Magnolia prolongs pause on building permits amid water demand concerns

Magnolia city officials have extended a moratorium on issuing building permits for 120 days, or until additional water wells are built, as leaders address concerns over water demand not being able to keep pace with new residential and commercial development.

Council members on Dec. 13 decided to temporarily halt the permits, and they extended that action on Wednesday, Dec. 21. Officials have said that developers with ongoing projects could continue to build, but would not be guaranteed water connections until this summer.

Mayor Todd Kana has said that officials have known water would be an issue in the future. But he also has said that an engineering firm that previously contracted with the city did not tell city leaders about the severity of the water capacity issue.

Strand Associates Inc., the city’s former engineering firm, put more focus on the expansion of wastewater facilities before new water wells, he said.

Officials with Strand did not immediately return requests for comment.

The city’s engineering firm, AEI Engineering, a Baxter and Woodman Company addressed the capacity of the city’s water system in May 2021. At the time, the report showed that the capacity was limited to 3,693 equivalent single-family connections due to well capacity, per Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, according to a letter provided by the firm.

As of Oct. 21, the city was providing services to 3,467 single-family connections, with additional connections being added each day, the letter continues.

“We could not provide (water) as quick as the demand was occurring, which we thought we could,” Kana said in a previous report . According to documents provided by the city in 2021, the city’s population of 2,500 is expected to grow by more than 1,000 in 2025.

During the city council meeting on Dec. 13, officials said they had omitted to more than 11,000 water connections over the next several years. As a means to keep up, three additional water wells are being built in 2023, with one expected to be built in August and the other in December. A third well is expected to be built in on the east side of the city, where some residents in the Mill Creek subdivision have expressed having low water pressure due to both heavy demands between the water plants in the city and the distance between the east end of the city limits and the existing plants. Residents in Mill Creek also claimed that water was discolored.

Additionally, a total of six water wells are expected to be built, with two wells being built each year starting in 2024.

City leaders on Dec. 21 also passed an ordinance giving council the option to meet every Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m., with the second Tuesday being the regular meeting. These additional meetings will allow council to hear any concerns from the public about the moratorium.

“This is temporarily until we get through the moratorium,” city attorney Leonard Schneider said.