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Arroyo Cleanup Plan Developing: Project's Top Priorities Include Constructing Regional Wetlands, Improving Wastewater Treatment Plants

Posted on: Thursday, 1 June 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Melissa Mcever, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

May 26--WESLACO -- Cleaning up the Arroyo Colorado is a multi-layered, massive project that will carry a large price tag, officials say.

So a citizens' committee developing a plan to reduce the arroyo's pollution must prioritize its ideas, Arroyo Colorado Watershed Coordinator Laura de la Garza said Thursday.

De la Garza asked members of the Arroyo Colorado Watershed Partnership, a citizens' group, to rank their proposed projects and decide which were more important to pursue. Near the top of the list, she said, should likely be plans to construct regional wetlands and improve wastewater-treatment plants.

Regional wetlands, which could be constructed in the Rio Grande's levee system or in other locations, would help treat effluent from multiple sources, group members said.

Also, 13 cities and public utilities have agreed to undertake projects or change their permits to reduce wastewater runoff into the arroyo, they said.

The goal of these proposals, de la Garza said, is to reduce levels of harmful nutrients in the arroyo by 20 percent over the next 10 years.

"That's what we're shooting for," she said. "We're not there yet."

The Arroyo Colorado is an endangered waterway that originates in Mission and empties into the Laguna Madre.

The Environmental Protection Agency requires that protection plans be developed for bodies of water that don't meet Clean Water Act standards. According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Arroyo Colorado is plagued with low levels of dissolved oxygen, which hurts aquatic life, and high levels of pollutants like nitrogen and phosphorus. The partnership has worked on drafting a protection plan since early 2004.

Work groups within the citizens' coalition are developing proposals to restore and create habitat along the arroyo, improve monitoring, widen drainage ditches, and reduce erosion, along with creating wetlands and reducing wastewater and agricultural runoff.

De la Garza said that just the agricultural and wastewater-related ideas alone could cost at least $65 million. Cities, counties and other entities could pursue grants for these projects, she said.

If the proposed watershed plan doesn't sufficiently reduce pollutants, TCEQ might have to take further action, said TCEQ biochemist Roger Miranda.

"(The agency wants) to ensure the water is fishable and swimmable in the Arroyo Colorado," Miranda said.

The coalition likely will approve a final draft of the plan in August.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas

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Source: Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas)

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