Grant to help turn sewer ponds to wetland

SAN BENITO — After about five years of planning, city commissioners Thursday are set to launch a $500,000 project to turn four old sewer treatment ponds into a wetland area that will clean up the Arroyo Colorado.

Officials said that the project will convert 10 acres at the city’s old sewer plant off Line 20 Road near Williams Road into a wetland that will create habitat attractive to wildlife.

“Wetlands are considered valuable because they clean the water, recharge water supplies, reduce flood risks and provide fish and wildlife habitat,” City Manager Manuel Lara said. “In addition, wetlands provide recreational opportunities, aesthetic benefits,
sites for research and education and commercial fishery benefits.”

The city is a model for other communities along the Arroyo Colorado, said Laura de la Garza, former coordinator of the Arroyo Colorado Watershed Partnership, a state agency that works to improve the quality of water that cities pump into the arroyo.

“The city is one of the leaders,” de la Garza said.

The cities of La Feria and San Juan have also launched projects to turn old sewer treatment ponds into wetlands, she said.

Wetlands remove nitrogen and phosphorus that can spark algal blooms that create
low-dissolved oxygen that can lead to fish kills, de la Garza said.

“The cities are doing their part to contribute to clean up the arroyo,” she said.

In 2006, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gave the city a grant to develop the project, officials said.

City officials scaled down an original plan to develop a 20-acre wetland area after
construction bids were over budget last year.

The city began planning the project after it was fined $3 million in 2005 for discharging inadequately treated sewer water into the arroyo, officials said.

As part of an agreement, officials said, the state waived payment after the city agreed to launch this project.