TWDB funds $26.8M in water infrastructure projects

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has approved $26.8 million in financial assistance to support statewide water and wastewater system improvement initiatives. 

The City of Hutchins will receive $14.5 million to upgrade its wastewater system, starting with replacing around 26,000 feet of sewer lines and manholes. City officials plan to further nail down the exact number of manholes and lift stations slated for replacement or rehabilitation during the project’s planning phase. Additional work will include developing an asset management plan. 

The TWDB has approved a $5.4 million investment in the City of Zavala’s water system. The funding will enable the city to replace roughly 31,000 feet of water distribution lines, four 300-gallons-per-minute service pumps and 20 10-gallons-per-minute submersible pumps. The city plans to clear way for additional development by demolishing its existing elevated and ground storage tanks. The project calls for filling in that missing capacity by building a 100,000-gallon elevated storage tank, two 30,000-gallon ground storage tanks, one 0.086-million-gallons-per-day water well and drilling three test holes. 

Another $4.3 million will go toward the City of Waller’s efforts to improve its wastewater system. The project primarily revolves around rehabilitating and replacing approximately 9,300 feet of sewer lines and 81 manholes across the city. 

The City of Petrolia will receive $1.4 million to drill two groundwater wells capable of a combined production capacity of roughly 80 gallons per minute. To further improve its water system, the city will install 300 feet of 8-inch water line, a 10,000-gallon hydropneumatic pressure tank system and a tank mixing and cathodic corrosion protection system. In addition to building eight shelters for existing wells, the project calls for replacing four ground storage tanks and one elevated storage tank after demolishing the existing tanks. Petrolia will top off its work by developing an asset management plan. 

The Red River Authority in Wichita County has been selected for $936,000 in principal forgiveness for various water system improvements. These include installing a 30,000-gallon ground storage tank with an aeration system, one chloramine disinfection facility and two 300-gallon-per-minute pumps. Additional improvements will include installing a new Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, a generator and replacing roughly 100 feet of water line. 

Hays County will use $178,526 from the TWDB to develop a community flood mitigation plan. The document will update the county’s risk ranking of stream crossing and identify high-risk locations based on building flood risk for long-term mitigation planning. The county will also create a mitigation planning report outlining all procedures, assumptions, special considerations, comparisons and planning results. 

The final $133,000 included in the latest round of TWDB funding will support efforts by the Garner Independent School District (GISD) to accelerate development efforts for a new wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The district will use the award to finalize design efforts for the 66,000-gallons-per-day WWTP, including recirculated sand filters or stabilization ponds for sewage treatment. Other proposed improvements may include subsurface disposal, spray irrigation or constructed wetlands for sewage disposal. GISD also proposed replacing 970 feet of existing sewer lines. 

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