Authority Getting Ready for Initial
Conversion to Surface Water in 2010

When the North Harris County Regional Water Authority was created by the Texas Legislature in 1999 and confirmed by a public vote in January 2000, the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District’s mandate to begin reducing our reliance on groundwater in 2010 seemed far in the future. Since that first board meeting held in February 2000, significant progress has been made toward the initial goals, and a number of water supply problems have also been solved in the process.

According to Jimmie Schindewolf, P. E., the Authority’s General Manager, “Thanks to the outstanding cooperation and support of the many utility districts within the NHCRWA boundaries, we are right on target and under budget in the construction of an entirely new infrastructure to begin the process of delivering surface water to the districts in 2010. Each month, at our Board of Directors meeting, we hear updates on this progress. To date, we have constructed 29 miles of new water lines throughout the area. This system is currently being utilized in the Groundwater Transfer Program, sharing water among districts with water quality or quantity problems.”

“The Groundwater Reduction Plan (GRP) we submitted to the Subsidence District in 2003 outlines all the details about how we will manage the conversion to surface water,” Schindewolf continued. “As part of our annual budget process, our engineering team submits a two-year Capital Improvement Plan. We estimate that it will cost in the neighborhood of $222.7 million to accomplish the 2007-2008 Plan. This work includes acquiring required sites and easements; designing and initiating construction on all the infrastructure needed to complete the 2010 system and secure property to help implement the 2020 system.” “This is an amazingly complex process,” the General Manager said. “We are constructing an entirely new water delivery infrastructure system, while the current system -- all of the utility district groundwater wells -- remain operational and intact. In the future, those wells can serve as a backup system of sorts, should we ever need it. We are carefully researching area growth and population trends to meet present and future water demands. The important thing for our neighbors to understand is that the days of cheap and plentiful water are now behind us. Water will cost more in the future, so we are also asking residents to embrace water conservation to help extend our current resources.”

 

During the past two and a half years, the North Harris County Regional Water Authority has installed almost 29 miles of new water lines throughout our community that will deliver surface water to our neighborhoods for the first time in 2010.

This extensive construction is being undertaken to comply with the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District’s mandate to reduce dependence on groundwater in order to arrest subsidence and to allow our aquifers to recharge. The Evangeline Aquifer -- from which we get a significant amount of our groundwater -- recorded a 100-foot decline over a recent 20-year period. Reducing the amount of groundwater pumped from an aquifer can make a significant difference. In fact, the aquifers have begun to rebound and subsidence has stopped in other areas where the Subsidence District’s mandate has been accomplished. The Texas Water Development Board has warned in its report, WATER FOR TEXAS, that the state’s days of cheap and plentiful water supplies are coming to an end. With the depletion of critical aquifers,
groundwater resources that we have relied on for decades may be insufficient to meet future needs. Surface water, which is renewable, will help meet the increasing demand, but much of the state’s supply is not always readily accessible and is costly to deliver to population centers where it is needed.

Water Will Cost More in the Future...

There is no question that water will cost more in the future -- to acquire, secure and deliver. From the outset, it has been the Authority’s strategy that all water users pay their fair share of the costs for construction and for surface water. An excellent long-term water supply contract, negotiated with the City of Houston, supports this “fairness policy”. The Authority is committed to operating cost-effectively, and will remain alert to opportunities to obtain necessary water line easements and property for plants while land is still available and relatively affordable -- compared to what it will cost in the future when the area is more fully developed.

Last year, for example, the Authority partnered with the City of Houston to construct a major transmission line that will bring surface water from the City’s Northeast Water Purification Plant close to the site of the Authority’s planned 2010 pumping and storage facility. Constructing this line ahead of schedule has resulted in millions of dollars in savings.

Serving the Needs of a Growing Population...

Our community is growing rapidly. All these new residents will need water, which is driving demand projections -- and costs -- upward. Each year, the Authority’s board of directors approves a Capital Improvement Plan. This careful long-range planning process helps to maximize potential cost savings on construction projects. On October 1, 2006, the Authority increased the groundwater pumpage fee that appears on most utility district water bills. For anaverage household that uses 10,000 gallons of water a month, the increase will amount to approximately $2.50. This modest increase is necessary to continue construction of water delivery infrastructure as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible in order to comply with the nonnegotiable conversion to surface water.

 

Reprinted from WaterLines, North Harris County Regional Water Authority, January 2007.
click here to link to article

 

 

 

WEBSITE DISCLAIMER - PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE: THE CONTENT CONTAINED IN THIS WEBSITE IS PROVIDED BY SPRING CREEK FOREST PUBLICT UTILITY DISTRICT AS A SERVICE TO YOU, OUR RESIDENTS. THIS WEBSITE AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON OR USED AS INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF SECURITIES DISCLOSURE ABOUT THE DISTRICT OR ITS FINANCIAL CONDITIONS. PERSONS SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION WHEN CONSIDERING WHETHER TO BUY, SELL OR HOLD BONDS ISSUED BY THE DISTRICT. THE DISTRICT FILE OFFICIAL CONTINUING DISCLOSURE INFORMATION EACH YEAR, OR OTHERWISE, AS REQUIRED BY THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION. ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN SPEAKS ONLY AS OF THE DATE INDICATED. THE DISTRICT ASSUMES NO DUTY TO UPDATE ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS WEBSITE AT ANY TIME.