The San Jacinto River Authority is offering a countywide plan to reduce groundwater use by getting water from Lake Conroe, but Conroe Mayor Webb Melder said he wants a regional water authority to manage the plan.
The SJRA is offering contracts to about 200 large water providers in the county to meet a mandated reduction in the use of groundwater by 2016 by piping water from Lake Conroe to heavily populated areas in Conroe and The Woodlands. All the water providers would share in the cost of the system through pumpage fees on groundwater that would begin Sept 30.
The initial fee is estimated at 50 cents per 1,000 gallons, a cost that is expected to be passed onto residents and businesses in water bills. That fee is expected to be $1.80 to $2 a 1,000 gallons by 2015 and level out to $1,75 to $2 a gallon during the 35 year contract.
“This contract provides the essential tools and mechanisms needed to implement a complicated project, but do it in a coordinated, seamless way,” Jace Houston, deputy general manger of the SJRA, told more than 200 participants at an information session at the Lone Star Convention Center Thursday.
Several water providers expressed a concern about a lack of control in the SJRA process. While the contract offers an advisory committee of participants, their recommendations could be overturned by the SRJA board. The SJRA is a wholesale water provider that controls water rights in Lake Conroe.
“We feel that you have put us in an untenable position to negotiate,” said Conroe Mayor Webb Melder. “ When Reed (Eichelberger, general manager of SRJA) said he wouldn’t give us any water if we do not participate in the plan, I felt threatened. If you want Conroe to get on board, take one hat off and create a regional water authority.”
Houston said under the plan the water in Lake Conroe will be reserved for participants in the group plan. While some excess water could be sold to outside parties, the water supply is designed to serve the countywide plan. SJRA attorney Mike Page said the agency would be willing to discuss the advisory committee, but it can’t contract out its authority to implement the project.
Larry Forrester, an attorney for several municipalities, said he want to see more “checks and balances” in the system.
Montgomery County relies solely on aquifers for its water supply, and it is currently using more groundwater than can be replenished annually. While it is estimated 64,000 acre feet can be recharged annually through rain and runoff, the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District is issuing permits to take 86,000 acre feet from the system annually. An acre foot is equal to 325,851 gallons.
To combat this overuse, the Lone Star district mandated a 30 percent reduction in groundwater use for the county’s 200 large water providers, those that are permitted for more than 10 million gallons a year or more. They have until 2016 to meet the mandate.
The San Jacinto River Authority is currently offering the only group plan, where the entire county could meet the reduction by overconverting some areas to water from Lake Conroe, while allowing outlying rural area to stay entirely on groundwater.
Participants from rural systems asked what the benefit of the San Jacinto plan was for them, since they will receive no lake water and still have to pay a pumpage fee. Houston said the benefit is to avoid the cost to build costly systems to reduce groundwater use by 30 percent.
Another participant questioned whether the San Jacinto River Authority plan included any conservation efforts, which could greatly reduce the amount of water required. Houston said conservation programs were not included in the 49 page contract, but that the SJRA would definitely incorporate conservation into its efforts. Water providers that implement conservation effort would immediately save by not paying pumpage fees on the water they didn’t use.
Water providers have until May 1 to join the plan without any fiscal penalties and can drop out by May 15 if there are not enough participants to make it fiscally viable. The Lone Star district has given water utilities until June 1 to declare if they will meet their goals individually or as part of a group plan.
San Jacinto Water Plan
The San Jacinto River Authority is offering contracts to 200 of the largest water providers to meet a mandated 30 percent reduction in the use of groundwater by 2016 by piping water from Lake Conroe to heavy population center in The Woodlands and Conroe. All participants would pay a pumpage fee for groundwater to for the system, although outlying rural areas will remain totally on groundwater. The SJRA said these are the benefits of the countywide plan.
• Provides the lowest cost water throughout the county
• Achieves compliance with 2016 deadline to reduce groundwater use by 30 percent
• Maximizes local water resources for local use
• Ensure rural and urban areas of the county are treated fairly
• Minimizes infrastructure costs by overconverting highly populated areas
• Minimizes operation and maintenance costs for all
• Minimizes financing and interest cost by establish board ratepayer based
• Eliminates the need to additional lays of government and bureaucracy
• Promotes organizational efficiency and uniform costs that benefits ratepayers countywide.
Source: San Jacinto River Authority