Threat of the proposed Cherryville wastewater discharge permit on the water supply of Fentress, Caldwell County Texas
The Cherryville effluent discharge would be especially threatening to the public water supply for Fentress, Texas.
The proposed Cherryville wastewater outfall would be to a tributary of the San Marcos River--Dickerson Creek which lies over a shallow Quaternary Alluvium aquifer (fig 1). A few miles downstream are 2 shallow public water-supply wells drilled into the same shallow aquifer (fig 2). The wells are only 19 and 40 feet deep, owned by Tri Community Water Supply Inc. and serve as the water supply for the city of Fuentes. Mike Clifford, with the GEAA, recently visited Dickerson Creek near the proposed outfall location. The channel was full of water but just 2 miles downstream it was completely dry. Therefore, it is likely that Dickerson Creek is losing water to the shallow aquifer below, which means that any effluent being discharged into Dickerson Creek will likely infiltrate the water supply for Fentress.
Even though the initial permit application for Cherryville is 160,000 gallons/day, the ultimate plan is to build out Cherryville to a very large development, where the initial permit will likely be upgraded to higher levels of discharge in the future.
Even though there are about 1800 municipal wastewater discharge permits in Texas, the proposed permit for Cherryville represents one of the greatest threats to a municipal water supply in the State. The TCEQ should not allow effluent discharge to a stream over a shallow alluvium aquifer which serves as a water supply for a nearby city.
Hydromet Operations Supervisor at LCRA
5 年Thanks for posting Raymond.