Water Resources District's Board of Directors approved several budget amendments and discussed a new water intake at Wright Patman Lake during their regular meeting Wednesday.
They voted to approve an amendment to the admin members' budget to fund a water availability study to be conducted within the Sulphur River Basin.
Liz Fazio Hale, Riverbend executive director and CEO, said the study would cost $236,000. It will be paid for with $128,000 left from a $1 million bond they took out with the Texas Water Development Board for regional water planning projects. Additional funds to cover the balance were freed up through from other areas in the budget including travel, engineering and consulting fees. Funds made available through the amendment will also fund a a feasibility study in Hooks, Texas.
Fazio Hale said the availability study was an important component in moving forward with water planning for the area.
"For the water availability modelas we move through regional planning, in order to acquire future water rights and to put a new intake in and a new water line, we really need to know what the basin has in it," she said. "It's a basin-wide water availability model, but it will be used as supporting information when we apply for future water rights for the difference between where we're at right now, the interim curve and the ultimate rule curve."
A new water intake is needed on Wright Patman due to sedimentation and Riverbend has been working with the city of Texarkana, Texas, to secure a location and permitting for the structure. Previous studies have shown the lake is filling in with sedimentation from the northern portion of the Sulphur River, but some stakeholders, including Riverbend, have questioned that data and say more information is needed to determine exactly how much water is available in the reservoir.
Currently, the lake operates at the interim rule curve of 220 feet, the level put in place in 1969 under a contract the city of Texarkana, Texas, has with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. If the ultimate rule curve of 228.64 feet is implemented, it would make an additional 80,000 to 100,000 acre-feet of water available for permitting.
Riverbend's 16 member entities, including the city of Texarkana, have passed resolutions supporting the water district pursuing those water rights.
"In order for us to apply for those, we have to tell the state how much is there," Fazio Hale told the board.
Directors also discussed the cost of a preliminary design for the new intake, which is estimated at $2 million. They agreed to pursue funds from the TWDB and asking member entities to contribute to the project, as well. Engineers creating the design will look at possible locations for the intake, along with other specifications, Fazio Hale said.
"These are the type of things we're going to have to look into as well as routes," she said. "The corps wants to know if you are impacting other wetlands, endangered areas, those type of things. All of this goes into the preliminary design, which does eventually become part of the asset of the project. I think the first step is to float out there what the funding options are out there."
No action was taken and the item will be placed on next month's agenda.
The board also talked about the need for a volumetric and sedimentation study on the lake, as the last one was conducted in 2011 following a severe drought.
"It is impacting overall the state planning of our basin that this study has not been updated," Fazio Hale told the board. The last cost estimate for the study was $85,000. She said she had sent a letter to TWDB asking for the current estimate and also for funding for the study.
"At one time they had matching funds. They don't have those anymore," she said. "The rest of the state, their average for sedimentation in all other reservoirs is around four percent. Ours is 38 percent. So this is enough of an issue, and I suggested they help us find funding, at least matching funding, to take care of and address this because the numbers-we're just getting bad data. The more data we can collect on this, the better off we'll be."
The board discussed possibly funding the study through a joint partnership with the Sulphur River Basin Authority, which is also seeking additional monies.
Board member Jim Green said he's had some questions about the two organizations working together.
"I've had several questions from different mayors that if we're going to do a study like that and SRBA is doing a study like that, why do both entities have to do a study?" he said. "Why can't we come in together? I told them before, that wouldn't have been possible, but now with the new administration that's willing to meet with us and we're willing to meet with them, I really think that would help us out tremendously with the public trust on both ends."
SRBA was created in 1985 to conserve and develop natural resources within the river basin, which covers 11 counties. It came under fire in 2016, when the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, which investigates and reviews all state agencies, found severe deficiencies within the organization. HB 2180, passed during the last session of the Texas Legislature, outlined procedure changes for the group, which they have begun implementing. Gov. Greg Abbott also appointed three new members to the SRBA board in February. One of those is Kelly Mitchell, who rotated off the Riverbend board that month. He was at Wednesday's meeting and said SRBA doesn't have the funding to conduct basin-wide studies without additional help.
"SRBA has no interest in doing it on their own," he said. "We don't have the funding. We're going to have to ask others that may benefit from the study to contribute."
The next meeting is scheduled for 12 p.m., Wednesday, May 23, at the Riverbend Offices, 228 A Texas Ave., New Boston, Texas.