Testimony before the Texas Department of Water Resources regarding the draft waste load evaluation for the Houston Ship Channel System in the San Jacinto River Basin

This testimony addressing the Texas Department of Water Resources ("the Department") draft waste load evaluation for the Houston Ship Channel System in the San Jacinto River Basin is submitted on behalf of the Greater Houston Builders Association ("the GHBA"), the Turkey Creek Plant Group (the "Plant Group") and a group of individual developers and utility districts. The Plant Group is comprised of thirteen municipal utility districts, developers, and landowners who are parties to a duly executed contract providing for the construction and financing of a 12 million gallon per day wastewater treatment plant, the Turkey Creek Plant, to be constructed, maintained, and operated by the City of Houston. A permit for this facility was issued by the Texas Water Commission on May 31, 1983. The thirteen entities comprising the Plant Group are listed in Appendix A. The developers and utility districts adopting this testimony are listed at Appendix B. On April 5th and 6th of this year, the Department held informal meetings in Houston with representative municipal and industrial dischargers to announce and discuss a draft waste load evaluation for the Houston Ship Channel System in the San Jacinto River Basin. The draft waste load evaluation, dated March 11, 1983, was prepared by the Department for the stated purpose of defining waste treatment levels that will result in the receiving waters meeting applicable stream standards. Ten separate segments of the Houston Ship Channel System, all with established water quality standards, were included in the waste load evaluation. The Department subsequently issued an amended draft, dated September 9, 1983; the September draft waste load evaluation is the subject of this testimony. The 1983 draft waste load evaluation is proposed to amend and supersede the current evaluation, adopted by the Texas Water Quality Board in 1974.