GREY FOREST, Texas – Hundreds of concerned residents attended a public hearing by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding a permit request to dump an average of 1 million gallons of treated wastewater into Helotes Creek.
Lennar Homes plans to develop 2,900 homes on a property north of Grey Forest.
A treatment plant operated by Municipal Operations LLC is requesting permission to dump the wastewater into the creek, but the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance (GEAA) is teaming up with the city of Grey Forest to contest the permit.
Annalisa Peace, executive director of GEAA, said the area where the high-density building is proposed is a very sensitive area for the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.
“There is a big potential to impact SAWS’s water supply, the City of San Antonio’s water supply, as well as the people who are on private wells,” Peace said.
This is one of several permits the alliance is contesting as the area sees a boom in development, especially along the I-35 corridor, which runs along the recharge zone.
The alliance’s commitment is to protect the area’s rich water source.
“Just don’t put high-density developments there because that endangers our water supply,” Peace said.
A study by Southwest Research Insitute along Helotes Creek concluded that the area should be protected from development as it could change the quality of the water supply in the Edwards Aquifer.
An email for a request for comment from Lennar Homes was not answered by the time of publishing.