The following customer notice is required by the TCEQ as a result of the non-compliances associated with Disinfection Byproducts Monitoring. This customer notice has also been mailed directly to every active water customer of the utility.
The Angelina & Neches River Authority will host the 24th Annual Neches River Rendezvous, a fun and family-friendly 10-mile paddling adventure down the Neches River, on May 18, 2024.
The Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce first held the Rendezvous in 1997, and it quickly became a popular annual event, with up to 300 people participating, however, due to Covid-19, weather conditions, and supply chain issues, the event has not been held the past five years.
The Authority, a long-time sponsor of the Rendezvous, was approached by the Chamber in 2022, about possibly hosting the event in the future. “It’s a perfect opportunity and perfect timing,” said Kelley Holcomb, the Authority’s general manager. “At the time we were approached, we had just begun to expand our conservation and recreation education and outreach program and I can’t think of a better way to fulfill the conservation part of our legislative mission.”
The Rendezvous will be limited to 100 paddlers for the first year that the Authority hosts the event in 2024, but depending on the available supply of vans, trailers, kayaks, and canoe rentals needed for the event to be successful, the Authority hopes to increase the number of participants back to 300 paddlers, as it was in it’s prime.
In May 2023, all rights to the Neches River Rendezvous were legally transferred from the Chamber to the Authority. Over the summer, the Authority has been busy planning details and securing logistical elements required to host the event. As has been traditional in the past, the staging area for the Rendezvous will be at International Paper’s North Boggy Slough. Participants and volunteers will park and register at Boggy Slough and will then be shuttled to the launch location upriver. There will be four staggered launch times to avoid overcrowding.
After a leisurely 3-4 hours paddling the river, participants will end their journey at the Highway 7 bridge, next to Hackberry Bunkhouse & Kayak Rentals, where they will be assisted by volunteers, to get out of the river and shuttled back to Boggy Slough.
Several traditional elements of the event will continue, such as lunch on the grounds of Boggy Slough and providing participant with a souvenir t-shirt. However, the Authority will introduce some new, fun ideas in 2024. This includes contests and games, including a t-shirt design contest, allowing a limited number of vendors and food trucks to set up at Boggy Slough, and prioritizing conservation and education-based practices, including the Authority’s Stash Your Trash litter campaign.
“It’s important to get people out on the river, so that they understand what there is to lose if we don’t take care of our natural resources. The Neches River is a gem hidden in our own backyard behind the big pine curtain here in East Texas. A lot of people, especially younger generations, have never gotten out on the river and some don’t even know that it exists. Of course, we don’t want the Neches to suffer from negative environmental impacts from overcrowding and litter, but I think it’s important that everyone should experience the river at least once,” said Kimberly Wagner, the Authority’s executive manager of communications.
No experience is needed to participate in the event, however, anyone under the age of 18, must have a legal guardian present. Life jackets are highly recommended. Safety checkpoints will also be located at several locations along the paddling trail.
Registration for participants will open in early spring 2024.
The Authority is currently seeking volunteers and sponsors for the event. A volunteer guide and a sponsor information packet can both be found on the Authority’s website or via the contact information below. A series of volunteer committee meetings will take place before the event, beginning in October 2023.
The Angelina & Neches River Authority is located at 2901 N. John Redditt Drive, Lufkin, Texas, 75904. For more information, call the Authority’s Central Office Facility at (936) 632-7795, email recreation@anra.org, visit www.anra.org, or find both the Authority and the Rendezvous’ event pages on Facebook.
On August 11, 2023, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) required the Prairie Grove Utilities public water system (PWS ID Number 0030027) to issue a Boil Water Notice to inform customers, individuals, or employees that due to conditions which occurred recently in the public water system, the water from this public water system was required to be boiled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes.
Prairie Grove Utilities has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the quality of the water distributed by Prairie Grove Utilities used for drinking water or human consumption purposes and has provided TCEQ with laboratory test results that indicate that the water no longer requires boiling prior to use as of August 15, 2023.
If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Mr. Chris Key, P.E., Executive Manager, Utilities, Angelina & Neches River Authority at (936) 632-7795 or (800) 282-5634. If you wish to contact TCEQ, you may call (512) 239-4691.
August 11, 2023
To: Prairie Grove Utilities Customers (Public Water System ID # 0030027)
Subject: BOIL WATER NOTIFICATION
Due to low water pressures in the water distribution system, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has required the Prairie Grove Utilities public water system (PWS ID Number 0030027) to notify all customers to boil their water prior to consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc.). Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions.
To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes. In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes.
When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, Prairie Grove Utilities officials will notify customers that the water is safe for drinking or human consumption purposes. Once the boil water notice is no longer in effect, Prairie Grove Utilities will issue a notice to customers that rescinds the boil water notice in a manner similar to this notice.
Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Mr. Chris Key, P.E., Executive Manager, Utilities, Angelina & Neches River Authority at (936) 632-7795 or (800) 282-5634. If you wish to contact TCEQ, you may call (512) 239-4691.
Good afternoon Prairie Grove:
It’s officially summer. It’s hot and it’s dry, and lots of folks are spending time outside using water. Unfortunately, just like last summer, that means we’re exceeding the capacity of the system to supply water.
Over the past week, the storage tanks at the Sherwood Forest well have been starting each day about a half foot lower than the day before – and the problem is accelerating.
As we’ve said before, even without this increased usage, the well is unable to supply enough water for needs during the day, but it is generally able to recover overnight when usage is low. Unfortunately, as daily demand increases, it has outstripped the ability of the well to fully replenish the tank levels overnight.
