TRWD History Timeline
1920s-----1930s-----1940s-----1950s-----1960s-----1970s-----1980s-----1990s-----2000s
April 24, 1922 Torrential rains in Fort Worth dumped 11 inches of water in two days. Seventeen breaches in Trinity River levees resulted in a massive flood that killed at least ten people and caused more than $1 million in damages. Calls began immediately for a countywide effort to prevent further flooding of the Trinity as well as provide adequate water supply.
September 2, 1924
In response to a petition submitted with 600 names of residents, Tarrant County Commissioners set an October 7 election date to create the Tarrant County Water Improvement District No. 1, allow taxation and elect five directors.October 7, 1924 Tarrant County voters approved the propositions, but they were defeated in some cities including Arlington and a few unincorporated portions of the county. Communities not approving the propositions are not part of the Water District's voting membership.
January 12, 1926 Voters approved a 1925 recommendation by the Board of Directors to become a water control AND improvement district.
October 8, 1927 Voters approved a $6.5 million general obligation bond issue to fund construction of Eagle Mountain and Bridgeport lakes.
October 22, 1929 Joe B. Hogsett joined the Water District’s Board of Directors in 1929 and served 42 years, including 29 years as President. During his tenure, Lakes Bridgeport, Eagle Mountain and Cedar Creek are constructed and the 72-inch Cedar Creek Reservoir raw water pipeline is nearly completed. Mr. Hogsett also presided over the completion of levees’ and channels’ improvements, which comprise the Fort Worth Trinity River Floodway system.
December 15, 1931 Construction of Lake Bridgeport dam is completed. Ten years later, in 1941, the lake is full of water.
October 24, 1932 Eagle Mountain Lake dam is finished and it only takes six years for the lake to fill.
May, 1949 The flood many considered to be the worst in Fort Worth’s history sends water from the Clear Fork of the Trinity River into homes and businesses in north and west portions of the city. The Water District was asked to assume responsibility for extensive improvement of the levee system in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
July 18, 1950 Construction began on levee improvements.
October 27, 1950 Voters approved a $7 million general obligation bond issue to fund levee improvements in Fort Worth as well as funds for construction of Marine Creek Lake and Cement Creek Lake for flood control.
December 12, 1954 Ben F. Hickey is appointed General Manager. Mr. Hickey will oversee the construction of the Fort Worth Floodway, Cedar Creek Reservoir and Pipeline and most of the construction of the Richland-Chambers Reservoir and pipeline project.
1956-1957 Almost at the end of the seven-year drought, a long-range water supply plan to meet the growing water needs of the community was completed by the Water District and Freese & Nichols engineering firm. The plan called for construction of Cedar Creek and Richland-Chambers Reservoirs southeast of Dallas.
Spring 1957 Record-breaking rains filled several new area lakes to almost near-capacity in weeks rather than the expected years. Flooding in new neighborhoods established to accommodate the post-WWII housing and population boom in Fort Worth proved additional Trinity levee improvements were needed.
September 14, 1959 Upper basin protests of applications for construction of Lake Livingston and Wallisville Reservoirs culminate in the City of Houston's agreement that the reservoirs would be "subordinate to the present and future use and reuse of any return flows" from various reservoirs including the Water District's Eagle Mountain Lake, Lake Bridgeport, Cedar Creek and Richland-Chambers Reservoirs, as well as lakes for which the Water District holds water rights or has operating agreements on, including Lakes Benbrook, Worth and Arlington, “notwithstanding the reentry of such return flows into a public stream.” This subordination language is incorporated in the permits that eventually are issued to the City of Houston and Trinity River Authority for their downstream reservoirs.
December 2, 1959 Voters approved $55 million in combination revenue and general obligation bonds to fund construction of Cedar Creek Reservoir. Bond issues for the construction of Richland-Chambers Reservoir would not be passed for another twenty years.
November 12, 1965 Voters approved $16.59 million in general obligation bonds to fund Fort Worth floodway improvements, construct an improved spillway at Eagle Mountain Lake and improve the dam and spillway at Lake Bridgeport.
December 23, 1967 Completed in 1964, Cedar Creek Reservoir filled to conservation level for the first time.
May 1968 Levee and channel improvements to the Trinity River are competed, bringing the Fort Worth floodway to its current configuration.
November 19, 1970 Construction began on the 6-foot diameter Cedar Creek pipeline.
July 13, 1971 Arlington signs a contract for the Water District to provide raw water to the city.
November 5, 1973 The Cedar Creek pipeline is completed and becomes operational.
January 1, 1975 The Water District began supplying raw water to the Trinity River Authority.
March 1, 1979 Revenue bonds totaling $7.75 million are issued to add booster pumping capacity at Waxahachie, a booster pump station at Ennis and a second balancing reservoir at Kennedale.
October 1, 1979 The Water District issued $342.75 million in revenue bonds for construction of the Richland-Chambers Reservoir.
