Written by Evgenia Spears, Water Program Coordinator, Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter
Ever wondered how you know if the lake your family visits every summer is safe to swim in? Or if the fish you’ve been catching from your favorite river since childhood are still safe to eat? What about that stream you kayak on – how can you be sure it’s clean?
The short answer is you can’t know for sure unless someone is regularly checking water quality in these waterbodies. In Texas, that job falls to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which is tasked with developing and maintaining surface water quality standards for our rivers, lakes, streams, and coastal waters.
What Are the State’s Surface Water Quality Standards?
The Texas surface water quality standards help to define if water is safe for recreation, aquatic life, or as a source for drinking. When water quality drops so low that its intended use becomes unsafe, the water body is considered impaired and placed on the 303(d) list of impaired waters. Once listed, the water body becomes a candidate for water quality restoration projects like Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) or Watershed Protection Plans.
Every three years, TCEQ revises the surface water quality standards to ensure that they meet federal Clean Water Act requirements. The latest revision process has been underway since last summer, with the updated standards expected to be finalized by spring 2026. So, what should we expect from this round of updates?
Missed Opportunities in the 2026 Surface Water Quality Standards
Unfortunately, we won’t see any updates to the current salinity standards in the 2026 revision. Despite the rapid growth of seawater desalination along the Texas coast to expand the state’s water supplies, TCEQ doesn’t plan to update salinity standards and develop numerical criteria (limitations on how salty a waterbody should be) in this revision cycle. This is concerning because desalination plants discharge highly saline brine back into the environment, potentially putting our bays and estuaries and the ecosystems that they support at significant risk.
On the bright side, TCEQ plans to hold a public meeting later this summer specifically focused on salinity standards. While it’s a step in the right direction, the agency is moving much more slowly than the pace at which desalination plants are being approved. Once the public meeting details are available, they will be posted on the TCEQ’s website.
Meanwhile, HB 3728 – heard by the House Committee on Culture, Recreation, and Tourism last week – would require stronger salinity protections for Texas estuaries. Many environmental groups in Texas support it, while representatives of the desalination industry are wary of added regulatory hurdles. It’s important to note, however, that HB 3728 doesn’t aim to stop desalination projects – instead, it ensures it’s done responsibly and sustainably for the years to come.
We won’t see any standards for discharges of treated produced water either. Another major omission in the 2026 revision is the lack of standards for produced water- highly toxic wastewater generated by oil and gas operations. The constituents found in produced water – including organic and inorganic compounds, heavy metals, and even radioactive materials – are poorly understood, as is how to treat this water to a level that’s safe for the environment and humans. Yet, TCEQ has received at least six proposals to discharge treated produced water into Texas waterways and requested substantial funding from the Legislature in anticipation of more such proposals.
Legislation like SB 1145, HB 2584, and HB 1808 further reflect a growing interest in produced water reuse. Without proper standards in place, this rush to reuse could lead to major and possibly irreversible consequences.
What about standards for pre-production plastics pollution? Nope, not this time either. Have you ever heard of nurdles? If you’ve walked on a Texas beach in recent years, you’ve probably seen bead-shaped plastic pellets. Pre-production plastics can also come in the form of flakes or powders, which are much harder to spot, but just as damaging to the environment and public health. Nurdles, powders, and flakes are the raw material for making plastic products, and they enter the environment through accidental spills during transportation and handling.
In 2022, TCEQ proposed rules to regulate this type of pollution, but later backpedaled due to industry pressure. Back then, many concerned Texans and environmental groups hoped that TCEQ would revisit this issue in the following revision of the surface water quality standards. However, while the agency recognizes the scale of this problem, it has no plans to include any standards to regulate it.
The Texas Legislature has the power to improve this situation by passing HB 4028 and SB 2441, which outline detailed requirements to manage pre-production plastic pollution.
What Can You Do to Protect Texas Waterways?
Every Texan has a role to play in protecting our water. Here’s what you can do:
Join the Sierra Club’s Water for People & the Environment Committee to attend monthly webinars, share concerns, exchange ideas, and connect with fellow Texans who care about water
Take action and tell TCEQ why you are concerned about water quality in our rivers, streams, and lakes
Subscribe to the Texas Living Waters newsletter to stay up to date on water-related news, developments at the legislature, and opportunities to get involved
