A lingering drought and population boom in North Texas have prompted the Wylie-based North Texas Municipal Water District to undertake water-use restrictions while embarking on a $300-million project to build a 48-mile pipeline from Lake Texoma to the 300-million-gallon-per-day Wylie raw water treatment plant, bypassing Sister Grove Creek, a natural tributary of Lavon Lake. The closed pipeline also will prevent any invasive species, including freshwater zebra mussels, from being released into the environment while restoring a major portion of the region's lost water supply.
President Barack Obama signed House Resolution 6007 last December, giving the water utility an exemption from an old federal law that bans transport of "injurious species," such as the zebra mussels, to allow it to resume pumping water once the project is complete in January.