The City of San Marcos has been
engaged for more than a decade in the battle to protect the Edwards Aquifer
and secure an adequate water supply for the future. Investing in surface
water is the next major step for this growing community of 38,000.
In 1993, San Marcos was on the winning side of the Sierra Club lawsuit
to protect the aquifer-fed springs in San Marcos and New Braunfels, litigation
which led to the creation of the Edwards Aquifer Authority and a statutory
limit on how much water the region can pump from the underground water
supply.
"We have taken giant steps to plan for the present and the future,"
said Mayor Billy G. Moore. "San Marcos faces immediate limits
in our ability to pump enough groundwater to serve our community. Our
future supply must come from a variety of sources to continue our protection
of the aquifer, the springs and the river. Surface water has become our
lifeline to the future."
Mayor Moore, who has served on the City Council since 1988, was the primary
negotiator for the City during years of often fiery regional debates,
through lawsuits and hearings held in Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos,
Uvalde, Midland and Pecos, Texas, and appeals to the federal Fifth Circuit
Court in New Orleans, and the Texas Supreme Court. He has participated
in at least four legislative sessions in which people fought over water
rights, property rights, the capacity of the aquifer, and the survival
of the last two major spring systems in Texas.
A Complex Project
San Marcos residents and city officials recognized the need for surface
water even before the 1990 bond election in which city voters supported
the construction of a Surface Water Plant. The plant is being designed
now and is scheduled to be on-line by the end of 1999.
In 1989 the City secured the rights to 5,000 acre feet of water a year
(or 4.5 million gallons a day) from Canyon Lake from the Guadalupe Blanco
River Authority. In 1990, voters approved construction of a Surface Water
Treatment Plant through passage of an $8.5 million bond issue.
Since 1990, the City has sold bonds, conducted a surface water supply
study, applied for water rights from the San Marcos River, conducted environmental
research and preliminary rate studies, hired engineers to design and manage
the surface water project, initiated land acquisition for the plant site,
and entered into an agreement with GBRA to develop a regional plant.
"The Surface Water Project has been a complex project," said
City Manager Larry. D. Gilley. "What began as legislative and legal
initiatives has now moved into the implementation phase. We are working
to secure a firm supply of water for the next 50 years, to design and
build a regional surface water treatment plant, to arrange for a pipeline
to convey Canyon Lake water to San Marcos, and identify the improvements
needed in our own distribution system. Through all these issues, we have
striven to deal with the overriding issue of cushioning the financial
impact on our citizens as much as possible."
Sources of Water: Canyon Lake
In the future, San Marcos residents will depend on surface water from
Canyon Lake as the base water supply for the community. The GBRA will
design and build a 20 mile pipeline to convey raw water released from
Canyon Lake into the Guadalupe River to San Marcos. The river authority
also is striving to bring other area water suppliers and communities into
the project to help them meet their water needs in the future. For San
Marcos, 5,000 acre feet a year will provide 4.5 million gallons a day,
or about 75% of the community's current daily water needs.
The City Council has directed staff to seek additional water rights from
Canyon Lake before they are gone. "We want to acquire another 5,000
acre feet," said Gilley. "Canyon Lake has approximately 12,000
acre feet remaining for allocation, and area communities are going to
compete for this water very soon--including San Antonio."
Canyon Lake water is now costing San Marcos residents $53.03 an acre
foot, or $265,000 a year. The GBRA will consider raising that price this
year.
Edwards Aquifer
In the near future, an average 25% of the City's water supply will continue
to be pumped from the Edwards Aquifer as the City maintains its historic
rights to aquifer water. Aquifer water will be used for summer peaking,
when water consumption is higher.
Aquifer water will no longer be "free," however. The Edwards
Aquifer Authority will begin assessing a fee, probably starting this year,
for the water rights that will be granted in its new permitting system
for major aquifer pumpers.
San Marcos River
For the longer term, San Marcos is seeking water rights from the San
Marcos River to supplement the water supply. The City of has applied for
the right to reuse groundwater that is pumped into the City water system,
used by citizens and then discharged after treatment at the wastewater
treatment plant into the San Marcos River. The application seeks to use
the river to transport an amount about equal to the water discharged from
the plant to a point downstream where it would be withdrawn and piped
to the surface water plant.
