Drinking Water

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tamtagon
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Drinking Water

Postby tamtagon » 03 Feb 2018 08:30

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2 ... orth-texas

State's first new reservoir in 30 years will supply water to rapidly growing North Texas

by Marc Ramirez

Construction of the Lower Bois d'Arc Creek Reservoir will start this spring, northeast of Bonham in Fannin County. The $1.2 billion project will be a key source of water for 1.7 million people living in 80 North Texas communities, a population expected to double over the next 50 years. It will measure more than 16,600 surface acres in size, making it a tad smaller than Jim Chapman (Cooper) Lake, north of Sulphur Springs. Construction is expected to be complete in 2022.

In Texas, where most reservoirs are manmade, "reservoirs are an absolute necessity," said Terry Sam Anderson, who represents Mesquite and is the board's longest-serving member. "This historic milestone is a result of significant planning, investment and support."


As long as the water supply keeps up with the population, I suppose there's no reason people in North Texas should use less water. I think daily per capita usage in North Texas is ~twice that of San Antonio/Austin. Man made reservoirs are a requirement where rainfall can vary so dramatically from year to year, decade to decade, but there are far more beneficial ways to recycle and reuse the water we already have in the Trinity River system.

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local ... 63505.html

Man-made wetlands are new water source for Tarrant
By Bill Hanna
June 28, 2014

https://youtu.be/kfbIOkr2gbA

...After beginning with a small 2-acre test facility in the early 1990s, the man-made wetlands have grown to 2,000 acres. The largest phase — 1,600 acres — was completed in October, making this the first year that the wetlands’ full impact has been felt. Last week, the wetlands were providing about 55 million gallons a day — or about 17 percent of the supply for the Tarrant Regional Water District.

In these man-made wetlands, the water is first pumped into one of the sediment basins, where much of the sediment drops to the bottom, then goes into wetland cells, which look like ponds or pools that contain vegetation.

“These plants are taking those constituents out of that water and using them for their growth,” said Darrel Andrews, assistant director of the water district’s environmental division. “The soil binds some of those nutrients as well. These act as the filter. That’s what’s removing those nutrients before it gets to the end of the wetland system and it’s pumped into Richland-Chambers Reservoir.”

Texas has seen an increased emphasis on conserving and reusing water. Under the state water plan, reuse projects like the wetlands are expected to grow ninefold over the next 50 years.

Good for wildlife

But the project is about more than just water — it’s about serving as a haven for wildlife.

“From our perspective, these wetlands are very beneficial to all sorts of native wildlife,” Matthew Symmank said. “The main thing we try to focus on here is habitat for migratory birds.”

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jrd1964
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Re: Drinking Water

Postby jrd1964 » 03 Feb 2018 13:54

Strange, the new lake is basically a very big/long extension of Lake Bonham, according to the map.

Tam's Star-T linkie reminds me of the spot between Seagoville and Crandall that is also a man-made wetland area. Water gets pumped out of the Trinity-east fork, put into the wetland for a natural purification process, then sent by pipeline back to Lake Lavon. There is a visitor center on the wetland center property south of US 175, but the state has not yet put any guide signs pointing to it from the highway.

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tamtagon
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Re: Drinking Water

Postby tamtagon » 05 Feb 2018 10:55

^As per the usual, this reservoir is going to flood the valley. Since this project will transfer water from the Red River basin to the Trinity River basin, I would have rather seen the source be Lake Texhoma. The greater sediment level of that water could be 'naturally' sorted in mitigation area leading to Lakes Ray Roberts and Lewisville.

Banking the water is understandable, but at some point the loss of habit will need addressing -- the most logical solution to losing the Bois de arc creek is to recreate that habitat in the Dallas Trinity River Flood Channel.

Of course, a court battle would loom with Oklahoma (again) since the northern border of Texas is the southern cut bank of the river and because of that all the water legally belongs to Oklahoma; this Supreme Court decision may have made sense at the time, but increasingly becomes peculiar, like The Wright Amendment, and as time goes by the decision becomes increasingly off-target.

As the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River flows from Texas into Oklahoma, the middle of the river should be the border between the two states. Presumably punishment for the 'landgrab' that once claimed Salt Fork Red River as the northern border of Texas should be done by now, giving equal legal claim to the water in the Red River to both states. Common sense demands the North Texas population center have access to Lake Texhoma water bank.

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Hannibal Lecter
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Re: Drinking Water

Postby Hannibal Lecter » 06 Feb 2018 00:51

tamtagon wrote:Banking the water is understandable, but at some point the loss of habit will need addressing -- the most logical solution to losing the Bois de arc creek is to recreate that habitat in the Dallas Trinity River Flood Channel.


The map on https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2 ... orth-texas shows the mitigation areas in red.

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tamtagon
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Re: Drinking Water

Postby tamtagon » 06 Feb 2018 09:37

Hannibal Lecter wrote:
tamtagon wrote:Banking the water is understandable, but at some point the loss of habit will need addressing -- the most logical solution to losing the Bois de arc creek is to recreate that habitat in the Dallas Trinity River Flood Channel.


The map on https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2 ... orth-texas shows the mitigation areas in red.


On that same map, the pretty blue shows both the new reservoir and the loss of habitat. The mitigation area is different, not the same, similar, but not the same. Average depth 22 feet, maximum depth 70 feet.

informative:

http://txstep.org/wp-content/uploads/20 ... update.pdf

This reservoir is kinda small, relative to Lavon, Ray Roberts.... so the change is too, but there's gotta better ways to prepare for a 25 year drought with twice the population. At some point the reservoirs will run dry, then what's your plan?

Any way, the point I want to make is Trinity River through Dallas County needs to become a wetland cell, full of life and productivity instead of a barren lawn.