City manager gives overview of water resources

One resource vital to any community is water, and earlier this month, Gatesville City Manager Bill Parry presented an overview of the city's water resources during a meeting of the Gatesville Exchange Club.

"Water will be, if it isn't already, the 'coin of the realm' — something that is valued like money," Parry said.

In addition to supplying Gatesville residents with water, the city also sells water to area water supply companies, such as Coryell City Water Supply District, South Mountain, Fort Gates and The Grove. The city also supplies water to North Fort Hood.

One local water supply company that does not receive water from the city of Gatesville is Multi-County, which has other water contracts.

Gatesville's water infrastructure stretches 27 miles and includes an intake site at Lake Belton and a ground storage tank at Pancake.

"The city charges a flat water rate to each of its wholesale customers, and that includes the cost set by the BRA (Brazos River Authority, which has water rights throughout the basin and then sells the water), maintenance and operations, chemicals (to treat the water), debt services to pay for infrastructure and recapitalization costs," Parry said.

Gatesville has contracts with the BRA for 5,898 acre-feet of raw water in Lake Belton. This provides more than 1.9 million gallons of raw water — or 1.86 million gallons of treated water. Water contracts with the river authority expire between 2041 and 2050 and are projected to be renewable.

Historical usage not including North Fort Hood and federally reserved water rights for Gatesville is about 1.438 million gallons.

"There is a limited supply of water and there's been explosive growth in North Williamson County and South Bell County that is served by two reservoirs (Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow)," Parry said. "There's a lot of math that goes into this."

At current levels, Gatesville is using about 67% of the water available to the city.

"Without water availability you can't grow and attract new businesses," Parry said. "We do have water available. The problem is (once the limit is reached), there is no more water available to us."

One area that can be adjusted is in reducing the amount of water that is wasted.

"In our area, an awful lot of water is wasted," Parry said. "You sometimes see people watering the concrete in front of their house. Water can be lost through leaky toilets or pipes. In rural areas, you may have a water main that runs through the middle of a field, and nobody checks it very often (to determine if there are leaks)."

Gatesville is able to monitor water use by customers within the city and will notify them if a continuous water use is detected that indicates a possible leak.

Another way to reduce water loss is to have better infrastructure in place.

"The city is trying to correct water loss by replacing old cast iron lines put in during the 1950s," Parry said. "Those weren't really put in right then, but we didn't have the equipment then that we do now. Water meters were also replaced. Some of the older ones weren't registering any water use at all.

"The problem is not the money, it's the water. We need to quit wasting water. For one thing, I see sprinkler systems on every day watering grass in the middle of December, and that's not needed. If people aren't sure how to turn them off, they can call the city and we'll help them.

"Some people say we have plenty of water, but we don't — it's a limited resource and we sure don't need to be wasting it."

While Gatesville residents receive treated surface water, some of the wholesale providers in the area mix well water with surface water, which can affect the smell and taste of water. Parry said some wells might also have problems with arsenic being present, which is the case in parts of McLennan County.

Projected growth in Coryell County means the limited resources of the Middle Trinity aquifer could become strained or tapped out. That is a concern that Coryell County leaders are working to address, along with the Middle Trinity Groundwater District.

Parry said groundwater from the Middle Trinity will be expensive to treat.

"I'm not saying groundwater is not an option, but it can be costly," he said. "I like surface water and we have a superior treatment designation."