Sustainable Water Quality

Livable Houston Initiative

Wendy Natt, Jan 28, 09.

Tagged with environment, video, water, water quality, conservation, watersheds

UPDATE: Video added at bottom of post.

There are 16,000 miles of streams and shorelines in the 13-county Houston-Galveston region, of which 66 percent don’t meet water quality standards, said Jeff Taebel, Director of Community and Environmental Planning at Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) at a Livable Houston Initiative meeting today. By 2025, the region’s population is expected to grow by 3.5 million, which, Taebel said, would translate into about 245 million additional gallons of wastewater, and tons of additional pollutants deposited into our estuaries and groundwater systems.

(Jeff Taebel’s Sustainable Water Quality Presentation - pdf 8mb - ppt 26mb)

Part of H-GAC’s Clean Waters Initiative is a plan to systematically reduce water pollution and/or water loss at three separate point sources: wastewater treatment facilities, stormwater discharge systems, and surface runoff. Attempts to mitigate water pollution will be most effective, says Taebel, if they take into account the current use and population/building density of an area, as different strategies will have greater impact in urban, suburban, and rural environments.

Inadequate or outdated wastewater treatment facilities require new standards and operations, says Taebel, with consistent enforcement of water quality standards. Pollution and water loss from stormwater discharge systems can be mitigated through changes to the structure and design of our stormwater systems, as well as changes in daily human behavior, and Taebel says surface runoff pollutants can be addressed through the formation and consistent implementation of Best Managed Practices for water quality, conservation of natural, permeable land, and, again, changes in daily human behavior.

Education and encouraged participation of the public in ways to reduce, prevent, and report the dumping of toxins into our water system is an important component of the Clean Waters Initiative, across all environments. Changing daily human “housekeeping” behavior, particularly in urban and suburban, higher-density areas can have a major impact on local water quality.

Conserving land that serves the dual pupose of water storage and filtration is another strategy. One of the area’s most important water storage and filtration resources is its open, natural or rural (unpaved, undeveloped) land, which is rapidly being lost to suburban development. While densely-built urban areas prevent the absorption of surface water, Taebel says that removing impervious, paved surfaces or creating water storage areas in urban centers is an ineffective use of resources. Instead, efforts should focus on incorporating Low-Impact Development (LID) water storage areas into less dense, suburban development, and above all, on conserving permeable land in the more rural, outer reaches of our watersheds, where, Taebel says, the most difference can be made.

Taebel used the western portion of Cypress Creek watershed as an example of a relatively natural, undeveloped area that could be preserved as a greenfields site for natural water storage and filtration. This region alone, he said, absorbs enough water to offset the rainwater runoff from 14 Reliant Stadium parking areas.

The region needs to create a “regional conservation strategy,” says Taebel, based on agreed-upon priorities for conservation of our waterways and permeable land for water storage.

The Water Resources section of H-GAC’s website has extensive information on their various water resources programs and initiatives, run in cooperation with local communities as well as state and federal agencies. Those interested in learning and helping to participate in improving their region’s water quality should check out their Texas Stream Team network and their upcoming Clean Waters Initiative workshops on water management and water quality.

Video: Part 1 of 2