Using San Marcos River water will save residents millions of dollars
over time, noted Gilley. "We wouldn't have to pay for the water by
the acre foot as we do for Canyon Lake water, since we will be reusing
water that already belongs to us. We will save money in the cost of transporting
water to the treatment plant. And we will be using a conservation practice
of reuse that is an important source of water now and in the future."
The City has also applied for a permit to use "unappropriated water"
from the San Marcos River. This permit would allow the City to take water
from the San Marcos only if water is available after honoring downstream
water rights and protection of the aquatic habitat. The City has conducted
preliminary studies on the aquatic habitat and environmental impacts.
The application is pending at the TNRCC, awaiting a declaration of administrative
completeness.
Expansion as the City Grows
The Surface Water Treatment Plant will be designed initially to treat
six million gallons per day, expandable over time to 24 mgd. Improvements
to the distribution system will also be required, including additional,
larger transmission lines to connect the existing system to the plant
and elevated storage tanks. Estimated cost for the plant and the distribution
system improvements is $25.5 million. The City will pay a share in the
GBRA pipeline from the Guadalupe to San Marcos, in addition to the plant
and distribution system costs.
While work continues to define the impact of the project on water rates,
the first rate increase is expected to be implemented this fall. An estimated
50% increase in water rates is anticipated for the 1997-98 City budget,
with additional rate increases expected over the next couple of years.
"We want to spread out the rate increases as much as we can, but
most of the high dollar investment for the plant must come up front,"
Gilley said. "That means our residents will have to pay higher water
rates soon to help build this project. Fortunately, San Marcos is ahead
of the curve when it comes to preparing for our water future. This community
has recognized that the future has arrived. "
(Editor's Note: This is the second of a four part series on the San
Marcos Surface Water Project. Future stories will cover the Guadalupe-Blanco
River Authority pipeline, efforts to regionalize the project, and building
and paying for the Surface Water Treatment Plant.)
The source of surface water for San Marcos and other communities in Central
Texas has been a regional concern for many years. The City of San Marcos
began investigating alternatives to aquifer water in the mid-1980s as
the critical threat of overpumping the Edwards Aquifer became apparent.
A brief drought in 1984 almost caused the Comal Springs in New Braunfels
to run dry. The City of San Marcos engaged early not only in regional
efforts to achieve management of the Edwards Aquifer, but also the search
for alternate supplies.
In 1989, the City explored the possibility of joining with the City of
New Braunfels in the construction of its surface water plant built on
the banks of the Guadalupe River. After due consideration, the San Marcos
city leaders opted to pursue a separate water plant for San Marcos in
order to maintain control of the city's water resources at the local level.
"We were invited to become basically a retail customer of New Braunfels,
but we believed it was vitally important for San Marcos residents to have
a greater say than that in their investment inwater facilities,"
recalled Mayor Billy G. Moore. "We also were concerned about the
feasibility of piping treated water over 20 miles, a venture that seemed
somewhat riskier than piping raw water to our community, and treating
it here for distribution."
The 1990 Blue Ribbon Bond Committee, which studied numerous infrastructure
needs in San Marcos, proposed an $8.5 million water revenue bond issue
to finance the planning, design and construction of a Surface Water Treatment
Plant in San Marcos. In September, 1990 voters approved the bond proposal
and work began to develop the project.
Water from Canyon Lake
With the purchase of 5,000 acre feet of water rights, San Marcos will
rely on Canyon Lake as a primary source of surface water for the future.
The City bought water rights in 1989, with payment deferred until 1995.
At $53.03 per acre foot (equal to 325,851 gallons), the water rights in
Canyon cost San Marcos $265,000 a year.
The GBRA is proposing a 15% rate increase by October, 1997 to $61 per
acre foot, increasing the City's cost by $40,000 a year. The agency has
proposed another increase to $69 per acre foot in the year 2000.
In 1991, the City reached agreement with the former Edwards Underground
Water District to defray the cost of purchased surface water for the first
five years of plant operation. That agreement has been transferred to
the Edwards Aquifer Authority, the successor to the EUWD created in 1993
which began full operation in 1996. Once the San Marcos Surface Water
Plant goes on line in 1999, the City will seek reimbursements for the
five year term.
The San Marcos City Council has also authorized staff to pursue additional
surface water from Canyon Lake.
