At a special-called meeting Dec. 30, City Council members approved a 30-year agreement with GateHouse Water LLC.
The decision allows the city to purchase 18,500 acre-feet of water per year—or 16.5 million gallons per day—from the Simsboro Aquifer in Lee County, according to city documents.
The setup
According to the city’s website, the agreement will help Georgetown to expand its raw water resources, a need outlined in the city’s integrated water resources plan first presented to council in December 2022. The IWRP found the city should receive water from a new supplier by 2030 to avoid water supply shortages.
The new groundwater supply is permitted for production and transport from the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District, Assistant City Manager Laurie Brewer said during a presentation to council.
The project requires the construction of a 36-mile transmission pipeline from a wellfield to Circleville, Brewer said. Three out of the six required wells for the project are already built, she said, and the project’s next phase includes several months of development and financing before officials move on to construction.
Sorting out details
According to the presentation, the public-private partnership divides project responsibilities up as follows:
- GateHouse: designing, financing and building the wellfield, collection lines and interconnection point
- GateHouse: operating, maintaining and repairing the project
- GateHouse: providing Georgetown with 18,500 acre-feet of treated water per year
- Georgetown: building a pipeline from the interconnection point to Georgetown
- Georgetown: purchasing land for the interconnection point and building a portion of their infrastructure
- Georgetown: taking and paying the 18,500 acre-feet of water per year and paying for available water
Each acre-foot is priced at $786.19, or $2.41 per 1,000 gallons, and the city’s payments will begin once water begins flowing or commercial operation begins, Brewer said. City officials have requested to procure and pay electricity directly up to a guaranteed amount, she said.
“We believe that this will provide significant cost savings to the city over time,” Brewer said.
The contract’s term lasts 30 years from the commercial operation date but will not exceed 50 years to account for undeliverable or untaken water, Brewer said. Upon the term’s expiration, the city can purchase the project at no cost, extend the term for another 30 years with reduced water costs or decide against proceeding altogether, Brewer said.
Some context
At a Dec. 10 City Council workshop, Brewer discussed the city’s short-term and long-term water supply projects, including a three-to-10-year goal of evaluating additional groundwater suppliers for up to 100,000 acre-feet to get the city through 2070, she said.
In August 2023, the city of Georgetown signed an agreement with EPCOR to reserve almost 40,000 acre-feet of groundwater from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Robertson County, Brewer said. The agreement could allow Georgetown to receive anywhere from 32-55 mgd of treated groundwater by 2030, according to the city’s website.
Put in perspective
Georgetown provides water service to over 400 square miles, which extends to Bell and Burnett counties, Brewer said. The city has about 74,000 water customers, with 40% of them living outside of city limits, she said.
About 88% of Georgetown’s current water supply comes from local lakes, and 22.3% comes from the Edwards Aquifer, Brewer said.
“Our service area is among the fastest growing in the nation,” Brewer said.
The city expects to add 3,000-5,000 new living unit equivalents—a measurement that defines the typical water flow one home produces—per year for the next 20 years, Brewer said.
