Riverbend members approve master plan

Riverbend Water Resources District on Wednesday approved the Regional Water Master Plan and a services agreement for advice on local, state and federal water issues.

The plan, which is posted on the water district's website, www.rwrd.org, is the result of a two-year process by Consultant Susan Roth, who, in several public meetings, got input from the community and Riverbend's 16 member entities to determine what infrastructure is needed and what stakeholders want for the area's future.

The final plan shows a new intake on Wright Patman Lake, a new raw water line and a new water treatment facility to be located at TexAmericas Center. It also includes having the city of Texarkana, Ark., be solely supplied by water from Millwood Lake instead of the current system, which blends that lake's water with water from Wright Patman lake.

"Now we can move forward," Riverbend Executive Director/CEP Liz Fazio Hale said. "This has been over two years in the making."

Board President Marshall Wood said, "I've been very pleased with the response we've had. Have you heard from Texarkana, Ark.?"

Fazio Hale said she had not yet heard from the city's representatives.

"We are still in the process of reaching out and trying to balance an outgoing mayor with an incoming mayor," she said. "We certainly recognize overall that Texarkana Ark. receives its water from Wright Patman as well as Millwood and we're going to have to work through that process and what that looks like into the future."

The RWMP also includes an increase of commercial water rates to support the new projects and infrastructure. Additional funds in the form of bonds are available through the Texas Water Development Board, but for Riverbend to receive that money, they must show that the projects are supported by its entities. To begin that process, the board also approved a first draft of a template resolution for the entities to pass and show their support for the projects.

"We have crafted a template resolution to distribute to the member cities and receive feedback from them on what changes need to be made," Fazio Hale told the board, adding that the resolution is a soft commitment. "We need about 80 percent of the those responsible for the usage numbers overall to say yes, we are prepared to raise our rates, we are prepared to move forward and we are formally going to do that so we can go to the water development board and begin that application process."

TWDB will begin taking applications in December and the close date is in February 2019.

"What we are suggesting in this resolution is that if entities are ready to move forward, the recommendation is they raise their rate by $1.50 per 1,000 gallons the first three years and then to $2.50 for the following three years. That's really about as far out as can can get because we recognize the cost of projects and how these things move along, that there will be changes."

Fazio Hale said the entities are not required to all raise their rates immediately and that the commitment can be changed throughout the process.

"It at least gives us a flag that votes are ready to move forward," she said. One key issue is if the city of Texarkana, Texas, will pass a resolution supporting the projects. Fazio Hale said that together, the twin cities count for 65 percent of the overall usage in the region.

"I think it's fair to say if they're not on board with it, we're not going forward," she stated and said she expected there to be a mayoral meeting within the next two weeks to discuss the projects. "We're not in a hurry, we're not in a rush, we just want to provide our entities with the tools necessary to move forward if they are ready. Some have expressed they are ready to do this."

In other business, the board approved the hiring Fancher Law and Kent Smith to work on federal, state and local issues for the water district. Fazio Hale said the firms were not local and that it was important to select counsel outside the region.

"Neither of them represent entities that are current, or what we perceive to be future, conflicts within our area," she said.

The next meeting is scheduled for 12 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24 at Riverbend Offices, 228 A Texas Ave., New Boston, Texas.

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