The Clean Rivers Program operates under the Clean Rivers Act, which was passed by the Texas Legislature in 1991 with the ambitious goal of assessing and improving the State’s water resources.

The Act authorizes the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to levy fees on wastewater and water rights permits in order to cover the expense of the program. TCEQ then contracts with river authorities to perform specific tasks within each river basin. From the outset, the Trinity River Authority has directed the Clean Rivers Program in the Trinity River basin toward issues selected by Trinity basin stakeholders.

The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is located within the Trinity basin and as one of the most developed and populous areas of the state, contributes heavily, through the aforementioned TCEQ fees, to the Clean Rivers Program. The Trinity River has a long history of water quality problems, dating back to the turn of the century when it was known as the “River of Death.” Over the past several decades an amazing amount of progress has been made in the water quality of the river, which has seen the reappearance of a fishery which appears to be returning to a more or less normal state. Given this heritage of water quality problems, many studies, plans, and assessments have been and are being conducted by various parties in the basin. There exists therefore a large foundation of expertise in the cities and districts of the Trinity basin. Because of this existing infrastructure, the goal of the Trinity basin CRP has been to build the CRP by capitalizing upon the existing base of ability, financial commitment, and experience among these existing water agencies.