The Brazos River Authority Waco Texas

PROFILE OF THE AUTHORITYThe Authority was created by the Texas Legislature in 1929 as the first state agency in the UnitedStates specifically created for the purpose of developing and managing the water resources of an entireriver basin. Although the Authority is an agency of the State of Texas, it does not levy or collect taxes.With the exception of a relatively small number of governmental grants, the Authority is entirely selfsupporting,maintaining and operating reservoirs, transmission facilities, and treatment systems throughrevenues from the customers it serves.The Authority’s Board of Directors consists of 21 members appointed by the Governor and subjectto confirmation by the Texas Senate. Directors serve a six-year, staggered term, with one-third beingeither replaced or reappointed each odd-numbered year.The Authority functions under the direction of a General Manager/CEO. The more than 42,000 squaremiles that make up the Brazos River Basin are divided into geographic regions – each with distinctiveclimate, topography and water needs. Each region falls under the direction of a Regional BasinManager.Water SupplyThe Authority built, owns, and operates three reservoirs for water supply – Possum Kingdom Lake,Lake Granbury, and Lake Limestone. The Authority also contracts with the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers (USACE) for storage space in nine multi-purpose Federal reservoirs – Lakes Whitney,Belton, Proctor, Waco, Somerville, Stillhouse Hollow, Granger, Georgetown and Aquilla. These lakes,owned and operated by the USACE, provide flood control to the Brazos River basin as well as beingsources for water supply.Together, the twelve reservoirs have conservation storage of more than 800 billion gallons of water. TheAuthority contracts to supply water from these reservoirs on a wholesale basis to municipal, industrialand agricultural water customers from West Texas to the Gulf Coast.Water and Wastewater TreatmentThe Authority operates potable (drinking) water treatment systems for Lee County Fresh Water Districtand the City of Leander and two regional water treatment systems, one at Lake Granbury and one atLake Granger. The plants have won numerous awards for operations, maintenance and design fromState and Federal governmental agencies.Wastewater treated and released by the Authority at its eight sewerage systems in Temple-Belton, SugarLand, Brushy Creek (in Williamson County), Lee County Fresh Water District, Clute, Hutto, LibertyHill and Georgetown is returned to the Brazos River cleaner than the water in the river flowing bythe plants. At the wastewater plants, waste separated from liquids in the treatment process are usedfor beneficial purposes. Wastes at the Temple-Belton plant is composted with wood chips and sold asfertilizers and soil enhancers. Waste from the Sugar Land plant is applied to farmland.xi