Daily Record

This article was in the San Marcos Daily Record on March 06, 2002.

Groups seek to improve Lake Dunlap
By ANITA MILLER - News Editor
Saying that Lake Dunlap turns green in the summer doesn't begin to tell the full story, according to citizen groups hoping to force the city of New Braunfels to upgrade two wastewater treatment plants that discharge into the Guadalupe River.
"It gets so green in the summer months that the spray that goes up behind the boats is green," said Terry Hannasch, chairperson of the Preserve Lake Dunlap Association (PLDA).
The lake is composed of water from the Guadalupe River and it has also been the source of about 75 percent of San Marcos' drinking water for the past few years.
The problem is algae - its growth promoted by phosphorous discharged into the stream - and it's not just lake residents but scientists with the Edwards Aquifer Research Center that are pointing the finger of blame at New Braunfels' North and South Kuehler Plants, which currently discharge five million gallons of treated wastewater into the Guadalupe each and every day.
The PLDA and other groups including the San Marcos River Foundation (SMRF) are hoping to convince the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) to force New Braunfels - which is seeking to renew its current discharge permit - to treat future wastewater to a higher level.
"New Braunfels does not have very thorough treatment of their water. They do not treat for nitrates or phosphorous," said SMRF president Dianne Wassenich. "We drink Lake Dunlap water, and in the summer the water tastes like algae. Everybody in town will know what I'm talking about - it smells bad and it's because of algae."
Because contested hearings are no longer a given, those pushing for the upgrade have written nearly 500 letters to TNRCC. They, and others, will get the chance to express their opinions in a public meeting to be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9, at the New Braunfels Civic Center, 390 S. Seguin Avenue, New Braunfels.
Citizens are also invited to submit written comments before the meeting, and can view the permit application beforehand at the New Braunfels Utilities Main Office Board Room, 263 Main Plaza, New Braunfels.
The PLDA has said that if New Braunfels would upgrade to standards similar to those employed at the San Marcos Wastewater Treatment Plant, they would drop their protest.
San Marcos currently treats to the 5-5-2-1 level, meaning the facility's discharge can contain no more than 5 milligrams per liter of biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD), 5 milligrams per liter of total suspended solids (TSS), two milligrams per liter of nitrogen, and one milligram per liter of phosphorous.
New Braunfels treats to a 10-15 standard, meaning that discharged wastewater can contain no more than 10 milligrams per liter of CBOD and 15 milligrams per liter of TSS.
Those kind of discharges affect more than the aesthetics of the lake, say the PLDA and others. Eutrophication is the process whereby surface waters like lakes, rivers and reservoirs become filled with nutrients which encourage the growth of algae.
Eutrophication can degrade water quality by reducing clarity, depleting oxygen in the water (which can lead to fish kills) and encouraging the growth of algae that not only causes the water to look and smell bad, it can also be associated with diarrhea and allergies in humans, according to Alan Groeger of Southwest Texas State University. "The process of eutrophication in Lake Dunlap has been greatly accelerated by releases from the north and south Kuehler NBU wastewater treatment plants," Groeger wrote. "Research carried out in the summer of 2001 shows that phytoplankton is greatly increased downstream towards the dam in Lake Dunlap, with the resultant decrease in water clarity."