08/24/2026
🗞️ Save Texas Streams in the news - "Unsafe levels of of f***l bacteria found in a majority of Texas waterways, environmental groups say" by Abigail Jones with KXAN 🌊🦠😷
"Brian Zabcik with Save Texas Streams said water pollution in Central Texas generally comes from wastewater and stormwater. As far as E. coli specifically getting into our waterways, Zabcik said there are three main ways this can happen:
🚽 Municipal wastewater
“When you flush your toilet, all of that water goes down to sewer pipes that eventually go to a centralized wastewater treatment plant where the wastewater is treated and some of the pollutants are eliminated from it,” Zabcik explained. “The problem is that those pipes going to the plant are carrying raw sewage, and if there are leaks in those pipes, then that raw sewage will leak out into the environment and perhaps make its way into our creeks, our streams, and our lakes.
🛢️ Septic tanks/facilities
“Septic tanks are really common in rural areas, but they’re also common around the perimeter of Austin and the many subdivisions that we’ve built before sewer lines were extended,” he said. “Septic tanks are regulated by counties.”
🐕🦺 Pet waste
“And then the third way that I want to highlight the eco I can get into our environment is through dog p**p,” he continued. “It’s really appropriate that we’re here at Auditorium Shores because one of the places where you can let dogs run off-leash is over here at Auditorium Shores. People who do not pick up after their dogs when they p**p, that p**p will stay on the ground, and then when we heavy rain, that will be washed off into the stream, into a lake, carrying the E. coli with it.”
Zabcik said there are solutions for each of those three transmission routes.
For municipal sewage systems, he said there needs to be a concentrated effort to find and fix leaky pipes. However, that can be expensive and difficult because pipes are underground. He said Save Texas Streams wants the Texas legislature to earmark and allocate more money for wastewater infrastructure upgrades."
