We all live in the Trinity River Watershed, which covers 17,965 square miles (approximately 6% of the State’s landmass). The Trinity River serves as a primary water supply to more than 6.0 million people around the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area. It is also home to the Great Trinity Forest, and numerous hiking and biking trails. The water itself is a source of recreation; urban kayaking has become a popular sport in recent years.
While the Trinity River provides water to residents outside of Dallas, within Dallas, drinking water comes from several reservoirs, primarily Ray Hubbard. Dallas Water Utilities (DWU) provides water and wastewater services to a 699 square mile area, which includes 23 wholesale treated water customer cities. The State of Texas owns the rights to all surface water supplies of Texas, and Dallas was granted its existing water rights with the understanding that DWU would provide water at cost to these neighboring cities. The DWU system includes three water treatment plants; 4,925 miles of water main; two wastewater treatment plants and 4,017 miles of wastewater main.
