San Marcos Surplus Water Supply To Be Sold To Neighboring Cities
By: Andrew Blanton
Officials with the City of San Marcos are offering a portion of the surplus water supply to neighboring areas with shortages while the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer pipeline project awaits construction.
The Hays Caldwell Public Utilities Agency (HCPUA) includes San Marcos, Kyle, Buda and the Canyon Regional Water Authority. HCPUA officials plan to construct a water supply pipeline that will connect cities to the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer to meet the demands of the growing populations. The 100-mile pipeline will reduce the use of the Edwards Aquifer, which currently supplies water to central Texas, according to a report by HCPUA
The goal of the program is to share water resources between San Marcos, Kyle and Buda so the $210 million Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer pipeline work can be spread out over time, said Tom Taggart, executive director of public services.
The program will allow surplus water from San Marcos’ supply to be sold to Kyle and Buda. The system will allow more time to complete the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer pipeline, Taggart said.
“Obviously you don’t want to start paying those kind of interest expenses on that kind of money any sooner than you have to,” Taggart said. “The longer we postpone on that, the bigger the rate base we can spread those costs out over.”
San Marcos is expected to receive nearly 12,000 acre-feet per year of water and is responsible for 35.86 percent of the cost of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer pipeline, according to the report. The Canyon Regional Water Authority will receive just over 10,000 acre-feet and fund 30.89 percent. Kyle will receive over 9,000 acre-feet and fund 28.17 percent. Buda will receive less than 2,000 acre-feet and fund 5.08 percent of the project.
The Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer pipeline’s origin will be a constructed water well field in Caldwell County. The pipeline will originate in either the Plum Creek water conservation district or the Gonzales underground region. The project is expected to by completed by 2023, Taggart said.
HCPUA officials have planned in advance of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer pipeline project, Taggart said. San Marcos is under contract to purchase 10,000 acre-feet per year of surface water from Canyon Lake and over 5,400 from the Edwards Aquifer.
San Marcos requires about 7,500 acre-feet of water per year. Officials will able to provide surplus water to Kyle and Buda without affecting summer drought restrictions, Taggart said.
“This will help defray our expense in relation to having those supplies on hand at this point,” Taggart said. “There’s no net profit in it, but it does help us in the sense of shouldering those costs.”
Andrew Blanton is a news reporter for the University Star where this story originally published, and reprinted here through a news partnership between the University Star and Corridor News.
