Securing water: Georgetown officials work to ensure water supply for years to come

Georgetown’s 2022 Integrated Water Resource Plan—a document detailing the city’s long-term water needs—found the Georgetown water utility needed additional water sources online by 2030. In an effort to close the gap, city officials are negotiating three potential groundwater contracts with EPCOR, GateHouse Water and Recharge Water, Brewer said.

In 2023, the city entered into a two-year reservation agreement with EPCOR. The final contract, pending approval, would deliver 32-62.5 mgd of treated groundwater by 2030. The project involves constructing an 80-mile underground pipeline from Robertson County to Georgetown, per the city’s website.

Officials are also negotiating a pricing proposal with Recharge Water to assess the cost of a phased delivery of up to 31 mgd per year.

As the contracts currently stand, any one of the three could produce the amount the city needs by 2030, Brewer said. Combined, the contracts could bring up to 110 mgd of additional groundwater to the city.

The IWRP called for part of the city’s new supply to be groundwater since it’s less susceptible to drought than surface water.

Long term, officials are still figuring out how the contracts might work together, Brewer said. The city needs to secure a total of about 140,000-180,000 acre-feet of water per year—or 125-161 mgd—by 2070 to keep up with demand, per the IWRP.

Digging in deeper

During a special-called meeting Dec. 30, city council members approved a 30-year agreement with GateHouse Water to purchase 18,500 acre-feet per year, or 16.5 mgd, from part of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Lee County.

GateHouse is permitted to produce and transport the water from the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District, which manages six major aquifers and roughly 3,400 wells, Lost Pines GCD General Manager Jim Totten said.

Officials are actively advancing a project to construct a 36-mile underground pipeline from a Circleville storage tank to a future endpoint in Georgetown, a city official said.

The city’s payments will begin once water starts flowing, which could take several years.

Put in perspective

Georgetown’s water utility reaches over 170,000 people across its 440-square-mile service area, according to the city’s website.

By paying reservation fees to the Brazos River Authority, Georgetown has water rights to its current major surface water sources: Lake Georgetown, Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow Lake.

“They pump untreated water into Lake Georgetown,” Brewer said. “We pull it and treat the water and then send it on to homes and businesses.”

However, the BRA is limited in how much water it can promise in the future, Brewer said.

“We’re pursuing [groundwater] because we don’t have any more [surface water] options locally,” Georgetown Strategic Projects Manager Caroline Stewart said. “This is the next best option.”

Due to its production and transportation needs, the city will pay “significantly more” for groundwater as opposed to surface water from the BRA, Brewer said.

Zooming out

Georgetown officials are not alone in their efforts to prioritize long-term water needs.

During Gov. Greg Abbott’s State of the State address Feb. 2, he named water infrastructure investments as an emergency item this legislative session. Abbott discussed a plan to make a one-time investment and subsequently send $1 billion per year to the 2023 voter-approved Texas Water Fund.

The plan will help Texas tap into new water suppliers and repair old pipelines, according to state documents. Fixing leaky or broken pipes will save billions of gallons of water per year, Abbott said Feb. 2.

“Upgrading infrastructure will be a significant part of saving a lot of water,” said Jaclyn Wise, public relations and education coordinator at Post Oak Savannah GCD, which also manages a portion of the Simsboro Aquifer in Milam and Burleson counties.

At a Dec. 12 Austin Chamber panel, Rep. Caroline Harris Davila said some cities in her Williamson County district have 100-year-old water pipes.

When asked during a Jan. 23 luncheon what keeps him up more at night—water or roads—Georgetown Mayor Josh Schroeder said he’s more concerned about planning for water since it’s a finite resource.

Going forward

City Council is expected to give final approval to the GateHouse contract by this summer, Brewer said. An update on the Recharge Water negotiation is expected in late 2025, and the city continues to work on the EPCOR agreement.

To diversify the city’s long-term water supply, officials are also looking into aquifer storage and recovery projects, water conservation efforts, and recycled water, per city documents.

Totten said he believes water usage patterns over the last 20-30 years are unsustainable.

"We need a cultural change on how we view and value water," Totten said.