Barton and Onion Creek Stakeholder Group

Information for stakeholder group giving advice and direction for issues related to the Barton Creek and Onion Creek watersheds.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) received a petition for rulemaking to prohibit discharges into Barton and Onion Creek watersheds. This petition for rulemaking was denied by Commission Order 2008-1601-RUL. However, the Commission determined that additional stakeholder input was necessary to ensure that all issues relating to the petition were fully explored and all potentially impacted entities had an opportunity to participate.

The agency held stakeholder meetings in January and March of 2009 to discuss the issues. The January meeting focused on recent and on-going studies of water quality issues in the Barton and Onion Creek watersheds and the Edwards aquifer and specific stakeholder concerns related to wastewater discharge. The March meeting explored wastewater discharge options. At the conclusion of the stakeholder process, the executive director decided to pursue a rulemaking concept to propose more stringent effluent limitations and additional permit requirements for discharges of wastewater to the contributing zone of the Edwards Aquifer within the Barton and Onion Creek Watersheds. A draft rule was presented to the stakeholders at a meeting on September 30, 2009 and TCEQ solicited comments on the rule language as well as concepts in the draft rule. Comments were received by several stakeholders and are included in the Handouts link for the September 30, 2009 meeting below . After receiving the comments from the stakeholders, TCEQ determined not to proceed with the rulemaking. At this point no changes to current TCEQ rules regarding wastewater discharges in these watersheds are proposed. Wastewater discharge permit applications will continue to be assessed on a permit–by–permit basis.

Participating in the Stakeholder Group

The members of the Barton and Onion Creek Stakeholder Group have been selected so that the group is balanced, consistent with 5.107 of the Texas Water Code. The meetings are open to the public and anyone who is interested may attend and participate.

Upcoming Meetings

The most recent meeting was held on September 30, 2009. The next meeting will be announced in this space when it is scheduled.

Agendas, Summaries and Handouts from Meetings

The files linked below are in portable document format (PDF). (Help with PDF Files.)

Date	Agenda	Summary	Handouts
09/30/09	Agenda	—	Handouts
03/26/09	Agenda	Summary	Handouts
01/16/09	Agenda	Summary	Handouts

Staff Contact

For more information, please contact April Hoh at 512/239-3567 or through our main Water Quality Division line, 512/239-4671.