Council approve water sale contract with Palo Pinto County, how does this affect Abilene?

The Abilene City Council approved the resale of a portion of the city’s water supply to Palo Pinto County Municipal Water District No. 1 at their Feb. 8 meeting.

Rodney Taylor, Director of Water Utilities for the City of Abilene, answered questions from the council regarding the temporary contract and how it would affect the city in the long term.

Taylor explained the sale will be of extra water the city purchased from Brazos River Authority years ago as part of its strategic drought response. Abilene has “not used a drop” of the water, he said.

The city currently holds three water agreements with Brazos River Authority totaling 19,418 acre-feet of water, and the agreements may be amended if a third party requests resale of excess water.

Palo Pinto County contract includes the withdrawal of 3,000 acre-feet of water annually from its raw water supply stored in Possum Kingdom Reservoir until the term’s end date of Aug. 31, 2027.

Taylor mentioned the amount requested by PPCMWD is “the most that we can comfortably provide through contract to them without impacting our potential need for that water or access to that water in the future.”

The terms of the agreement include a three-year term plus a supplemental supply period until Aug. 31, 2024. The city has priced the supplement using the BRA System Rate plus a 3% markup per acre-foot.

Starting Sept. 1, 2024, the city will continue to withdraw the requested water amount for its three-year term, with PPCMWD purchasing from Abilene per contract year. After contract termination in August 2027, Palo Pinto will have eligibility for renewal terms.

The short-term agreement allows Abilene to assess its own water needs without promising long-term support. The contract also includes a midterm termination clause granting a one-year notice to PPCMWD if Abilene encounters a water crisis.

“We are fortunate enough that the normal water supply lakes have had adequate water that we did not need this [Possum Kingdom] water. This is just a means of selling excess water that Abilene is not using and that even in a drought situation this is actually reserve water that’s available,” Taylor stated to the council.

According to the city’s Feb. 8 agenda memo, the water supply agreement with PPCMWD will produce a minimum annual revenue of approximately $288,000 following the initial prorated year.

Abilene’s current supply and future shortages

A question posed by council member Blaise Regan put into question Abilene’s maximum capacity to sell excess water. Taylor answered the asked amount is what he is comfortable allowing the city to resell at this time.

“We have been very fortunate to not be in a water crisis for several years, and the fact is what led us up to acquiring this water was severe drought. We do not know that we are in the beginning of the next severe drought, so we are being very cautious about contracting much more of this water for any long-term commitment,” Taylor said.

Abilene supplies the city and neighboring contracted counties with water from Lake Fort Phantom Hill, Hubbard Creek Lake, Lake O.H. Ivie and Possum Kingdom Reservoir.

Abilene area reservoirs are monitored daily reporting its conservation storage and capacity. As of Feb. 14, 2024, lake levels reported 68.6% at Lake Fort Phantom, 51.6% at Hubbard Creek, 27.6% at O.H. Ivie and 98.4% at Possum Kingdom. Lake Abilene sits at 14.6% full.

According to Brazos G Regional Water Plan for Taylor County, water shortages are projected through 2070 with the area’s anticipated growth in population and demand.

"I think right now Abilene is very fortunate to be in a situation where we can actually offer up water to someone who is in a critical need similar to what we were in several years ago. The thing is Abilene's demands will continue to grow, and Abilene's service water supplies will continue to dwindle over time," Taylor stated.

Contracts with BRA have an expiration of 2045, and the organization has reported seeing similar declines. Taylor stated that renewal of BRA contracts are likely to happen but with lesser quantity than currently agreed upon.

"As demand increases, and these supplies decrease, Cedar Ridge or some other alternate water supply resource will be needed in our future to meet our growing water demands as the city and as a regional provider," Taylor said.

More: Abilene's Cedar Ridge Reservoir's future not yet down the drain

Information on Palo Pinto County Municipal Water District No. 1

The PPCMWD serves customers in Palo Pinto and Parker counties, including the City of Mineral Wells, the town of Graford, two special utility districts, five water supply corporations and the R.W. Miller Power LLC.

According to the City of Mineral Wells Comprehensive Plan, the city anticipates water supply, capacity and infrastructure problems with its estimated growth and expansion.

Mineral Wells has recorded Lake Palo Pinto, the city’s primary source of water, regularly falling below mean sea-level benchmark triggering Stage II drought conditions.

Brazos G Regional Water Planning Group, an entity responsible for development of short and long-term water plans and management strategies for counties within the Brazos River basin between Kent County and Washington County, anticipates water shortage issues in Mineral Wells until 2070.

The city is permitted by the state to operate Lake Palo Pinto and Hilltop Water Treatment Plant, which are owned by PPCMWD, to meet its community water needs. However, the city is growing and cannot expect to maintain water supply for future demands. Several options are being explored to resolve problems with water supply, aging infrastructure and capacity issues at the lake and plant.

The City of Mineral Wells is looking to construct a new plant at its planned Turkey Peak Reservoir. The reservoir project is in the funding phase with a secured $29.1 million of its estimated $200 million cost. Additional funding is expected from a Texas Water Development Board State Water Implementation Fund loan.

According to the Turkey Peak Reservoir Project website, construction is scheduled for 2025 with completion in 2028. The combined lake and reservoir capacity will total 15.9 billion gallons and increase storage capacity by 83%.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene council contracts sale of excess water to Palo Pinto County