Texas - Toilet to Tap. Drink up

What happened to OUR water?

Men's Journal explains.

Who Stole the Water?

How greed, drought, and rampant overdevelopment are sucking Texas dry.

And so on, from Oregon to grain-belt states like Kansas and Oklahoma: They've faced droughts before, but this one is different, particularly in a place like Texas. Over the course of the last decade, the arid state has run desperately short of rainfall. Reservoirs everywhere have thinned or tapped out – Lake Meredith has nearly gone dry, parching Amarillo and Lubbock; Lavon Lake dwindled to half its size, threatening supplies for Dallas and Fort Worth; and the majestic Rio Grande ran so thin that the city of El Paso put in doomsday restrictions, closing laundries and car washes and ordering its residents not to bathe or wash their clothes. It could always be worse, though: They could live in Wichita Falls, a city of 100,000, northwest of Fort Worth, that's less than two years from running dry. There, they'll be drinking their own wastewater, once it's been treated at the plant. They won't be alone: Other cities in Texas are planning so-called "toilet to tap" conversions.

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Trinity River Trash

The Water Board spin off, the Trinity River Vision, is keeping it classy. Good thing they are spending their own money. Oh, wait...none of that is true.

Read about the latest fiasco on Durango.

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You heard that right...

No we're not talking about the ads the water board is running on the other stations.

We're talking about the ad on WBAP, for Dallas.

Huh??

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And the winner is...

Haltom City had a run off election on Saturday and Trae Fowler won, again. That is after having to fight all the rumors that some city employees were spreading (is that legal? ethical?).

There seems to be a lot of rumors floating around Haltom City these days.  Some with proof showing up in snail mail and on doorsteps.

Stay tuned, we have a feeling it's going to get interesting.

You remember the HC EDC, right?

It was featured in the Fort Worth Weekly.

EDC Public Hearing Notice

The Haltom City Economic Development Corporation’s Board of Directors will hold a public hearing at 6:00 p.m. on July 7, 2014 in the Haltom City Hall Pre-Council Room at 5024 Broadway Avenue, Haltom City, Texas.

The purpose of the hearing will be to take comments and suggestions regarding the proposed operating budget for the fiscal year 2014-15. All citizens and other interested parties are invited to attend the hearing and address the members of the Board of Directors. For more information, contact the Haltom City Economic Development Department at 817-222-7700

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More, Nothing was ever done....

They are jacking up your air and your water, now it's all gone to sh**.  Literally.

Read about the biosolids battle in Wise County on WFAA.

Is Wise county upstream from YOU?

"The notion that the TCEQ is proactive is a joke,” said Midlothian resident Craig Monk. “They are reactive, and they are only reactive to complaints."

Monk, who lives up the road from one of the largest biosolids operations in Ellis County, has led the push for greater state enforcement. His website, StopSewageDumpsEllis.com, posts disturbing pictures, publishes petitions and implores the state to do more.

One year ago, the state proposed a $2,500 fine against Renda Environmental in the Wise County case. As of today, Renda continues to appeal and has yet to pay a penny.
"It's been over a year and they've done nothing,” Monk said. “The message that sends to Renda is simple: They can do what they want."

Renda officials declined an on-camera interview, but told us "Renda’s environmental record is exemplary and expects that these matters will be favorably resolved.”
Monk is not stopping. He has started a petition to totally ban the application of biosolids on Ellis County farms, especially pastureland.

One photo on his web site shows cows in the middle of a stockpile of waste.

David Galindo, the state's director of water quality, says cows are not supposed to have that level of contact with biosolids, but he also insists that if rules are followed, biosolids are safe.

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Fort Worth Floating

No, we don't mean the Tubing the Trinity/Floating with Feces.  We mean the inadequate storm drainage that caused havoc all over Fort Worth yesterday when a few inches of rain fell.

Since "nothing was ever done", can you image what is going to happen when we get a few feet of rain falling?

We noticed the Fort Worth Police posted pictures of cars and streets under water on 7th street.  Isn't that right in the middle of the Trinity River Vision TIF?  Wasn't the Trinity River Vision supposed to correct flooding?  Oh, the irony.

We saw many jokes about the Tarrant Regional Water District online during yesterday's storm.  Too bad no one will be laughing when someone else dies because of it.

You can check out some of the footage on WFAA.  Storm floods Fort Worth streets.

For those of you who do Tube on the Trinity, you might want to consider skipping it this week.

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No free rides

Texas Toll Roads going bankrupt. WHO really pays?  YOU know the answer.

From San Antonio to Dallas, these roads are failing. And YOU are picking up the tab.

In less than two years in operation, the southern 41-mile stretch which opened in October 2012 with much fanfare and boasting by Governor Rick Perry now faces bankruptcy.

On Interstate 635 in Dallas, Cintra uses congestion tolling (where the toll rate varies based on the level of congestion) and charges Texans 95 cents a mile to access its toll lanes during peak hours. Once the full project is open, it’ll cost more than $24 a day to get to/from work.

Indeed, on I-820, the taxpayers put more cash into the deal than Cintra. So there is simply no way any person confronted with the facts can call P3s free market in ANY way. They’re a form of corporate welfare that socializes the losses while the special interests walk away with all the profits.

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