Citizens opposed to the City of Castroville’s plans to put treated wastewater in the Medina River

For the past few years, the City of Castroville has been trying to amend its wastewater permit to allow for the discharge of treated wastewater into the Medina River through Regional Park.  Despite public opposition to direct discharge and despite Castroville’s past policy and practice of keeping its wastewater out of the river, Castroville continues to seek the permit amendment.

Castroville needs to know that we, the citizens and taxpayers who enjoy, depend on, and live along and near the Medina River, are OPPOSED to Castroville’s proposed permit and plan to put up to 900,000 gallons per day of treated wastewater into our river.

We request that the City of Castroville:

1) Withdraw its direct discharge application and commit to keeping its wastewater out of the Medina River. This course of action is best for preserving the exceptional water quality in the river and best for the community and the environment.

2) Invest in and commit to sustainable, cost-effective land application and reuse solutions for its wastewater, instead of discharging to the Medina River. Treated wastewater is harmful for the river but it is valuable and useful for irrigation purposes; we should not waste this resource. Using wastewater for irrigation is not only good for the river—it’s good for our pocketbooks!

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