In 2004, the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) faced a critical raw water supply shortage. Water demands in NTMWD's rapidly growing service area north and east of Dallas, Texas, would soon outpace their capability to meet them from their existing raw water sources. New surface water supplies planned at that time would not be completed in time to contribute to the solution. NTMWD addressed this problem by developing an environmentally friendly, fast-track project that would yield the raw water supply needed to meet the increased water demand: the East Fork Raw Water Supply Project.
The project works like this: NTMWD diverts treated effluent (return flows) from the East Fork of the Trinity River that have been contributed by NTMWD- or customer-owned wastewater treatment facilities into a 2,000-acre constructed wetland for removal of sediments and nutrients from the water. The wetland-treated water is then conveyed 43.5 miles to Lavon Lake for storage, subsequent treatment, and use by NTMWD customers. The East Fork Raw Water Supply Project is capable of providing enough water to serve 500,000 people per year. This is comparable to the yield of a new reservoir, but was completed at a cost of less than 25% of developing a new reservoir and in about 20% of the time.
The wetland habitat created through this project has had a tremendous positive effect on the community and region. Over 250 species of birds have now been documented at the site, hundreds of students have experienced nature up close through the educational programs established at the Wetland Center, and university researchers are utilizing the facility to advance environmental science.
The East Fork Raw Water Supply Project is a major achievement for the North Texas Municipal Water District (a regional utility) and Rosewood Corporation (a private corporation) in that a public-private partnership was formed that pursued and accomplished the implementation of a water reuse strategy that did not rely solely on a traditional concrete, steel, and chemical treatment facility, but rather one that used the power of nature to clean the water. Over three square miles of wetlands were built as a result of this project, creating a wetland habitat in a location where very little previously existed.
