TCEQ: labs to migrate to CMDP; agency rolling out new drinking-water viewer and PFAS initial monitoring letters

TCEQ drinking-water staff discussed two interlocking data and monitoring changes: the Compliance Monitoring Data Portal (CMDP) for laboratory reporting and a new drinking-water viewer slated for rollout in June.

Laura Higgins, section manager for the Drinking Water Standards Section, said labs are transitioning to CMDP and TCEQ expects laboratories to be migrated by November of this year; systems will receive letters clarifying that labs are moving to the new portal and urging systems to coordinate with their labs to ensure data submission. Laura said a separate letter will explain initial PFAS (PFOS) monitoring and what sampling teams are doing when they contact systems.

Jessica Hoke, TCEQ QA specialist, described CMDP as a major shift in data flow that will increase automated quality checks and improve the defensibility of reported data. TCEQ is asking public water systems to check with their labs in May to confirm progress toward CMDP migration, because failure to transition could delay a system’s data reaching TCEQ.

Steven (Drinking Water Special Functions) and other staff described a new drinking-water viewer that will run alongside the existing Drinking Water Watch until the new product becomes primary; TCEQ plans to keep Drinking Water Watch available through the calendar year and provide the new viewer side-by-side for users to test. The new viewer will allow easier sorting and report generation.

On PFAS: Laura said initial PFAS sampling is underway and the agency will send letters to systems that will be sampled explaining the purpose and scheduling; she advised systems to expect samplers to try to schedule entry-point sampling and to coordinate with samplers about logistics (for small systems, sample entry points at the same time when feasible).