Groundwater project keeps moving with signed agreement

LPR Staff Report

The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) and Alliance Regional Water Authority (Alliance Water) have reached an agreement to collaboratively develop a 26.8 million gallon-per-day groundwater project in Caldwell and Gonzales counties. The partnership will save over $60 million and will have a smaller environmental footprint as compared to the previous independent projects they were pursuing. The GBRA Board of Directors approved the project at its monthly meeting on June 20 and the Alliance Water Board of Directors finalized the deal today at their monthly meeting.
“This project resolves a water supply issue in the region in the interest of stakeholders and our respective organizations alike,” said Alliance Water’s Executive Director Graham Moore. “We are excited to have an excellent partner in GBRA and look forward to adding their water supply and customers into the project.”
“This agreement with Alliance Water is a major step forward for GBRA in our efforts to supply high-quality water to growing cities along the I-35 corridor,” said GBRA General Manager/CEO Kevin Patteson. “We are very appreciative of Alliance Water’s willingness to work with us to produce a win-win project that benefits thousands of water users in South Texas.”
GBRA and Alliance Water will each produce about 15,000 acre feet per year of permitted Carrizo Aquifer groundwater in Caldwell and Gonzales counties, treat it to drinking water standards and then deliver it to customers in Caldwell, Hays, Guadalupe and Comal Counties. GBRA’s customers include the City of Lockhart, New Braunfels Utilities and Goforth Special Utility District in Niederwald. Alliance Water is developing the water for its Sponsors, the cities of Buda, Kyle, and San Marcos, as well as the Canyon Regional Water Authority.
While each organization will independently develop their own well fields, Alliance Water will work with GBRA to construct a single treatment plant and transmission system. That collaboration of construction and operation of key project infrastructure components will produce major cost savings for both organizations throughout the life of the system. The water agencies are planning to utilize the Texas Water Development Board’s low-interest SWIFT Loan.