Note: The following section contains excerpts  from the Lake Granbury Watershed Protection Plan 

KEY POINTS:

• The Lake Granbury Watershed Protection Plan (WPP) was only the second WPP from Texas to ever be adopted by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

• The Lake Granbury WPP was developed to identify the issues facing the watershed and offer solutions and direction to decision-makers and to the Lake Granbury community for the future.

• The WPP was developed between 2007 and 2010 by a Steering Committee of landowners, agricultural producers, city, county and municipal utility district officials, local business and industry representatives and concerned citizens working to improve the welfare of Lake Granbury (see enclosed signature sheet).

• The Steering Committee unanimously voted for water quality standards that are more stringent than State standards; the WPP standards were not followed in the design of the proposed WTTP.

• The WPP describes the City of Granbury’s plan to construct a 10MDG WTTP at a North location; the land analysis was based on the projected growth of the City of Granbury and surrounding areas at that time. A BRA representative noted that a 20+ MGD facility would be more in keeping with current growth trends in 2020. Further, it will cost less to build with today’s dollars than tomorrow’s dollars and a North WTTP will likely be necessary to build in the near future.

• Low-interest loans and sizable grants are available to jurisdictions with proposed Wastewater plants that are developed in keeping with their WPP. Scoring matrices for these funds give extra points to applicants with WPPs, which few cities have. The City of Granbury would have a  competitive advantage to withdraw the current TDPES permit and explore applying for a permit in keeping with the WPP. Smaller (2MGD) wastewater plants are not in keeping with regional trends asper the following excerpt copied from the North Central Texas Council of Governments site:

“Ensuring adequate capacity to treat wastewater from new residential and commercial development in addition to the existing residents and businesses is a long-term planning need in the NCTCOG region. Wastewater service providers monitor growth trends to ensure their systems address issues such as plant expansions or new infrastructure that might be needed to meet future wastewater demands… 

Communities located on the perimeter of the urbanized area and rural communities may become more dependent on each other to partner, or engage in existing partnerships, to provide cost efficient wastewater services. For such a densely populated and growing region, the need for adequate treatment services is a crucial component to protecting water quality. The Water Resources Council recommends that regional wastewater system providers aim to incorporate new entities into the existing systems, rather than have new systems operate independently.”