Tarrant County Water Management District
Water Quality Project

The Tarrant County Water Management District (TCWMD) supplies about 60% of the drinking water for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. An assessment of future water needs determined that the TCWMD would exceed present water supply by approximately 50% over the next 50 years. In the past, the TCWMD acquired new lands and built upland reservoirs to be able to keep up with the water demand of the growing Dallas/Fort Worth area.

This time, TCWMD decided to look at another solution commonly used to conserve water in irrigation systems called tailwater recovery. The Trinity River flows very close to two existing reservoirs that TCWMD operates (Richland Chambers and Cedar Creek Reservoirs). By developing a system to capture water from the Trinity River and filter it through a series of wetlands, TCWMD is in effect capturing wastewater that would normally be lost.

Ducks Unlimited was contacted by TCWMD to help with the design of a 240-acre field scale project on Texas Parks and Wildlife Department land near Richland Chambers Reservoir. DU designed 4 cells on 240 acres that were capable of handling 15 million gallons per day with a 7-10 day detention time. Water will be maintained at depths from 6 to 18 inches and moist soil plants will be grown to help filter the water. Should the field scale perform as expected then an additional 1,200 acres will be developed.

The project resulted in a win-win situation for all parties, Texas Parks and Wildlife gets the needed water supply to manage the area, waterfowl and wading birds get shallow water wetlands for use, hunters get a new public hunting area, Tarrant County Water Management District gets a reliable source of water to help meet future water demands, and environmentally no land or person is displaced due to the construction of new dams or reservoirs.