"We are talking to GBRA about acquiring 5,000 acre feet more for
San Marcos," said Larry D. Gilley, City Manager. "There are
only about 12,000 acre feet left in available water rights from Canyon,
so we know that communities will compete for this water in the near future."
Under agreements reached with GBRA and the City of San Marcos, the GBRA
will build a pipeline from the Guadalupe River to transport the city's
water to San Marcos. At this stage, GBRA engineers are exploring three
potential diversion points on the Guadalupe.
Construction of the pipeline will occur in concert with the construction
of the plant itself and should be completed at the same time in the later
part of 1999.
The Aquifer to Meet Peak Needs
The 5,000 acre feet annually from Canyon Lake will supply approximately
4.5 million gallons a day to the Surface Water Treatment Plant. San Marcos'
average daily use today is about 6 million gallons a day, peaking to as
much as 9 mgd on occasion.
San Marcos will continue to depend on the Edwards Aquifer to meet peak
needs. The City operates 10 wells at several locations in the City limits
and service area.
The EAA is in the process of setting pumping limits for all major aquifer
users so that region-wide, no more than 450,000 acre feet a year are pumped
from the Edwards Aquifer. However, aquifer pumpers have claimed more than
662,000 acre feet in statutory "floor" claims of historic uses
in the applications for initial permits from the EAA. Claims of peak uses
total 792,000 acre feet. All aquifer users are likely to be cut back further
to meet the statutory limits set by state law.
Once the Surface Water Plant is on-line, aquifer water will be sufficient
for a few years to meet the peak needs of the community. The state law
creating the EAA mandates a further cutback of aquifer pumping to 400,000
acre feet by the year 2008.
"This means that our aquifer source will be more limited,"
Gilley said. "The need to find permanent alternate sources will become
even greater, particularly with our anticipated population growth."
Using the San Marcos River
Perhaps the most misunderstood potential source of water for San Marcos
is the San Marcos River, a spring-fed stream that flows from the Edwards
Aquifer at its headwaters at Spring Lake. The headwaters of the river
provide critical habitat for several endangered species that are unique
to the river.
Preservation of the springs and the river has been the focus of strenuous
City efforts through the legislative and legal battles in the past decade
and considerable city investments.
"We have spent considerable time, money and effort in a variety
of ways to protect the San Marcos River," noted City Manager Gilley.
"Our investments in parkland along the river, our prohibition of
intensive development along the river, the River Stewardship Program,
the $28 million upgrade to our sewer treatment plant and system, and our
lengthy involvement in lawsuits and law-making to preserve the springs
represent only some of the major initiatives. We have a huge stake in
preserving the San Marcos River and would not take actions that would
undermine these efforts."
At the beginning of the City's search for surface water, Black &
Veatch engineers performed a study in 1988 indicating that the San Marcos
River should be considered as a potential source because of its proximity
and quality.
In 1994, the City applied with the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission for a permit to reuse groundwater that is pumped into the City
water system, used by citizens and then discharged after treatment at
the wastewater treatment plant into the San Marcos River. The application
seeks to use the river to transport an amount about equal to the water
discharged from the plant to a point downstream where it would be withdrawn
and piped to the surface water plant.
Using San Marcos River water will save residents millions of dollars
over time, noted Gilley. "We wouldn't have to pay for the water by
the acre foot as we do for Canyon Lake water, since we will be reusing
water that already belongs to us. We will save money in the cost of piping
water to the treatment plant. And we will be using a conservation practice
of reuse that is an important source of water now and in the future."
The contested application for a permit is currently the subject of a
hearing before an administrative law judge in a Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission public hearing process. The San Marcos River Foundation
has filed a lawsuit challenging the TNRCC's authority to grant such a
permit, a case that is expected to be heard before the public hearing
proceedings continue.
The City has also applied for a permit to use "unappropriated water"
from the San Marcos River. This permit would allow the City to take water
from the San Marcos only if water is available after honoring downstream
water rights and protection of the aquatic habitat. The diversion point
is planned to be below the confluence of the San Marcos and the Blanco
Rivers, allowing the City of take advantage of the 412 square mile drainage
area of the Blanco River above San Marcos. The City has conducted preliminary
studies on the aquatic habitat and environmental impacts. The application
is pending at the TNRCC, awaiting a declaration of administrative completeness.
