Update (7/4/2018): The City of Dripping Springs reached a settlement agreement with the City of Austin, Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, Save Barton Creek Association, Protect Our Water, and several private property owners.
Update (5/21/2018): On May 21, the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) held a preliminary hearing to decide, among other things, who will be affected parties in the contested case against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) proposal to issue a permit to allow the City of Dripping Springs to directly discharge its treated sewage into Onion Creek. TCEQ had previously denied party status to the District, contrary to the recommendation of its own Office of Public Interest Counsel. The SOAH administrative law judge granted both the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District and Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District standing in the contested case.
Additional information is available by searching the Public Case File through the SOAH website, Docket number: 582-18-3000.
Update (11/15/2017): Discussions continue regarding the Dripping Springs requested wastewater discharge permit. Dripping Springs and LCRA executed a settlement agreement on October 27, 2017. And on November 8, the TCEQ issued the long-awaited Response to Comments (RTC) to address comments on the draft permit submitted back in November of 2016. The RTC provided responses to 160 separate issues and concerns raised by commenters. The issuance of the RTC also triggers a 30-day period where commenters have an opportunity to formally protest and request a contested case hearing. This period expires on December 8, 2017.
Update (9/23/2016): The Dripping Springs public notice has been published. This is also a combined notice of the public meeting which will be held on November 10th.
At the June 30, 2016 Board Meeting, the Board of Directors adopted a resolution, position statement, and summary of concerns regarding the recently proposed Dripping Springs TPDES (Wastewater) Permit Application.
Groundwater users in the District rely on the Trinity and Edwards Aquifers and Onion Creek recharges both aquifers. The proposed wastewater discharge point is upstream of Trinity Aquifer and Edwards Aquifer recharge areas, so there is potential for groundwater users to be impacted if water quality in the creek is degraded.
(click here for pdf version)
District Documents
- Settlement Agreement (executed 7/4/2018)
- BSEACD Upper Onion Dye Trace Map (presented to SOAH 5/21/2018)
- BSEACD Press Release: Aquifer District Seeks to Continue Its Opposition to City of Dripping Springs’s Wastewater Discharge Plan in Contested Case (3/23/2018)
- BSEACD Supplemental Comments on City of Dripping Springs Draft Permit (submitted to TCEQ 9/29/16)
- Comparison of Belterra permit settlement and pre-draft Dripping Springs application (discussed 8/25/2016)
- Board resolution (adopted 6/30/2016)
- BSEACD summary of concerns (adopted 6/30/2016)
- BSEACD position statement (adopted 6/30/2016)
- Onion Creek and Blanco River Study
Dripping Springs TPDES Permit Information
- TCEQ Response to Comments (10/31/2017)
- TCEQ Statement of Basis/Technical Summary and the Draft Permit (10/18/2017)
- Dripping Springs and LCRA Settlement Agreement (10/27/2017)
- Notice of Public Meeting and Notice of Application and Preliminary Decision for TPDES Permit for Municipal Wastewater (TCEQ, 9/23/16)
- Application for the Proposed Permit (scanned from hard copy available at Dripping Springs)
- Application for the Proposed Permit – Preliminary Engineering Report (scanned from hard copy available at Dripping Springs)
- Notice of Draft Permit Application (TCEQ, June 17, 2016)
- TCEQ Comment and Correspondence Tracking page (enter TCEQ ID: WQ0014488003, select all correspondence and filings boxes)
- City of Dripping Springs Wastewater Facts webpage
