Brown County Water Improvement District No. 1 General Manager Dennis Spinks released a statement Wednesday addressing many issues regarding the drought contingency plan, water rates, dredging, and district voting.
Spinks said that he has received numerous questions recently as a result of the May 12 BCWID board election. The election and early voting has raised awareness of the district and several related issues, according to Spinks.
Spinks’ full statement is below answering many of the common questions he has received.
“The Brown County Water Improvement District has been in existence since 1926, supplying water to the citizens of the county for municipal, irrigation, and recreational use for the last 72 years. During those years, most of the people of Brown County were unaware of what the District was or the purpose of the District. That changed in the summer of 2011 when the lake reached its lowest level since it was built in 1932. For the first time water use restrictions were placed on the citizens of Brown County. Water is now one of the most important topics for Brown County as well as the State of Texas. Everyone is now aware that one of the most important resources we have has become a limited supply resource and will continue to be limited as population and need for water grows.
The office of BCWID has been receiving numerous questions on the subject of water and how that water is being managed for the benefit of the citizens of Brown County. This article will attempt to address some of the concerns that have been voiced about availability of water for Brown County and options that are being investigated.
According to the best available data, Lake Brownwood currently has approximately a 27 month supply at the level of use that occurred in 2011. That time frame can be extended through conservation of water to some extent. However evaporation from the lake cannot be controlled and accounts for up to 60% of lake elevation decline. In October 2011, the supply of lake water had dropped to a 16 to 18 month supply. In February 2011 the District started discussions on alternate supplies of water for Brown County which resulted with the commission of a feasibility study for ground water as an alternate source. The study is ongoing at this time. Preliminary reports of ground water availability in sufficient quantity look good. The unanswered questions are the quality of water and the cost of delivery to the Water Treatment Plant. If this source of water is available and usable, then it would resolve the problem of use restrictions caused by ongoing drought. Until such time as this project can be completed, the only course of action is to conserve our existing supply.
All surface waters in Texas belong to the State of Texas. The State regulates where and how that water is to be used by means of permits and Certificates of Adjudication. Brown County Water Improvement District has a permit to impound 114,000 acre-feet of water within the confines of Lake Brownwood. Of these 114,000 acre-feet, the District has an appropriation for use of 29,000 acre-feet per year to be used for municipal, industrial and agricultural use. For the year 2011, water use was 13,000 acre-feet and of that amount 55% went to municipal use and 45% was used for irrigation. BCWID must account for all water taken from the lake and that accounting is reported to the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality and the Texas Water Development Board, along with numerous other reports required by State.
One of the most asked questions is why the District does not dredge the lake and significantly increase lake capacity. The answers are complicated. There are several reasons why dredging cannot be done at this time. Short answers to this question are:
- Dredging is cost prohibitive, requiring millions of dollars.
- Permit from Federal Corps of Engineers is required along with engineering and impact studies.
- Dredged material from lake could be classified as hazardous material by TCEQ and would have to be disposed of according to their rules.
- District’s permit states 114,000 acre-feet of impoundment. Current rated capacity of Lake is 131,429 acre-feet which means that at spillway level, the lake is already 17,000 acre-feet above permit level. It is very unlikely that the State of Texas would allow an increase in capacity when our current capacity is above the 114,000 acre-feet permit.
These are simplified answers to a complex situation. The District is well aware of the benefit of increasing capacity of the lake and it could happen in the future as steps have already been taken to amend the District’s permit. A new volumetric survey by the Texas Water Development Board was paid for 3 years ago and has been delayed until the lake is once again close to spillway level to obtain the most accurate volume.
The District’s Drought Contingency Plan was compiled by our engineering firm and approved by the TCEQ in 1997. All Drought Contingency Plans are formulated on the Drought of Record, which for Texas was in the 1950’s. The District’s plan along with all others in the State was inadequate to cover the Drought of 2011, which will most likely become the Drought of Record. During the Drought of Record in the 1950’s, Lake Brownwood never dropped below an elevation of 1414 or 11 feet below spillway. In October 2011 the lake dropped to 16.5 feet below spillway. A Drought Contingency Plan is set up as a guideline on how to manage shortages of water and it specifically allows for changing restrictions as conditions worsen. The BCWID did respond by changing restrictions. The restrictions on water use are a concern to many of the residents of Brown County, specifically concerning irrigation water. The first priority for water use is household use as prescribed by priority list of water use in the State Water Code. Lawn watering is by all definitions considered irrigation use. The District Drought Contingency Plan places the same restrictions equally on all its customers whether using treated water or raw water. These restrictions are based on percentage of reduction of average use to insure that everyone is conserving equally. Treated water restrictions for retail customers are set by each entity that purchases wholesale water from the District then resells that water. Each entity has its own Drought Contingency Plan based on the Districts required percent of reduction.
In the summer of 2011 the District contracted with a firm from Austin specializing in utility rates to perform a rate study covering all aspects of rates, how they are calculated, and the District’s operating budget. The final draft of this study was presented to the Board in March 2012 by J. Stowe and Co. This study confirmed the fact that irrigation rates were not covering the total cost of delivery of irrigation water. Some citizens have questioned the fact that irrigation has been subsidized. The District was aware of that fact and was awaiting the presentation of this study before irrigation rates were set for 2012. Upon receiving the report BCWID promptly adopted a new irrigation rate, doubling the previous rate and adopting a plan that would increase rates by 10% annually for the next 9 years. In conjunction with the new rate plan, an in-house study has begun to streamline the irrigation system and reduce overall cost of delivery of water. The study also reported a rate increase of 123% on treated water over a 30 year period, spanning 1981 to 2011. The treated water rate for 1981 was $0.67 per thousand gallons and today’s rate is $1.37 per thousand gallons, which is an average yearly increase of $0.023 per thousand gallons of water.
Water rate increases have been necessary to keep abreast of inflation. The District undergoes an annual audit by an outside accounting firm. That audit has not reported any lost funds.
District boundaries were set 80 years ago when the district was formed. Over the years population and service has expanded outside of those boundaries. Expansion of boundaries can be accomplished by provisions set forth in The Texas Water Code Chapter 49 sections 301 and 302. The process to add land to the District must begin with a petition from 50 or more land owners and a metes and bounds description of property to be added. Upon receipt of petition, the Board will set a date for a public hearing at which time the petition along with description of land to be added will be heard. If upon the hearing of the petition it is found by the Board that the proposed annexation of the area to the District is feasible, practical, and to the advantage of the District and if the District’s system and other improvements of the District are sufficient to supply the added land without injuring land already in District, then the Board, by order entered in its minutes, may receive the proposed area as an addition to and to become a part of the District. The annexed area shall bear its pro rata share of all bonds, notes, or other obligations or taxes that may be owed, contracted, or authorized by the District to which it has been added.
A full copy of the provisions 49.301 and 49.302 are available at the District office.”