Planning for Growth
The development of the Surface Water Treatment Plant is based on a 50
year picture, from 1995 to 2045. A 1994 preliminary Surface Water Study
by HDR engineering firm conservatively projected a population of 42,050
served by the San Marcos water system in 1995 growing to 68,688 to 93,403
people by 2045.
Average daily water demands ranged from 7.2 to 9.4 million gallons a
day by the year 2000 growing to 9.9 - 16.6 million gallons a day by the
year 2045. Peak day demands were estimated to range from 12.6 to 16.3
million gallons a day by the year 2000, depending on population growth,
to 17.3 to 29.1 million gallons a day by 2045.
The San Marcos Surface Water Treatment Plant will be built to process
six million gallons a day, with an expansion to 12 mgd anticipated by
the year 2010.
"We would be remiss if we did not explore all available options
for our future water supply," Gilley said. "Water is essential
to the future of our community."
(Note: This is the third of a four part series on the San Marcos Surface
Water Project and is provided by the Guadalupe -Blanco River Authority.
The final story will cover building and paying for the Surface Water Treatment
Plant.)
Surface Water: The GBRA Pipeline and Regionalization
The quest to provide surface water for San Marcos has been aided by the
Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA), which is developing a 20-mile
pipeline to transport Canyon Lake water from the Guadalupe River to a
regional water treatment plant to be built near San Marcos.
GBRA, which was established by the Texas Legislature in 1935 to develop,
conserve and protect the water resources in the Guadalupe River basin,
has encouraged other water corporations and communities in the San Marcos
area to participate in the surface water plant project.
Anne Cooper, GBRA director from Hays County, said that one of the agency's
goals is to help communities develop a firm supply of quality water for
their immediate and long term needs. "The regional water treatment
plant concept is a wonderful example of how local and regional cooperation
can provide an economical, long-term water supply. The finished plant
will provide high-quality, treated drinking water to meet the future projected
needs of the San Marcos area, while significantly reducing dependence
on the Edwards Aquifer."
According to Cooper, in 1994 the Texas Water Development Board awarded
a grant to GBRA and other participants to study the feasibility of a regional
water treatment plant to serve the San Marcos area, as well as rural communities
and water systems in Hays County.
The study participants, including GBRA, the cities of San Marcos and
Kyle, and the Maxwell, Plum Creek, Elim, Martindale, County Line, Crystal
Clear, Goforth and Creedmor-Maha Water Supply Corporations, were interested
in reducing their dependence on the Edwards Aquifer, developing additional
water sources and treatment methods, and providing a firm drinking water
supply to meet growth needs through the year 2020.
Following release of the study report, which showed that construction
of a regional water treatment plant and pipeline could result in cost
savings for all participants, the City of San Marcos and GBRA signed an
Interlocal Agreement in April, 1996 to begin preliminary planning for
the initial stage of the project.
GBRA has hired HDR Engineering, Inc. to begin work on a preliminary engineering
report for the raw water pump station and pipeline. The City, GBRA and
their consultants have been meeting to develop project and design concepts,
and a draft contract has been completed for the design, construction,
finance and operation of the facilities. The Interlocal Agreement was
extended to May 31, 1997 to provide additional time to develop the final
contract.
As currently proposed, GBRA will build, own and operate a raw water intake
and pump station on the Guadalupe River near New Braunfels.
A transmission pipeline will also be constructed by GBRA to transport
the annual supply of 5,000 acre-feet of Canyon Reservoir stored water
under contract since 1990 by the City of San Marcos, and an additional
annual 500 acre-feet contracted to Southwest Texas State University. This
water allocation will flow downstream from the reservoir to the pump station,
and then through approximately 20 miles of pipeline to the new 6 million
gallon per day (mgd) regional plant for treatment and distribution. Pipeline
design, which is currently in process, will most likely utilize either
a ductile iron or concrete material with a diameter of 24 to 30-inches.
The current time frame estimate is approximately 30 months to acquire
the right-of-way and construct the pipeline and raw water pump station,
estimated at a total cost of $10-$12 million.
