Posted: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:28 AM - 12,052 Readers

By: James Walker

Burnet city officials expect to receive a report Monday from the Lower Colorado River Authority that might give them some indication of how strong the LCRA’s opposition to the city’s application for a permit to build a new sewer and wastewater treatment plant will be.

The LCRA has been conducting tests to determine the long-term effect the new plant would have on Lake Travis if the permit is granted and the plant is built to the specifications the city of Burnet is seeking.

Crista Bromley, the city’s director of economic development, briefed Burnet City Council members on the status of the permit application process to build the new wastewater and treatment plant at a workshop meeting prior to Thursday’s council meeting.

The LCRA study is expected to determine how much increase in algae growth might occur at the point where Hamilton Creek flows into Lake Travis if Burnet were to discharge effluent into Hamilton Creek at the rate it would be allowed to if the city’s permit application for the new plant is approved.