Collin County’s economic boom — from the Dallas Cowboys to Toyota’s U.S. headquarters — gets plenty of attention.

But the agency that provides water to much of the area wants a little recognition too. The North Texas Municipal Water District is celebrating its 60th anniversary this month and reminding all that the prosperity doesn’t happen without water.

The photo at the top is a reminder of the landscape of 1956. That’s an aerial shot of the district’s first water treatment plant in Wylie. That photo is looking down State Highway 78 toward what is now Firewheel Town Center and the President George Bush Turnpike.