Tarrant Regional Water District officials are exploring new water sources to meet the booming demand for water in the western half of North Texas.
The Marty Leonard wetlands, formerly known as the Cedar Creek wetlands, could bring an additional 156 million gallons of water to the agency’s service area, which covers 11 counties. The project was once set to begin construction by 2025.
While construction has been pushed to 2028, the Tarrant Regional Water District anticipates the wetlands will be finalized by its original 2032 completion date.
Staff have completed 30% of the wetland’s design plan as of March, according to the water district’s Environmental Services Director Darrel Andrews. The water district anticipates the design plan will be finished in 2027 to allow construction to start the following year.
The 3,000-acre wetlands will be constructed at the water district’s existing Cedar Creek Reservoir, about 60 miles southeast of Dallas. The district’s board of directors approved a $11.2 million budget in late 2021 to obtain permits and finish design plans for the project.
The wetlands create an additional water supply when water containing treated wastewater is pumped from the Trinity River, and run through plants and vegetation that clean it by removing sediment and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The water is then pumped back into the lake for municipal use.
Tarrant Regional Water District board president Leah King, left, and General Manager Dan Buhman present a resolution during a Jan. 21, 2025, board meeting, renaming the district's newest wetland projects for longtime board member Marty Leonard, center. (Nicole Lopez | Fort Worth Report) Because the wetlands facility is dependent on water availability in the Trinity River, the design plan timeline was extended to account for more resources, according to Andrews.
As part of the water district’s permit for the wetlands, the agency is limited in how much water it can pump from the river to the site. Water flowing to the wetlands depends on how much return flow, or treated wastewater, is in the river. In turn, return flow relies on the population.
“As long as people exist in Dallas-Fort Worth, those return flows are going to exist,” said Andrews. “But we also have to project how much water — you can’t over-pump.”
Return flow and water supply is projected based on the population served by the water district. The Leonard wetlands may not see its full water capacity until sometime between 2050 and 2060, according to Andrews. But by that point, it will be able to produce 156 million gallons a day, he said.
The Tarrant Regional Water District's first wetlands project
The water district opened its first wetlands project in 2013 at the Richland Chambers Reservoir near Corsicana. The Richland Chambers wetlands produces 90 million gallons of water a day.
The future wetlands project was renamed in a Jan. 21 water district board meeting in honor of Marty Leonard, who served on the board for 17 years.
“The wetlands are a game changer for the water district,” Dan Buhman, the agency’s general manager, said in the meeting. “We think it’s just a wonderful thing to name it in honor of Marty,” adding that Leonard advocated for the wetlands project and prioritized conservation and reuse of existing supplies.
Agency bringing first aquifer storage project to North Texas
The water district is moving forward with other ideas to conserve and reuse water as demand grows in the region. That includes its aquifer storage and recovery project.
The board approved a contract with drilling company Hydro Resources-Mid Continent in July 2023 to drill the district’s first aquifer storage well. These wells hold water underground rather than in reservoirs where significant amounts are lost to evaporation.
Drilling and underground case piping were completed in late 2024, Zach Huff, the agency’s water resources engineering director, told the Report in November. Now, the water district is moving forward with the above-ground construction and infrastructure. The site will be located at a Trinity River Authority water treatment plant in Fort Worth, where the well will receive its water and return flow.
It will take about 18 months to complete construction on this portion of the aquifer before water can be pumped into the system, according to Huff.
Aquifers would help maintain adequate water supplies during droughts, when demands are high and when conditions are warmer and dryer, drawing down reservoirs. The water district would primarily supply and rely on water from reservoirs, said Huff.
This project would be the first of its kind in North Texas, according to Huff, prompting interest from the water district’s regional partners.
“We are committed to being good stewards of our resources and always try to find the best way to efficiently utilize what we have and fully the existing water before we go out looking for more water,” said Huff.
Water conservation has been the water district’s best effort yet at supplying water, said Andrews.
The water district has saved 25 billion gallons of water per year through conservation practices, according to data from the water district.
“Water conservation has made a significant difference in the availability of water and how our water can be stretched,” said Andrews. “Water conservation is a big part of our portfolio.”
The water district is also open to partnering with other cities and agencies, such as Dallas and the North Texas Municipal Water District, to share water supplies, according to Andrews.
“We talk more and more with those groups about how we can partner to help each other out,” said Andrews. “So there's a pretty holistic set of resources that we look at.”
Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.
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