Unless we all begin immediately practicing the protocol in the Stage 5 Drought Contingency Plan that was implemented in the Summer of 2022 (which has remained active), then we will almost certainly have a system shutdown before the weekend is over.
We’ve provided a graph of the Ground Storage Tank levels over the past two weeks (blue line). Based on this pattern and expected demand, we’ve projected (orange line) that levels will likely bottom out very quickly over the weekend. Once the system drops below eight feet (red line), we’ve reached the critical point and we must shut down the system to allow it to fully recover.
PGU Emergency Operations 2023-06-16 both with legend - Copy
We have partially closed the outgoing valves from the plant to approximately 15% of normal levels to attempt to slow the demand, but that will not be enough. It will take your help as well.
Some things we MUST all begin doing immediately to prevent the system going into emergency operations mode, which will include temporary shutdowns of the system as we have seen over the past few years, include:
- Stop all unnecessary outdoor water usage, such as car washing, landscape irrigation, pool filling, and other recreational activities
- Conserve water indoors by taking short showers, turning off water when not in use (such as when brushing your teeth), and
- Check for leaks, running toilets, and any other unintentional water use
The full Drought Contingency Plan can be found here: https://www.anra.org/conservation-recreation/water-conservation-drought-contingency-planning/regional-water-planning/
We know you want to fill up your pool and you need to water your plants, but unfortunately, as you all are very well aware, the current system is simply unable to handle the demand. This is one of many issues that we will be able to put behind us once the system upgrades are completed, but it’s still a problem for today.
What about the temporary line from Diboll that we have previously discussed as a stopgap until the full upgrade project is in place? That plan has been ready to go for some time, but has been delayed due to difficulties in obtaining landowner permissions to run the line.
We had hoped to have the line in place before the summer demand, but in order to control costs and protect the line from vehicles, it needs to run cross-country on the private property to the north of Sherwood Forest Circle. We have been diligently attempting to contact the land owner to obtain a temporary easement for many months, but despite multiple communication attempts, including phone calls from ANRA’s attorney, we have yet to receive a response to have that conversation. At this point, we are very close to being forced to initiate eminent domain procedures, which can take significant amounts of time and which typically leaves everyone involved very unhappy. This is not how we prefer to approach these issues, but it may be a necessary step in order to provide PGU customers with the water that you all need.
We want to THANK YOU in advance for your understanding and participation in these conservation measures. By conserving water, you’ll help provide a better chance that all PGU customers will be able to continue to have access to water for essential purposes.
Our staff is continuously monitoring the situation and we will continue to post updates on the Prairie Grove Facebook page, our website at www.anra.org, and via the Text Notification System, throughout the weekend. If you would like to sign up for the Text Notification System, please text “PGU” to (800) 282-5634 and follow the prompts.
May 30, 2023
The Angelina & Neches River Authority (ANRA) has been the official owner of the Prairie Grove water system since July of 2022. Since ANRA’s initial involvement in September of 2020, crews have made numerous repairs and fixed dozens of water leaks. ANRA has spent a significant amount of time studying and learning the water system as we planned for upgrades that will ultimately create a new water system that meets all state and federal regulatory requirements.
All during this process, ANRA has been open and transparent about the ongoing deficiencies and severely degraded condition of the current system as well as what has to happen to bring the water system into compliance. In order to accomplish this, ANRA has to replace the two water treatment plants and 85% of the distribution system. ANRA has worked very hard to secure grants that will enable customers to avoid having to pay for the majority of the costs of construction for the new water system. We have successfully secured a 70% grant for the project
Future Improvements
In January of this year, ANRA submitted the final components of the application for funding to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). The final application amount was $7.7 million. The proposed project will contain the following elements:
- Construction of a new 8” water supply line and master meter from the City of Diboll;
- Construction of a new booster station capable of serving 500 residential water customers;
- Replacement of 85% of the existing distribution system;
- Creation of a looped distribution system by constructing water lines that connect from FM 1818 and Buttermilk Rd, down to the intersection CC Rd, and back to FM 1818;
- Installation of fire hydrants at key locations.
It is important to note that the project has not yet been fully designed. ANRA worked with its engineers to develop these project elements for the purpose of developing a budget for the TWDB application, which is approximately a 20% design effort. Current economic factors, specifically inflation within the water industry, are significant drivers of the project budget. The final project budget will be set later this year and we anticipate it to be lower than the current project estimate because of contingencies that were placed in the budget.
We anticipate receiving loan commitment from the TWDB in July of this year. Once we are notified, ANRA will have six months to set the final project budget and actually close on the loan. The loan portion is 30% of the final budget amount for the entire project. Once ANRA closes on the loan, we will have to begin making debt service payments 30 day later.
Rate Increase
The implementation of the phased rate increases is being required sooner than anticipated because the TWDB is processing the funding application much sooner than expected. Therefore, this second rate increase will become effective on July 1, 2023 and will be reflected on your bill, which will be due July 10, 2023. This means that the bill that you receive in the mail at the end of June will reflect the initial increase.
This second rate increase is a significant increase in the base rate. It is necessary to implement this increase now so that ANRA can begin building up funds to start paying debt service on the loan portion of the project funding in January of 2024. The tables below compare the upcoming rates to existing rates and also provides example bill amounts for the rates as they relate to different water consumption levels:
Public Meeting
There will be a public meeting at the Diboll Civic Center on Tuesday, June 27, 2023 at 5:30 PM to discuss rates and future improvements.
If you have any questions about the rate increase, water quality or service, please contact us at 936-632-7795 or via email at utilities@anra.org.
PGU Water Main Break & Boil Water Notice Update #5
Boil Water Notice Rescinded