Riverbend to discuss water supply

Riverbend Water Resources District will meet at noon Wednesday to consider accepting Central Bowie Water Supply Corp.’s request to become a full member of the district.

“They have passed a resolution to become a formal member of Riverbend,” Liz Fazio Hale, Riverbend’s executive director and CEO, said. “Currently, our enabling legislation does not allow water supply corporations to become members, so they are required to work with Riverbend to pass legislation to allow them to become formal paying members of Riverbend.”

She said draft legislation to add CBWSC to the district will be presented in the next session of the Texas Legislature, which begins Jan. 8, 2019. She added that while some bills are passed with a Sept. 1 effective date, they will likely draft the bill to become effective once it passes both the state House and Senate with a two-thirds vote.

CBWSC is the largest water supply territory in the area, Fazio Hale said. It serves customers in portions of New Boston all the way to DeKalb.

The water corporation’s request ties into Riverbend’s Regional Water Master Plan, which includes a new intake on Wright Patman Lake, a new raw water line to TexAmericas Center and a new water treatment plant.

“They want to actively participate in decisions regarding infrastructure for the region and any part that impacts water customers in their area,” she said.

The board will also discuss approval of resolutions by its 16-member entities to increase regional water rates, which is also included in the RWMP. During the October meeting, Riverbend approved a draft template the entities could use to pass those resolutions, but none have passed so far, Fazio Hale said.

“We are still working on the language for that and working with the various municipalities to get the wording correct,” she said.

Riverbend is encouraging the entities to pass the resolution by January so the water district can apply for funding from the Texas Water Development Board during the 2019 cycle.

“We are trying to work out the timing so the entities can do it fairly close to one another, but we recommend they pass a resolution of support soon if they want to be included in the SWIFT (State Water Implementation Fund for Texas) and a variety of other funding available from the TWDB,” Fazio Hale said.

She added that some of the entities may not have to raise their rates.

“For some entities, water rates may not increase,” she said. “The template we have and are working on says they will either raise rates or set aside funds to accommodate additional infrastructure.”

The meeting will be held at the Riverbend Offices, 228A Texas Ave., New Boston, Texas. The agenda is available at www.rwrd.org.