Water rates in south Montgomery County are increasing as local efforts to reduce reliance on groundwater sources by 2016 press forward. Local utility distributors are passing the costs of building new distribution systems onto consumers, resulting in higher water bills due to the additional fees, San Jacinto River Authority groundwater reduction plan administrator Mark Smith said.





Consumers residing in San Jacinto River Authority groundwater reduction plan districts, such as in The Woodlands and Oak Ridge North, will see an increase in groundwater reduction plan fees in their water bills from $1.75 to $2.25 per 1,000 gallons used starting Sept. 1.





Meanwhile, city of Shenandoah residents started paying a groundwater reduction plan fee of 60 cents per 1,000 gallons after the city instituted a separate groundwater reduction plan by partnering with the city of Panorama Village. Their plan includes drilling into the Catahoula aquifer water well rather than drawing water from Lake Conroe, as the SJRA is doing.





"We went through a long period of 20-plus years here in Montgomery County of very inexpensive, very high quality groundwater, but those days are behind us," said Jim Stinson, general manager for The Woodlands Joint Powers Agency. "Lake Conroe was built as a drinking water reservoir many years ago, so it was just a matter of time before that resource was utilized. That time is here, and I foresee [water] rates to continue to increase for the foreseeable future as we convert to a more expensive resource."





Kathy Jones, general manager for the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, said reduction plans are necessary because the Gulf Coast aquifer system can refill about 64,000 acre-feet per year, while the LSGCD has permitted about 102,000-acre-feet of groundwater use per year, exceeding the rechargeable amount by about 38,000 acre-feet.





To alleviate a potential water shortage and establish sustainable groundwater use, the LSGCD adopted a regulatory plan in 2006 that requires a comprehensive conversion to alternative water, Jones said. The regulations require all Montgomery County entities to reduce their reliance on groundwater by either 70 percent of their 2009 water use, or 10 million gallons, whichever is greater, by 2016.





"Because Montgomery County is one of the fastest growing counties in the United States, the disparity between the Gulf Coast Aquifer's sustainable yield and the total volume of groundwater that is produced from the aquifer will continue to grow unless significant efforts are made to permanently reduce the county's reliance on groundwater," Jones said.





SJRA plan





The SJRA is increasing its GRP fees on Sept. 1 and projects the fees will continue to increase annually, reaching more than $3 per 1,000 gallons by 2024, SJRA spokeswoman Ronda Trow said.





Smith said there may be an additional 19 cent increase in 2015 once surface water starts being delivered. He said the fees pay for the cost of the water delivery project.





"The biggest part of it goes to pay debt service on the money we borrowed to build the water plant and install all the pipes," Smith said. "We have a 30-year debt to retire in the amount we borrowed that is roughly $500 million, so that's a big mortgage payment."





Alternatives to surface water





Several Montgomery County entities have implemented projects designed to reduce their reliance on groundwater by drilling deeper wells into the Catahoula aquifer, which is considered an alternative source, rather than joining the SJRA groundwater reduction plan, Jones said. There are currently 11 wells drilled into the aquifer.





The cities of Shenandoah and Panorama Village partnered to form their own groundwater reduction plan and constructed a Catahoula water plant in Panorama Village, located in east Montgomery County, said Byron Bevers, Shenandoah director of public works.





The cities formed the partnership after conducting a cost analysis that outlined the benefits of an independent partnership between the two, including $30 million in savings over a 30-year period. The partnership allows the cities to maintain greater control of their own groundwater reduction plan fees passed on to their residents, Bevers said.





"Our GRP fee is 60 cents per 1,000 gallons. I think most of our neighbors are considerably more than that right now," Bevers said. "With us being a part of this GRP, our water rates will increase at a significantly slower rate than people who are not in control of their own GRP."





Cost mitigation efforts





In addition to converting to alternative water sources, Jones said many Montgomery County cities and communities such as The Woodlands and Conroe have adopted year-round, twice weekly maximum irrigation limits. Jones estimates that 50 to 70 percent of summer water use stems from lawn irrigation.





Golf courses in The Woodlands and in several Municipal Utility Districts are also using effluent water, or treated wastewater not intended for consumption, to irrigate. Irrigation accounts for a significant groundwater use, and using effluent water results in cost savings, Jones said.





Similarly, the Southern Montgomery County MUD, which serves portions of the county south of The Woodlands, is also increasing cost mitigation efforts through an irrigation water system that delivers effluent water to large irrigation water consumers such as golf courses, businesses, and heavily irrigated neighborhoods, MUD general manager Rick Moffatt said.





"By [consumers] using this reclaimed water there is always going to be water in the tank, and they will be able to use it to irrigate their yard as often as they want and not be restricted by drought restrictions," Moffatt said. "Plus, they don't have to pay SJRA fees or Lone Star groundwater fees to use this water—all they have to do is just pay an irrigation rate. They can save a lot of money that way."





To pay for the system, the Southern Montgomery County MUD partnered with the city of Houston about two years ago in an agreement that would collect a half-cent sales tax dedicated partly to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, with the remainder slated for the district's reclaimed water systems.





The MUD has nearly completed the first phase of the project by building a wastewater treatment plant on Rayford Road in Spring. It also has installed the majority of the Phase 1 pipelines necessary to deliver the reclaimed water to some of its largest irrigation water users. The district will continue to lay additional pipelines every year, targeting high irrigation water usage areas until the entirety of the MUD has access to the reclaimed water within five to seven years, Moffatt said.





The city of Shenandoah also promotes water conservation as a way to keep water bills under control, Bevers said.





"We are constantly looking at ways to do things more efficiently, we also try to promote conservation and those efforts on our end will continue to increase," Bevers said. "As the customer conserves, they get to control their own water bill in effect because if they are not using that water they are not getting charged for it. If they can find a way to more efficiently wash their dishes or water their grass more efficiently, that boils down to lower water use."