According to GBRA General Manager Bill West, the regional plant approach
offers several benefits, including being able to design and size the plant
to achieve maximum treatment and cost efficiencies, provide cost-savings
to customers, and provide for future growth. "Of course, one of the
most important benefits will our ability to work together to reduce pumping
from the Edwards Aquifer. This will protect the springflows and endangered
species at San Marcos Springs and help preserve this natural resource
for future generations," said West.
Currently, the City of San Marcos and Southwest Texas State University
are participating in the project. West hopes that as the plant begins
to take shape, other entities will choose to enter into the contract and
become a part of the overall service and distribution system which could
service communities in northern Hays and Caldwell counties, including
Kyle and the Maxwell, Martindale and County Line Water Supply Corporations.
While last year's drought created severe economic and environmental harm
for much of Texas, West said that one benefit has been increased public
recognition and statewide efforts to do a better job of protecting and
managing our water supplies.
"Water is surfacing as one of the major issues of the 1997 Legislative
Session," said West. "Senate Bill 1, which received priority
status by Lt. Governor Bob Bullock, was recently passed by the Senate.
A similar bill is currently being addressed by the House. Hopefully, the
final legislation will establish water policy for areas such as drought
response and conservation plans, water management, marketing and transfers,
surface water and groundwater supplies, financial assistance to local
governments, and water data collection and reporting procedures."
Another important water planning effort is the Trans-Texas Water Program,
which is sponsored by the Texas Water Development Board. Since 1992, four
separate regional study areas around the state have been looking at their
available supplies and identifying the most cost-effective and environmentally-sensitive
strategies to meet current and future water needs.
Population growth projections indicate that many areas of Texas will
not have enough water 40 to 50 years from now. West believes current planning
efforts must include discussing creative concepts such as water transfers
and water marketing, enabling "surplus" areas to share water
via inter-basin transfers and marketing of water rights to "water-poor"
parts of Texas. "Historically, water prices have been very low and
do not reflect its scarcity or value. Many experts believe we will eventually
pay comparable rates for water and electricity, and that water will be
transferred in the same way we move electricity from one part of the state
to another," said West.
According to West and Cooper, this is why GBRA is devoting so much effort
to projects such as the San Marcos Regional Water Treatment plant. "Our
goal is to manage water resources in such a way that communities and individuals
throughout the basin have access to a reliable water supply, drinking
water and wastewater treatment services, and the assurance that their
needs and those of future generations will continue to be met."
GBRA currently operates drinking water treatment plants for the City
of Luling and the City of Port Lavaca; provides treated drinking water
to members of the Calhoun County Rural Water Supply Corporation; operates
seven wastewater treatment plants including two for the City of Victoria,
one for the City of Lockhart, and five that serve rural areas through
GBRA's Rural Utilities Division; generates electricity at seven hydroelectric
plants along the Guadalupe River; provides water resource management services
and the delivery of stored water from Canyon Reservoir to municipal, industrial
and agricultural customers throughout the basin; and provides technical
and support services in the areas of water quality, water testing, flood
management and engineering.
The San Marcos Surface Water Treatment Plant will process surface water
from the Guadalupe River as the basic water supply for the San Marcos
community when construction is completed in late 1999.
The City of San Marcos has hired the engineering firm of Black &
Veatch as the project manager, and Alan Plummer Associates, Inc. as the
design engineer for the $8.5 million facility that will purify the surface
water piped from the Guadalupe, and in the future from other sources,
to drinking water standards.
By using surface water, San Marcos will join 90% of American cities that
get their water supplies from freshwater lakes and rivers throughout the
country. In the Edwards Aquifer region, New Braunfels converted most of
its use to surface water from the Guadalupe River in 1991, while Bexar
Metropolitan Water District is buying surface water rights from the Bexar-
Medina - Atascosa Water District to convert Medina Lake irrigation water
to municipal and industrial use.
Many other Texas communities use rivers and lakes for their water supplies,
including Luling (San Marcos River); Seguin and Port Lavaca, (Guadalupe
River), Austin (Colorado River - Lake Austin), Corpus Christi (Choke Canyon,
Lake Corpus Christi), Waco (Brazos River); Georgetown (Lake Georgetown
on the San Gabriel River), Dallas-Fort Worth (lakes and reservoirs), and
Houston, (Lake Houston and others). The City of Victoria has plans to
use surface water from the Guadalupe River for its future water source.
