Riverbend Water Resources District's executive director and CEO outlined the district's plans for the future during a meeting Wednesday of the Red River Valley Association.
Liz Fazio Hale told attendees of the 22nd annual Texarkana Conference that as the leader in regional water and infrastructure issues, Riverbend is working to secure the area's future and attract business and industry.
"A lot of what Riverbend has been doing is to kind of play catch-up on some of our infrastructure and figure out where we are at in Northeast Texas," she said. "We enjoy living in a water-rich area, and so when we look in our backyard, we see water; the water comes on when we turn the tap on. But when we're talking about actually planning for the use of that water in industrial and future municipal populations, that means something different to us."
Riverbend comprises 16 entities in three counties and provides water to TexAmericas Center and the Red River Army Depot. It also serves as a water user group in the Region D Water Planning Group.
Fazio Hale said Riverbend is in the process of securing a location for a new water intake structure on Wright Patman Lake and a new raw water line to TexAmericas Center.
"Great opportunity for growth and potential in this region lies at the TexAmericas Center, and we are committed to providing three million gallons (per day) by 2026," she said. "We are aiming for 2021, but we must do that contractually by 2026 to help them bring in new business and grow our economies."
Riverbend is also looking at new water treatment plants in Bowie and Cass counties.
"It is important to understand Riverbend is not coming in to monopolize things and to create this omnibus huge structure," she said. "We are really here to supplement and to assist our member cities and those municipalities. In this region, we have a lack of trained operators and professionals to provide these services."
The new plants and infrastructure would be paid for with a bond, which must be approved by the municipalities. Studies are also being done in the Sulphur River Basin to determine how much water is available and how much the new structures and plants would cost.
"We have a lot of decisions to be made over the next few months," she said. "We have to look at what is the cost to continue to put money into old infrastructure as opposed to investing in new infrastructure. When we are trying to recruit for business, our current system will not meet the demands."
The regional water master plan will be presented at Riverbend's town hall meeting at noon June 27 at their offices, 228 A Texas Ave., New Boston, Texas.