Utility signs deal to sell water from lake to Hot Springs

HOT SPRINGS — A Central Arkansas Water official has signed an agreement to sell Hot Springs the rights to 20 million gallons of water a day from the utility’s capacity in DeGray Lake.

City officials have been working with Central Arkansas Water for about a year and a half to secure the allocation to help supply the future needs of Hot Springs and Garland County residents.

“It’s a very involved process, but CAW signing that agreement was a monumental first step,” City Manager David Watkins said early this week. “We have a lot of work to do, but I think the city of Hot Springs and its utility customers can breathe a sigh of relief, because we’ve locked up that water.

“It’s not the ultimate amount we need, but it gives us a future as opposed to being just stuck and then having to take draconian measures ultimately,” he said.

Central Arkansas Water’s board of commissioners agreed in early October to sell its right to 20 million gallons per day from DeGray Lake to Hot Springs for $1.08 million.

The deal was delayed after some Little Rock city directors said it was shortsighted, the price was too low and they wanted more information. Additional information was provided to the Little Rock Board of Directors at its meeting last week, and most of the city directors said they could support the sale.

Watkins said Hot Springs has formally applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the 20 million-gallon-perday capacity.

In addition, though the Hot Springs Board of Directors agreed to the allocation purchase last month, it will need to confirm that it wants to take the water from DeGray Lake, Watkins said.

Watkins said Arkansas has been sheltered from the water wars that most states have been fighting for decades, and staff members will recommend to the board that Hot Springs take water from DeGray Lake because the city will need a second water source.

“Entergy has already put us on notice, plus, if the resource is not available, we can’t grow,” he said.

Hot Springs has had an agreement with Entergy Arkansas Inc. to take 20 million gallons of water a day from Lake Hamilton through an intake on the upper end of the lake near Blakely Mountain Dam.