Greening Austin Daily

TCEQ Decides Not To Change E. Coli Rules

1st July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

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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