Water study committee talk continues to flow

Feb. 13—WEATHERFORD — Parker County commissioners Monday heard the latest regarding a Hydrology 2050 committee, set to be formed by entities in Parker, Palo Pinto and Stephens counties.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Larry Walden said he's met with "everybody from Breckenridge to the Brazos River Authority to Upper Trinity."

As for the best plan moving forward in ensuring the areas have adequate water sources, Walden said they weren't there yet, but plan to meet with Palo Pinto County and Stephens County commissioners, as well as entities in Mineral Wells, to "come up with a plan to suit everybody."

The parties are also expected to work closely with State Rep. Glenn Rogers, R-Graford, who has said he will file a "shell bill" in Austin for operational details of the new committee. But the clock is ticking, with a legislation deadline of March 10 looming.

"We all feel the sense of urgency," Walden said. "Now is the time to get legislation in place to help all of the entities, instead of waiting two years.

"But we want to do it without stumbling, and make sure it gets passed when it comes up."

The commissioner noted Rogers has been instrumental in helping set up meetings and contacts between all of the parties.

Water woes have been particularly impactful on west Parker County and into Palo Pinto. The Palo Pinto Municipal Water District has been attempting to get funding for a dam at the future Turkey Peak Reservoir, and the 60-year-old Hilltop Water Treatment Plant in Mineral Wells has been operating at a 13-percent capacity deficiency.

"The idea is, three counties have more of a voice when we go and ask for money," Walden said. "We want to be a strong voice for Parker County, and we want to be able to say we're taking some positive actions and a larger authority to assist these smaller water districts."

Parker County Attorney John Forrest noted there are 21,000 users in Parker County who currently use water from Palo Pinto County. Western Parker, Palo Pinto and Stephens counties are part of the Brazos River Basin. Weatherford and areas east are part of the Trinity River Basin, and a recently passed law made it illegal to transfer water from one basin to the next.

"That's why everybody on the western side of the county is using wells," Forrest said. "And keep in mind that 100 percent of the water in Possum Kingdom is already spoken for or sold down river. That's why there needs to be another water source for our side of the county."

A special commissioners court meeting will likely be scheduled in the coming week or so to hammer out more details.

Approximately $2 million of the $27 million in American Rescue Plan funding was earmarked for a water needs assessment study and future water planning needs last year.

On Monday, commissioners officially approved ARPA project funding for Bourland Estates Water Supply Corporation ($64,200 for a water storage tank; Town of Brock ($250,000 for waste water engineering and design, and $500,000 for a water plan); Millsap Water Supply Corporation ($1.5 million for water distribution and upgrades to the water system); Walnut Creek Special Utility District ($1.5 million to fund water distribution and storage upgrades); the Parker County Special Utility District ($1.5 million for water upgrades and filtration); Parker County ESD 8 ($50,000 for water well and storage); Millsap Waste Water ($950,000 to fund waste water engineering and upgrades); and Western Parker County Water ($175,000 to fund a water study.)

Commissioners had previously discussed the requests by the various entities, but the names and amounts did not get placed into the minutes.

"The reason we're doing these individually is each entity will sign a contract with the county to abide by the rules and regulations in the event of an audit," Forrest said.

The court Monday also heard information on two road projects in Precinct 2 to help alleviate traffic concerns.

Chris Bosco, of the Freese and Nichols engineering firm, said there is a realignment proposal for the intersection of Shadle Road and Farm-to-Market 920, about three miles south of Poolville.

"There is a sight distance concern that presents two challenges — the grade is very steep and, in conjunction with the [FM 920] curve, creates a safety concern in the speed of traffic and exiting," he said.

The proposed realignment, about 250 feet north, would allow for a flatter grade and move it away from the vertical curve.

"Shadle has historically been a low-volume road, but there are a lot of these newly constructed lots and homes, which have only two ingress-egress options," Precinct 2 Commissioner Jacob Holt said. "If somebody is going to come into Weatherford, there's a good chance we're going to be adding hundreds of trips per day on that Shadle Road exit."

A similar concept has been executed on North Bend Road and in Precinct 1, which had "worked out well," Bosco and Commissioner George Conley said.

A second project in the area is the new Willow Creek Road outside of Peaster ISD. The district has seen significant growth, with enrollment projected to more than double by 2030.

Currently, there is only one point of ingress-egress, on Harwell Lake Road, with heavy traffic and a sight distance concern as well.

"Willow Creek allows another point of access south of 920," Holt said, noting they are working with the Texas Department of Transportation to determine if turn lanes would be needed.

Bosco noted TxDOT is looking into trying to put that intersection into a bigger project in order to fund it, and also bump the construction timeline up.