The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has cleared the way for the construction of a wastewater plant that would dump millions of gallons of treated effluent into Helotes Creek as opponents gear up to fight it.
Earlier this month, new TCEQ Executive Director Kelly Keel deemed that the permit application, filed by Miami-based Lennar Homes, “meets all statutory and regulatory requirements and is protective of the environment, water quality, and human health” in a response to 554 comments on the application. The wastewater plant would serve a 2,900-home development on 1,160 acres northwest of San Antonio in an area known as the Guajolote Ranch.
Keel said the TCEQ’s water quality division found the wastewater plant, if built to the standards in the permit, “contains effluent limits and conditions designed to maintain the receiving water body’s designated uses, and protect human health and aquatic life.”
Opponents of the wastewater plant fear the treated wastewater will degrade the quality of water recharging the Edwards Aquifer, which supplies water to over 2 million people in Central Texas, including San Antonio. Helotes Creek is located in the aquifer’s contributing zone, meaning water from it drains into the aquifer.
Among those opposing the construction of the plant are the City of Grey Forest, the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, the Trinity Glenrose Groundwater Conservation District, the City of Helotes, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio), state Rep. Mark Dorazio (R-San Antonio) and the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance.
Their concerns are backed by a study performed by Southwest Research Institute published in 2020. Technical advisor and project manager Ron Green led a two-year computer model research effort to evaluate the impact different types of wastewater disposal facilities built in the Hill Country could have on the Edwards Aquifer.
Green’s findings showed that any type of wastewater system pumping treated effluent into Helotes Creek could “significantly degrade the watershed and the quality of water recharging the Edwards Aquifer,” according to a press release about the study.
According to the permit application, Lennar Homes’ wastewater plant would dump an average of 1 million gallons of treated effluent into Helotes Creek per day, but could discharge up to 4 million gallons per day by 2027 during peak times for a two-hour time limit.
While the development’s water would be supplied from the San Antonio Water System, the Guajolote tract is located outside of SAWS’ wastewater service area, meaning the utility has no regulatory authority over the development when it comes to disposing of wastewater. SAWS required several stipulations in their water service contract with Lennar Homes, including that the wastewater treatment plant must meet all TCEQ standards for facilities discharging within 5 miles of the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone and would treat the wastewater to a higher level of cleanliness than what TCEQ already requires.
However, wastewater treatment plants are required only to self-report plant failures, rather than face regular state inspections, which concerns many area residents.
Opponents of the permit plan to contest it, which could launch the state’s often-lengthy contested case hearing process. A contested case hearing is a legal proceeding similar to a civil trial in a state district court. Hearings are conducted by the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
To become a contested case, the TCEQ’s commissioners must agree that the party or parties opposing the plant would be directly affected by the permit decision and that granting the permit would specifically affect the requesting entity in ways not shared by the general public.
“We will be going forward and pushing to get standing for a contested case hearing,” said GEAA Executive Director Annalisa Peace.
