Mineral Wells lake application 'prioritized' by state water board, water district manager reports

Apr. 19—MINERAL WELLS — The general manager of Lake Palo Pinto on Tuesday reported a promising response from the state water board to the application to build a new lake.

Council members that night also revised the city's drought contingency plan with measures described as more lenient on residents.

The news on the lake's progress came in an April 11 letter from the Texas Water Development Board to the Palo Pinto County Municipal Water District No. 1.

The district owns the city's water source, Lake Palo Pinto, and applied for a $200 million loan to build the new lake.

"They have prioritized this project up to the top," District General Manager Howard Huffman told council members. "This is encouraging news."

Huffman said more than once the letter, asking the district to go ahead with a "complete application for financial assistance," does not mean the board in Austin has given full blessing to Turkey Peak Reservoir.

That decision is not expected until late summer, he said.

But the letter outlined an "Invitation Amount and Type of Funding" detailing how the $200 million, low-interest loan will play out if it is awarded.

It starts with $60 million this year, followed by $100 million in 2025 and the final $40 million the year after that.

The most recent, and optimistic, projections put dam construction this coming fall toward a late 2027 lake opening. The proposed site is about two miles downstream of the Lake Palo Pinto dam.

The funds would come from the $2 billion State Water Implementation Fund for Texas. SWIFT was approved by 70 percent of voters in November 2013.

Huffman noted that Turkey Peak Reservoir already was a "recommended strategy" in the 2021 update to the state's Master Water Plan.

"They recognize the need to get this constructed and get it completed and full of water," Huffman said of the board, adding the letter was a green light to alert engineers, contractors, his board and others to be ready to act. "We've brought the whole team online. Everybody knows what to do."

Huffman said he'd been told the lake application could go to the water board by July or August.

"But this (letter) is prioritizing this proposal at a very high level," he said. "This is the step that puts you in front of the board for that meeting."

In a related report, Huffman said vendors have "a healthy supply" of reverse osmosis units to lease. The city is preparing a site for a so-called RO unit to add de-salted Brazos River water for treatment at the Hilltop Water Treatment Plant.

The city is on target to add that water resource this coming summer if drought continues to plague the area.

"They are still promising us a 45-day turnaround from the time we say, 'go,' till the equipment's in the ground," he said.

The council on Tuesday also revised its drought plan, which the water board and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality require cities to update every five years.

"It's a more lenient plan, but it's balanced," said Jeremy Payne, pre-treatment coordinator in the Public Works Department. "There have been a lot of concerns from citizens."

Among changes, the plan lowers the water levels at Lake Palo Pinto that trigger most drought stages.

For instance, Stage 1 restrictions now will be triggered when the lake drops to 864 feet mean sea level. The trigger had been 865 feet msl.

Stage 2, which the city has been under since April 2023, still triggers at 861 feet msl. But Stage 3 now triggers at 858 feet msl, one foot higher than in the previous plan.

The new plan also allows the use of soaker hoses and drip irrigation to protect house foundations and preserve older tree root systems.

Regarding foundations, the revision takes effect May 1 for stages 1 through 3 for all days of the week.

"It also will allow citizens to have those small gardens in their yard again, and to water their foundations," Payne said.

In Stage 2, residents will now water lawns based on which side of Oak Avenue (U.S. 281) they live.

Those on the west side of the north-south artery will water on Mondays, those on the east side on Tuesdays.

The new plan also opens the option to begin using water blended from the Brazos River in Stage 1 rather than waiting to Stage 2.

Finally, it restricts construction crews to using only reuse water at Stage 1 instead of waiting on Stage 2. Reuse water has been treated at the wastewater treatment plant and is good for construction or irrigation but is not drinkable.

Tuesday's meeting was gaveled in by Council Kid Abigail Bennett, 16, a sophomore at Community Christian School. The daughter of Brad and Karry Bennett plans to attend Baylor pre-med after graduating with the Class of 2026.