycled wastewater for irrigation. The TCEQ was satisfied that the Water District’s plan would neither 1) degrade the water quality of Bear Creek, Edwards Aquifer and Barton Springs, nor 2) harm the Barton Springs Salamander.

State satisfied that Belterra’s water plan will be safe for area streams and aquifers

AUSTIN, Texas – Two Texas Administrative Law Judges today recommended the state’s environmental agency approve the permit allowing the Belterra neighborhood in Dripping Springs to implement its pioneering water reuse plan.

“After examining all the facts and scientific evidence, it appears the Administrative Law Judges agree that our modified water project will be safe for nearby creeks, rivers and aquifers,” said Andy Barrett, attorney for the Water District. “We’re just sorry it took this much expensive legal wrangling to achieve the same result we sought in a proposed settlement agreement nearly five months ago.”

For months, attorneys for Hays County Water Control & Improvement District #1 (Water District), as well as lawyers representing groups opposed to the innovative and environmentally-responsible reuse plan for Belterra, have presented arguments, counterarguments, facts and supporting documentation to make the case for their positions.

Two administrative law judges for the State of Texas are considering the case and are expected to make a ruling sometime before the end of 2008.

The Hays County Water Control & Improvement District #1 (Water District), which considered a variety of options for handling the wastewater of the growing Belterra community, believes its responsible reuse plan will become the model for other communities, which generally have relied on riskier septic systems rather than clean-treating and reusing their wastewater for irrigation.

The innovative and environmentally-responsible reuse plan proposed for handling Belterra’s clean-treated wastewater was the focus of a July 14 state administrative law hearing in Austin.

The Hays County Water Control & Improvement District #1 (Water District), which considered a variety of options for the growing Belterra community, believes its responsible reuse plan will become the model for other communities, which generally have relied on riskier septic systems to handle their wastewater.

A permit for the responsible reuse plan received preliminary staff approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in early 2007, but later was challenged by a coalition of environmental and neighborhood groups.

Water District officials said they are pleased with the outcome of a November 27 preliminary state hearing on their water permit application, because it gives all interested parties the opportunity to air their concerns, while consolidating them into common interest groups for the state’s hearing on the merits of the application, scheduled for June 16, 2008.

More than two dozen people spoke at the hearing, offering various reasons why they are either challenging or supporting the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's staff recommendation to approve the Water District's permit application.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2007
Contact: Allison Griffin
(214) 704-3630

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas – Striving to set a new precedent for responsible and conservation-focused water management, officials with the Hays County Water Control & Improvement District #1 (Water District) said at a recent public meeting that their two-step beneficial reuse proposal offers a scientifically-sound solution to conserve groundwater, protect water quality and plan for Central Texans’ long-term water needs.

“We will reuse every drop possible of the community’s clean-recycled water to irrigate more than 150 acres of green space, parks and trails in Belterra,” said Charles Bujan, president of the Water District’s board of directors. “For those occasions when rain saturates the soil and we cannot irrigate, our ‘relief valve’ will be to release safe, high-quality, clean-recycled water into Bear Creek.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Allison Griffin
April 12, 2007
(214) 704-3630

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas - In what appears to be a win-win for the Hill Country environment and hundreds of Hays County families, officials with the Hays County Water Control and Improvement District #1 (Water District) today welcomed the direction of a preliminary discharge permit drafted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

"We are pleased with the direction of this preliminary permit," said Charles Bujan, Water District chairman. "TCEQ staff has recommended the most stringent standards in Texas for the discharge of clean-recycled water. As always, our plan is to reuse most of that clean-recycled water for irrigation."

The Water District is pursuing an innovative, two-pronged water reuse strategy that covers both water quality and the beneficial reuse of clean recycled water. It pairs state-of-the-art water treatment solutions with a pioneering approach to reuse clean recycled water to irrigate parks, trails and green space in the Belterra community. This will conserve as much as 120 million gallons annually of precious groundwater that currently is taken from the aquifer for irrigation.

In a draft proposed permit sent to the Water District today, TCEQ staff recommends authorization of a potential discharge of up to 500,000 gallons of water per day into Bear Creek - though the Water District doesn't intend to come close to that amount. The Water District's intent is to reuse most of the water for irrigation. The staff also recommends that the Water District adhere to an unprecedented phosphorus level that is only a fraction of the levels allowed in discharge by communities such as the City of Austin.

"We are confident not only that we will be able to reuse nearly all of the community's clean-recycled water, but also that any water discharged into nearby Bear Creek will be the cleanest in the State of Texas," said Bujan. "It will be cleaner than the runoff from rainwater and cleaner than the water discharged by any other communities in Texas, including Austin."

Bujan noted that the Water District's innovative and conservation-minded approach contrasts with the method used by most communities in the northern Hays County area, which typically rely on septic systems that provide little or no treatment for sewage.

"As pioneers in offering environmentally-sensible solutions for conserving groundwater and reusing clean-recycled water, we are committed to working with the TCEQ to achieve a win-win solution that is good for the environment and good for our residents," said Bujan.

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