Purchase of Texas Water Alliance Moves GBRA Closer to Starting Mid-Basin Project
In a deal that will pave the way for Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) officials to fulfill the groundwater component of its Mid-Basin Project, the GBRA Board of Directors approved the river authority’s purchase of Texas Water Alliance Limited (TWA), from SJW Corp.
Authorization of the GBRA general manager to execute the $31 million purchase of the TWA assets and to conduct business related to the sale was approved following the Executive Session of the Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, board meeting. SJW Corp and GBRA officials anticipate closing on the deal by the end of the year. The purchase of the TWA assets in Gonzales and Caldwell counties will provide 15,000 acre-feet (ac/ft.) of groundwater toward the Mid-Basin Project. The TWA assets include groundwater leases on over 30,000 acres in this area.
The Mid-Basin Project, a proposed conjunctive use water supply project that has been in the State Water Plan in various forms since 2006, would supply 65,000-plus ac/ft. of water to potential customers along the high-growth I-35 and SH Toll 130 corridors. The conjunctive use project would include surface water, groundwater, and/or aquifer storage and recover (ASR) components to comprise a single supply. To put the project into perspective with respect to its scope and size, the firm yield of Canyon Reservoir is 90,000 ac/ft. of water and the firm yield of Lake Texana is 79,000 ac/ft. The Mid-Basin Project will be the first significant municipal water supply project in the region in several decades.
GBRA officials applied for an off-channel surface water permit in Gonzales County that would add 50,000 ac/ft. of water. The TCEQ executive director prepared a “draft” permit for Mid-Basin Project. GBRA officials filed the application for the permit in December 2009 in an effort to proactively address water supply needs in the high-growth areas of the Guadalupe River Basin. Bill West, Jr., GBRA general manager explained,
“As you can see, developing and bringing a water supply project to fruition now-a-days takes significant time.”
The surface water permit was contested by several entities, and GBRA has successfully resolved most of these by negotiating with their respective representatives and continuing their efforts to resolve issues with the remaining protestant.
Mark Janay, President of TWA commenting on behalf of SJW Corp, believes that this agreement represents the best of what a public-private partnership can do to benefit the citizens and communities of Texas. By working together, TWA provided the investment and management necessary to develop a critical groundwater supply; this sustainable groundwater supply can now be married with the conjunctive use aspects of the Mid Basin project to create a much needed regional water supply solution.
“We are trying to provide much needed water resources to municipalities and developers in this high-growth region, so I am optimistic about potentially securing support for the project from the Texas Water Development Board,” West said.
News releases and other relevant information are regularly posted to GBRA’s website,www.gbra.org, on Twitter “@GBRATX” and on Facebook at the page “GBRA of Texas.”
The GBRA was established by the Texas Legislature in 1933 as a water conservation and reclamation district. GBRA provides stewardship for the water resources in its 10-county statutory district, which begins near the headwaters of the Guadalupe and Blanco rivers, ends at San Antonio Bay, and includes Kendall, Comal, Hays, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Gonzales, DeWitt, Victoria, Calhoun, and Refugio counties.
SJW Corp. is a publicly traded holding company and is the parent company of San Jose Water Company, SJWTX, Inc. (dba, Canyon Lake Water Service Company), Texas Water Alliance Limited, SJW Land Company, and SJW Group, Inc. Together, San Jose Water Company and SJWTX, Inc. provide water service to more than one million people in and to communities adjacent to San Jose, California and Canyon Lake, Texas.
