Texas Water News Roundup | June 2016

Statewide - no statewide news this month.

Region F– A private water company seeking to supply the city of Odessa has filed a pair of lawsuits against the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District. The suits are a response to the district board’s unanimous decision to table indefinitely the permit application by Republic Water Company, due to “administrative incompleteness,” or a lack of necessary data. The permit would allow Republic Water to provide about 28,000 acre-feet of water per year—or 25 million gallons per day—to the city of Odessa. The city currently receives enough water from the Colorado River Municipal Water District to meet its needs, but the deal with Republic Water is designed to secure the city’s water supply into the future. This is likely part of the reason the district ruled the permit application incomplete, as some of the missing data relate to a demonstrated need for the water. The lawsuits, filed in both state and federal courts, would compel the district to approve or deny the application—which representatives have stated they are not obligated to do while the application remains incomplete. You can read more on the story here.

Region L– While the San Antonio Water System’s Vista Ridge pipeline project is in currently in administrative limbo, a private company is proposing another pipeline to supply water to the cities in the I-35 corridor. A June 1 article in the San Antonio Express-News reports on a water project proposed by Coastal Water Regional Supply, which would bring water from Burleson County about ninety miles west to the cities of Kyle and San Marcos. If Burleson County sounds familiar, that may be because it’s the location of the well field that would supply the Vista Ridge project. The Coastal Water proposal would bring about 11 billion gallons of water per year to the region—which is among the fastest growing anywhere in the country—compared to about 16 billion gallons per year from Vista Ridge. The proposed project is still nascent, but you can find the Express-News story here.

Regional Planning Group Meeting Schedule for July 2016