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PROJECT TO IMPROVE DRINKING WATER ACCESS AND PARK LAND

A Brazos River Authority project underway in eastern Williamson County is improving lakeside park land while helping ensure residents have continued access to quality drinking water.

For several weeks, work has been ongoing to connect a new water intake pump station in Lake Granger to the BRA’s East Williamson County Regional Water Treatment Facility near Taylor. The old intake, built in the 1980s, is being replaced because its shallow water location makes it vulnerable to disruptions when the lake levels recede during drought or debris builds up in floods.

The water treatment plant is an important water supplier for not only the city of Taylor, but also Hutto and Thrall, the Noack Water Supply Corporation and the Jonah Water Special Utility District. To keep the water flowing, the BRA chose to build the new intake a few miles away in deeper water. The new pump station is being connected to the treatment plant by nearly four miles of pipeline that travels next to a local road before cutting across the lake’s Wilson Fox Park, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

As part of the mitigation agreement with the corps, workers made several changes to the park. The changes include improving camping sites to make them compatible with newer recreational vehicles, increasing the size of 49 recreational vehicle campsite pads, and boosting electrical service from 30 amps to 50 at 37 RV campsites. The BRA also has improved many of the roadways in the park added grass and planted 120 new trees.

“This project is really the best of both worlds,” said David Collinsworth, BRA central basin regional business development manager. “It allows the Brazos River Authority to strengthen our ability to provide quality water to thousands of people in Williamson County. At the same time, we are doing a lot of great things to improve the park to give people a great experience when they visit Granger Lake.”

The majority of the park improvements have been completed, and the park is open to the public. Work on the new intake is expected to be complete by April 2013. For more information about parks at Granger Lake, please click here.