The reuse of treated wastewater effluent for municipal supply is not a new idea in Texas, having been contemplated for at least sixty years. However, its importance has grown in recent decades as traditional surface water sources have become fully subscribed. Reuse is recognized as a significant source of future supply for Texas in the 2017 Texas State Water Plan. The law related to reuse is, however, still very much a developing subject. Recent administrative actions and judicial decisions have better defined the contours of the entitlements necessary to reuse effluent discharged to state-owned water courses. In the midst of this continued legal evolution, water suppliers in the Trinity River basin are actively implementing reuse projects using the river as a conveyance for the indirect reuse of discharged effluent.
