Environmental Initiatives
The Trinity River Authority supports environmental efforts in the Trinity basin and across the state, both directly and indirectly. TRA directly supports endangered species research and works closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to support research initiatives. These activities range from long-term river channel monitoring that is used for environmental flow studies through the ongoing Statewide Environmental Flows (SB3) process, to providing voluntary low-flow releases from the Lake Livingston dam. Indirectly, TRA staff actively serve on the SB3 Stakeholder Group and the Expert Science Team for the Trinity and San Jacinto River basins. The data collected through the SB3 process supports endangered species research, providing important information on the Trinity River’s biologic, sediment transport, habitat, and water quality conditions. Additionally, TRA has managed the TCEQ Clean Rivers Program (CRP) in the Trinity basin since 1991, providing tens of thousands of water quality data measurements to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
In 2024, Trinity River Authority entered into a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) to protect six species in the Trinity River Basin. This was developed in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and also includes North Texas Municipal Water District, Tarrant Regional Water District, the City of Dallas, and the City of Fort Worth. 