San Marcos has purchased 5,000 acre feet in water rights from Canyon
Lake west of New Braunfels. The water will be released into the Guadalupe
River and then transported from the Guadalupe to this community in a pipeline
built and operated by the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority. The city's
water rights will provide 4.5 million gallons a day to the new plant,
supplemented during peak times by water from the Edwards Aquifer.
The initial treatment capacity of the plant will be six million gallons
a day (mgd), with an anticipated expansion in the year 2010 to 12 mgd.
The potential size of the plant by 2045 is 24 mgd. Engineers have been
working on the preliminary design and are expected to complete the final
design for the first phase of the plant by this fall.
The design will be followed by the bid phase late this year into early
1998. Early next year, the construction phase is due to begin, estimated
to take approximately 18 months, until the fall of 1999.
The Plant Site
The City is currently engaged in negotiations for a plant location. Land
acquisition is expected to be completed late this year.
"While we are engaged in negotiations, we can't discuss details
about the specific site," said City Manager Larry D. Gilley. "We
are looking at a site that is available, cost effective, centrally located
for water distribution and regionalization, and provides room for expansion."
Water Treatment Plant Components
The water treatment plant will use a conventional treatment process recognized
and accepted by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission.
The goal of treating water for public consumption is to produce high
quality water that is free from disease causing organisms, free from minerals
and organic substances that can cause adverse effects, and is aesthetically
acceptable in terms of color, odor and taste.
The Surface Water Treatment Plant will provide multiple barriers to provide
protection against waterborne diseases through sedimentation, filtration
and disinfection.
The plant will operate by receiving raw water piped from the Guadalupe
River or other surface water sources into the plant. No storage reservoir
is proposed in the initial construction phase, although by 2010, the City
may want to build a small reservoir to hold two-days worth of storage
(or 24 million gallons) at the time the plant is expanded to 12 mgd.
The treatment process will use coagulants to make solid particles in
the water clump together. The raw water will then enter a sedimentation
basin or clarifier to allow the particles to settle out.
From there the water will enter a filtration system which will remove
fine particles of sediment and disease causing organisms.
After it is filtered, the water enters a clearwell where it will be disinfected
with chlorine. High volume service pumps will then pump the water into
the distribution system to be delivered to customers throughout the city.
Distribution System Improvements
The City will build major distribution mains and add pumping and storage
capacity to maintain the level of service, to integrate water from the
surface water treatment plant into the system, and to improve water pressure
and fire flow capacities. Over a five year period, some $11.6 million
in distribution system improvements are planned to meet the needs of the
San Marcos community.
San Marcos has three distinct pressure planes in the distribution system.
The upper pressure plane serves the west side of the city and provides
water service to areas with elevations between 650 and 820 feet above
sea level. The lower pressure plane serves the central and eastern portion
of the city and areas with elevations ranging from 560 to 750 feet. McCarty
Oaks subdivision is served by the third pressure plane and an area with
680 to 770 feet elevation.
Some of the major projects include the northeast water system improvements,
Springlake transmission lines, Centerpoint transmission main, the northwest
water system improvements, Rio Vista Terrace, the Estates of San Marcos,
Elim water system improvements, water loss reduction projects, and several
elevated storage tanks projects.
The current system has over 172 miles of pipeline ranging in diameter
from two inches to 16-inches. System improvements to enhance water pressure
in various parts of the city and to provide additional transmission capacity
need to be done within the next five years.
The Costs
The cost for the Surface Water Treatment Project and the distribution
system improvements over the next five years will total about $25.5 million.
This compares to the $29. 2 million investment San Marcos residents are
making in the Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade and expansion and major
repairs to the sewer collection system.
Most of the expenditures over the next five years will come early, with
$6.7 million scheduled in fiscal year 1997; $11.5 million in FY 1998;
$3.5 million in FY 1999, $1.4 million in 2000, and $1 million in 2001
and $1.36 million in 2002.
Water rates will be raised to pay the long term debt, transmission costs,
the purchase of water and operational costs associated with the projects,
with an estimated 50% rate increase expected by the fall of 1997; and
a possible 40% increase in 1998-99.
"San Marcos residents have bitten the bullet by investing in our
infrastructure in a major way," said Gilley. "But with the competition
for water becoming more fierce as this region expands in population, we
are taking the prudent and responsible route to assure our future water
supply."
