Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has Proposed Lowering Water Quality Standards
15th March, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
TCEQ has proposed new, lower bacteria standards which would remove as many as 62 water bodies from the list of water bodies in Texas currently considered too polluted to fall into the category of “contact recreation waterways,” in which people can swim, wade, etc. TCEQ points out lower standards will save money that is currently spent treating the water to meet the current, higher standards. However, opponents of the proposal say that the new bacteria standards would be the loosest allowed by the EPA. For more information, check out this Statesman article, which notes that “the proposed revisions have the support of dairy farmers and wastewater utilities but are opposed by an environmental group and the City of Austin, which say they would jeopardize health.”
Posted on: March 15, 2010
Filed under: news around the state, water
1 Comment
Greening Austin Daily » TCEQ Decides Not To Change E. Coli Rules
July 1st, 2010 at 3:51 pm
[...] In March we had posted about TCEQ’s consideration of lowering water quality standards for ”primary contact waters,” which are bodies of water humans use for recreational activities like swimming. This would have meant that some bodies of water previously considered to have levels of E. coli bacteria too high for humans to safely swim in would have been considered safe. The proposed changes were backed by industry and ranchers. However, according to the Texas Tribune, TCEQ decided to vote against the proposed changes. Some environmental groups are not entirely happy with the results, as they fear bodies of water currently deemed primary contact waters will be removed from that classification (even though they may be used for some recreational activities), and thus subject to laxer water quality standards. [...]
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