October 1, 1982 Litigation over the District’s method of setting raw water rates concluded with the execution of a Settlement Agreement—and later the Amendatory Contract—that set the basis for a master contract between the District and its four initial contracting parties: Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield and the Trinity River Authority. The Agreement established a method to equitably renew contracts of other existing customers and provide for the addition of new customers to the District’s system. The contract also created an Advisory Committee comprised of the four initial contracting parties, to review, among other things, the District’s budget, water contracts, policies for service, and future projects. The Amendatory Contract remains in place to date and has not been amended.
October 7, 1982 Construction began on the Richland-Chambers Reservoir.
July, 1987 Dam is closed on Richland-Chambers Reservoir and fills by May 1989.
November 2, 1987 The Texas Water Commission grants a permit giving the Water District rights to the full yield of Benbrook Lake and allows the District to oversee sale of water to Weatherford, Fort Worth, and the Benbrook Water and Sewer Authority. The permit also allows the District to use the lake for terminal storage for water from its East Texas reservoirs.
1988 Richland-Chambers pipeline is completed and becomes operational.
October 29, 1991 The District executes a contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers allowing the use of Lake Benbrook for planned terminal storage of water pumped from Cedar Creek and Richland-Chambers Reservoirs.
December 10, 1991 The District executes a contract to serve Ellis County entities through the Trinity River Authority.
January 1, 1992 The District issues $430,660,000 in water revenue refunding and improvement bonds in Series 1992 and 1992-A. Outstanding Richland-Chambers debt was refinanced at lower interest rates. In addition, $50,000,000 in financing for the construction of the Benbrook pipeline that would connect the District’s existing pipelines to Lake Benbrook was obtained.
June 11, 1992 A contract is executed between the District, its four primary water customers, the City of Weatherford and Benbrook Water and Sewer Authority facilitating the sale of water from Lake Benbrook.
July 8, 1992 The TNRCC (now known as TCEQ) issues the District a term permit for a pilot project allowing water to be diverted from the Trinity River to flow through a seven-acre system of artificial wetlands adjacent to Richland-Chambers Reservoir. The project was developed to investigate the feasibility of large-scale water reuse.
January 1, 1995 The bond issue that funded the construction of the Fort Worth Floodway, dam and spillway improvements at Bridgeport, and spillway improvements at Eagle Mountain is retired. For the first time since the 1920s, the District has no outstanding tax-supported debt.
January 1996 Construction on a $62 million pipeline to connect Benbrook Lake with the District's East Texas lakes begins.
February 1996 The District enters into a Memorandum of Understanding with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for development of the District's wetlands treatment project for reuse of up to 220,000 acre-feet of water. This Memorandum provides for the creation of in excess of 3,000 acres of wetlands treatment facilities, among other things.
October 1, 1996 With State approval, the name is changed to Tarrant Regional Water District.
July 22, 1997 TRWD and North Texas Municipal Water District agree to study possible reservoir sites in the Sulphur River Basin.
November 17, 1997 TRWD submits to the TNRCC (now known as TCEQ) an application for an additional term permit to allow continued investigation of the feasibility of its constructed wetlands treatment system on a larger scale. The application is declared administratively complete a year later.
June 16, 1998 The District adopts a Water Conservation and Emergency Demand Management Plan.
August 1998 Drought-induced demands press the nearly complete Benbrook Pipeline into service ahead of its actual completion.
November 1998 TRWD files an application with the TNRCC (now known as TCEQ) for the right to divert flows from the Trinity River for the full-scale wetlands treatment project. The permit application requests Trinity River diversions and wetlands treatment to result in the augmentation of the yields of the existing Richland-Chambers and Cedar Creek Reservoirs by 115,500 acre-feet or 30%.
November 12, 1998 The Benbrook Pipeline is complete and the first delivery of east Texas water occurs.
May 15, 1999 TRWD issues $22.725 million in refunding and improvement bonds were issued to refinance debt and initiate the first phase of the Wetlands Project.
June 22, 1999 TRWD adopts a Water Management Plan that indicates existing and future customers will require additional supplies of water by the year 2009. The plan recommends that additional supplies to be derived from the initial constructed wetlands treatment project at Richland-Chambers be available by the year 2006.
September 2002 Water begins flowing in the field-scale phase of the TRWD's Trinity River proposal to reuse Trinity River Water. Water filters through 250 acres of the wetland’s native water plants before returning to the river. The final phase of the proposal creates 2,000 acres of wetland to feed Trinity River water into Richland-Chambers Reservoir and 1,800 acres to supply Cedar Creek Reservoir.
2005 Following successful Pilot- and Field-Scale Wetland Projects, a permit was granted to TRWD for construction of the Full-Scale phase of approximately 2000 acres adjacent to the Richland-Chambers Reservoir.
December 2006 Cedar Creek and Richland-Chambers Reservoirs reach record lows. Cedar Creek’s lake level is recorded at 314.67 feet above sea level on December 27 and Richland-Chambers’ drops to 303.67 feet above sea level on December 28.
November 8, 2007 TRWD holds its first Regional Water Conservation Symposium for customers. More than 120 people heard experts from across the country address water conservation issues.