City of Austin and LCRA Approve Plan to Dump Treated Sewage Into Barton Creek

The City of Austin, the LCRA, the City of Dripping Springs and two groundwater conservation districts have approved a settlement agreement that would allow the Belterra subdivision to dump 350,000 gallons a day of treated sewage into Bear Creek, which feeds the Barton Springs portion of the Edwards Aquifer. The plan initially met with universal dissaproval, but costly lawsuits and fears that the Orwellianly-named Texas Commission on Environmental Quality would approve Belterra's initial request to dump 800,000 gallons a day have reduced the opposition to a handful of downstream neighbors. The only remaining required approval is expected to come from Hays County tomorrow. The agreement would make Belterra the first subdivision allowed to dump treated sewage directly into a stream in the Barton Springs part of the Edwards Aquifer. Belterra currently discharges treated sewage via underground drip irrigation into a fenced off parcel of land.

Sewage-dumping proponents say treated sewage is safe enough to drink. Of course, they don't drink it or even water their lawns with it, so they really mean it is safe enough for other people to drink (or swim in). Also, water treatment plants often fail - last week an estimated 200,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into Little Sandy Creek north of Eligin. This will not be the first pollution of a pristine environment - Barton Springs' water quality has already been degraded by upstream development (treated sewage discharged as drip irrigation by Belterra and other subdivisions still ends up in Edwards Aquifer, along with lawn chemicals, highway runoff, etc.), but it will enable Belterra to expand from 350 houses to as many as 2,000 and create a precedent to allow other subdivisions to dump treated sewage.

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By Shawn Shillington in News on June 26, 2008 10:45 AM 0 Comments

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lukeradford

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uselessgoo

this stinks.

Tarvin

I agree with you nolalola.

But do you pick up and pack our your dogs' poopies?

nolalola

It seems to me that this was settled way too easily. We must find alternative ways of disposing these subdivision's poopies. Stay out of one of my true joys of life. Going to the greenbelt and barton springs saves me and my dogs sanity in these HOT months.