Houston's Water Plants Still Operational

Amazingly, Houston’s water plants are still operational in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, according to the Twitter feed from Houston Public Works. Without knowing many details, but knowing some geography from living in Houston from 1981-1985, it may be a different story for the wastewater plants.
The Houston metropolitan area has many municipal utility districts (MUDs) using groundwater that may have been impacted. The scope of the potential impacts to private wells and septic systems is unknown at this time. The situation in Beaumont is quite different, as both sources of supply for that water systems are down. Crews are working around the clock to restore water service for that city.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has an excellent hurricane response webpage.  TCEQ is continually updating the number of boil water notices, the number of boil water notices that have been rescinded, and the number of water and wastewater plants that are not operational. The Houston Chronicle is also a reliable source of news about the impacts of Harvey for the Gulf Coast.
It’s going to take a long time for Texas and Louisiana to recover from this storm. Please join us in taking a moment to send positive thoughts to our colleagues in Texas’ and Louisiana’s drinking water programs. We know that they are working round the clock to support the needs of the beleaguered communities along the Gulf Coast. Similar thoughts go out to all the water utilities and the communities they support.