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Richland Creek WMA
Tarrant County Water Management District
Water Quality Project
Purpose: The Tarrant County Water Management District (TCWMD)
supplies about 60% of the drinking water for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. An
assessment of future water needs determined that the TCWMD would exceed present
water supply by approximately 50% over the next 50 years. In the past, the
TCWMD acquired new lands and built upland reservoirs to be able to keep up
with the water demand of the growing Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Ducks Unlimited was contacted by TCWMD to help with the design of a 240-acre
field scale project on Texas Parks and Wildlife Department land near Richland
Chambers Reservoir. DU designed 4 cells on 240 acres that were capable of
handling 15 million gallons per day with a 7-10 day detention time. Water
will be maintained at depths from 6 to 18 inches and moist soil plants will
be grown to help filter the water. Should the field scale perform as expected
then an additional 1,200 acres will be developed.
The project resulted in a win-win situation for all parties, Texas Parks
and Wildlife gets the needed water supply to manage the area, waterfowl and
wading birds get shallow water wetlands for use, hunters get a new public
hunting area, Tarrant County Water Management District gets a reliable source
of water to help meet future water demands, and environmentally no land or
person is displaced due to the construction of new dams or reservoirs.
Location: Approx. 20 miles southwest of Athens, TX (Freestone
County)
Acres Impacted: 243 acres
Habitat Type: Emergent Wetlands
Moist-soil Wetlands
Partners: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Tarrant County Water Management District
Ducks Unlimited, Inc
Timeline: Construction was completed in fall 2000
DU Contact:
Keith McKnight
Regional Biologist
1620 FM 2218
Richmond, TX 77469
(832) 595-0663
kmcknight@ducks.org
Texas Habitat Projects
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