A public hearing for a permit Lennar Homes needs to break ground on an 850-home development near Fischer is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 in the Canyon Lake High School cafeteria, 8555 FM 32, Fischer.
State Sen. Donna Campbell, who represents Canyon Lake, last year asked the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for a hearing on permit WQ0016660001 for a wastewater treatment facility for Broken Cedar Ranch.
A Jan. 30, 2025 email to TCEQ from Kelly Donegan Follis, the senator’s district office caseworker, said the permit “is of great concern to our constituents in the area.”
The plant would be located approximately 750 feet southeast of the intersection of FM 484 and Rocky Ranch Road and would discharge up to 600,000 gallons of treated effluent per day into an unnamed intermittent tributary, thence to Potter Creek and ultimately into Canyon Lake (Segment No. 1805) in the Guadalupe River Basin.
The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance (GEAA), an advocacy group representing 63 organizations, said the designated uses for that area include primary contact recreation, public water supply, aquifer protection, and exceptional aquatic life use.
In March 2025 Texas Water Company (TWC), Canyon Lake’s water provider, temporarily suspended service commitments for nine proposed housing developments in Comal County, including Broken Cedar Ranch.
The utility cited the need to prioritize existing customers during the ongoing drought.
Although Lennar’s plans to build four houses per acre on 230 acres of land might be on hold, the wastewater permit is still active on TCEQ’s website.
GEAA today formally requested a contested-case hearing regarding the permit application and sought recognition as an affected party with standing to represent neighbors who are adjacent landowners, the first steps in gearing up for a prolonged regulatory battle.
“GEAA has members who live, recreate and rely on groundwater and surface water resources within the Canyon Lake watershed and downstream of the proposed discharge,” GEAA Executive Director Annalisa Peace and Technical Director Nathan Glavy wrote in comments submitted to TCEQ.
“GEAA’s members have serious concerns regarding the application and draft permit and the potential for degradation of surface water and groundwater resources associated with the proposed discharge.”
they need ro cut that down to 1 or 2 houses / acre