The City of Laredo has moved ahead with plans to replace and eventually shut down the Zacate Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was laid down at the Manadas Wastewater Treatment Plant on Wednesday, November 30.
“The construction of the Manadas Sewage Treatment Plant addresses the long-term sewage treatment needs of the Manadas Creek Sewage System and will lead to the closure of the aging Sacate Sewage Treatment Plant,” said Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz.
The plant will cost approximately $55 million to build and is being funded by the Texas Water Development Authority and the City of Laredo through the Clean Water State Relief Fund. It is expected to be completed in early 2025.
“We want to thank the Texas Water Development Commission for supporting the growth we need in our community, working with us, investing in us, and allowing us to bring these types of projects to our cities and communities. I think, because we really need them, said Vanessa Perez, Councilor for District 7. “A much-needed wastewater plant is a collects streams from residential, commercial and industrial use of
The Manadas Sewage Treatment Plant will be located at 8310 Tejas Loop. Built on 70 acres of land, the factory design area is 13 acres long, allowing for future expansion.
Starting at the intersection of FM 1472 and IH-35, the project will expand north, east, and west of IH-35. It covers 11,438 acres of land, with 4,496 acres currently under development and room for significant expansion.
“I would like to commend the city officials for their forward-looking vision that positions the city of Laredo for continued growth, success and prosperity,” said George Peyton, director of the Texas Water Authority. “This treatment plant is a critical piece of water infrastructure for the City, and the Texas Water Development Commission is proud to be a partner. We look forward to and trust that we will continue to work with the city authorities to this end.”
The plant has a capacity of 4.75 million gallons of water per day using a liquid treatment process with an odor control system, two gravity interceptor pipe systems and a lift station. There are master plans to expand capacity to 9.5 million gallons per day by converting to mixed activated sludge aeration.
The Zacate Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant was built in 1964. The city’s assistant his manager, Riazlumiah, said the wastewater plan has been underway since 2003 and has been affected by floods and his COVID-19 pandemic along the way. The engineering company was hired in 2009, the property was purchased in 2015, and the financing ended in 2020. The pandemic and obtaining environmental clearances have extended the schedule, but the project is currently underway.
“Today is a really great day,” he said. “We have been working on this project for a long time. At one point, in 2018, the situation was so bad that we literally had to stop approving the subdivision. Without that mayor, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Perez also talked about how the sewerage situation previously slowed progress, especially in the subdivision and industrial development of District VII.
“Anyone familiar with District 7 knows that this is the industrial part of town. With that growth comes some growing pains, mostly infrastructure,” said Perez. . “This represents growth and an opportunity to continue to grow in our region. We still have infrastructure needs such as roads, but sewers are also a missed opportunity.
“We were over capacity, and developers and business owners sometimes approached us with proposals, but we had no choice but to reject them because we didn’t have the sewage capacity. will be a great opportunity for us to continue to grow and develop.”
Perez said it would help existing businesses as well as allow further development of new properties. Some companies in the new plant area, especially Tejas Loop, still use septic tank systems, and the Manadas Wastewater Treatment Plant offers them the opportunity to become part of the sewage system.
“These companies that have invested over the years and wanted to take advantage of our utility program in terms of being part of our community and being part of our sewage system will do it. “I didn’t have the opportunity,” she said. I would like to be able to use the sewer system.
“Laredo is our home and we love Laredo, so we need to grow sensibly and continue to invest in our community.”
Peyton said that as Texas continues to grow rapidly, the opportunity to expand the plant is essential.
“Rumors are circulating about how great Texas is. There’s a lot of opportunity here, and people and businesses are seeing it from all over the country and really all over the world,” he said. “Many of these opportunities start in the city of Laredo, the largest inland port in the entire country. With $250 billion worth of trade passing through that port each year, this is a staggering volume of trade. This is where you come across an amazing amount of goods and services.”
Another problem brought by rapid growth is the need to make sure there is enough water. Saenz said the city is working to secure another water source.
“A secondary issue with water is the reliability of the Rio Grande. Seeing this drought raised questions,” he said. “It would be too expensive for a single municipality to have a secondary source of water, especially if it had to carry water hundreds of miles into Laredo, so this next step is largely based on regional structure with other municipalities. The session is calling for a bill for secondary water sources.. A bill should be introduced soon.”
Saenz said there is a feasibility study to determine where it makes the most sense to extract from either the Carrizo-Wilcox Sands or the Gulf of Mexico. Once that is decided, the plan will have to pass through the Texas House and Senate.
“This is a process that will go through the House and Senate, and I hope it will, but it will also need Gov. Greg Abbott to sign the bill,” Saentz said. It’s a matter of allocating some of the billions of dollars that Texas now has to water projects across Texas, including the Laredo area.”
Peyton said the Texas Water Development Commission works closely with 16 state regional water planning groups to develop a statewide water plan every five years. We then fund these projects primarily through the Texas Water Implementation Fund (SWIFT). SWIFT has pledged to fund more than $10 billion in projects related to the state’s water supply.
“When these people and businesses move here in the state, they bring with them their hunger and their zest for success, but one thing they don’t have is water,” Peyton said. There is a certain population that our state can support from its own water supply, and we are well beyond that.
“Dramatic growth across the state puts a huge strain on resources, especially on aging infrastructure across the state.
jmack@lmtonline.com
