July 2004 Meeting
Date: Monday, July 12, 2004, 12:00 noon. (Please
note that we meet on the second Monday due to the July 4th Holiday)
Location: The "Hotel Dallas Mockingbird" formerly the "Radisson Hotel," 1893 West Mockingbird Lane (at intersection with Harry Hines Boulevard), (214) 634-8850. (It is the same Hotel we have been meeting at for the past few years, but with a new name). See Map
Program: Region C Water Planning Update
The Dallas Branch first heard a presentation
about the State Water Plan and the Region C portion of it in April 2000. Significant work on the regional and state plans
has been completed since that time, and the July program will offer a review of that work
and some insight about what lies ahead.
Legislation
calling for state and regional water plans was enacted in 1997 in response to previous
droughts and projected population growth, which adds additional pressure on the water
supply. In conjunction with the legislation,
Texas was divided into 16 regional planning areas, and the Dallas/Fort Worth area became
part of Region C. Region C, which consists of
16 counties, extends north to Cooke, Grayson, and Fannin Counties, and its southern limit
is Freestone County. Kaufman and Henderson
Counties are on the region’s eastern boundary, and Jack and Parker Counties are on
its western edge.
The regional water
plans were incorporated into a state plan in 2002, and the state plan is scheduled to be
updated every five years. There are many
important results of this planning process, but the effect on water rights and state
funding for water projects are among the most critical.
For example, municipal water rights grants from the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and state funding for water supply projects through the Texas
Water Development Board must now conform to the parameters of the approved regional plans.
The primary strategies incorporated into the Region C water plan are water conservation, interbasin transfers, development of new water supplies, and increased water reuse. Region C and the other regional water planning groups are now in the second phase of the planning process, and this phase, which extends to 2006, involves revising and refining the currently approved plans in response to any significant changes that have or may yet occur since the original plan was prepared.
| Check the Education Committee Seminar on trenchless technology (See Link) and the Geotechnical Group Seminar on stabilizing sulfate rich pavement subgrades (See Link). |
Speaker: M. Dolan McKnight, P.E., Environmental Services
Officer, North Texas Municipal Water District
(NTMWD)
Mr. McKnight ‘s responsibilities at NTMWD include research and development studies for operating systems,
researching and recommending improvements in process operation and equipment in response
to regulatory changes or advancement in technology, and overseeing all aspects of the
laboratory and pretreatment functions. He has
been at NTMWD since 1987. Prior to that time,
he was the Wastewater Superintendent at the City of Fort Worth.
He received his BA and Master of Chemical Engineering from Rice University and a MA in Interdisciplinary Studies from UTA. He is active in professional organizations including Water Environment Federation, Water Environment Association of Texas, Texas Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies and Water Resources Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
Reservations: by Wednesday, July
7, 2004. Call the ASCE Reservation Hotline at (214) 890-6941. This voice mail system
has been established by the Branch to handle reservations.
Please state your company's name first and then the name of the attendees. In case of a malfunction, contact Eric Ratzman,
P.E. at (214) 346-6274. On-line reservations
may be made by sending an e-mail to Eric Ratzman at: reservations@dallasasce.org or from the Branch Website (www.dallasasce.org). Please make your reservations by only
one of the above methods to avoid double counting.
Cost: $15.00 with reservations, $17.00 at the door if seating is available.
Dallas ASCE
