Cities ignore new water pipelines, drill more wells
Denton County: They're trying to save money; officials fear shortage
12:00 AM CST on Sunday, December 11, 2005
By KEVIN KRAUSE / The Dallas Morning News

As water pipelines begin to reach rural cities and towns scattered across Denton County, some municipalities continue to rely primarily on cheaper water from underground wells. The cost of wholesale water is on the rise. And some smaller cities have been drilling new wells to supplement their supply as well as to serve as their primary water source. Officials in smaller cities want to avoid what's happened in Flower Mound, where officials say the town's cost for water will have increased 44 percent since 2001. But because of the pressure the wells are putting on the aquifer, local water management officials have discussed the possibility of creating a groundwater control district to protect it, said Thomas Taylor, executive director of the Upper Trinity Regional Water District. The district supplies treated surface water from reservoirs to more than 20 cities in Denton County.
Groundwater is a sustainable source that is replenished by rainfall trapped underground. But Mr. Taylor said cities are pumping it out faster than it can be replenished. He and other local water managers say there's just not enough water underground to supply future communities. And wells are at risk of contamination from increased gas drilling in the area, they say.

" Cities are seeing growth on the horizon, and they see the need to get surface water," Mr. Taylor said. "Groundwater is still cheaper. If you are looking at the big picture, wells are not the most reliable long-term source of water." In the meantime, new wells have been drilled across the county, and others are planned. Despite having the ability to buy surface water, the city of Aubrey gets all its water from four wells, one of which was just drilled. The city has a contract to buy Upper Trinity water through a local water supply company, but it is not doing so because of the cost, said Jerry Whitfield, public works director. " We just can't afford it," he said. "It's cheaper for us to spend $400,000 to drill another well."

Sanger gets about two-thirds of its water from six wells, and it is about to put another one in service that can deliver as many as 1.2 million gallons a day. The city is on the far edge of Upper Trinity's system and isn't yet tied in. " It does make more sense for me to use groundwater because it is cheaper," said Eddie Branham, Sanger's water and wastewater superintendent. He expects that to change, however, as the city grows. Sanger, in northern Denton County, has a population of 5,200. But plans for new subdivisions land on his desk nearly every month, Mr. Branham said. San Antonio is one of the last large cities in the U.S. to rely on groundwater.

In North Texas, most big cities have abandoned their aging well water systems for lake water. In Denton County, most cities use a combination of well water and surface water bought from water companies and districts. Pilot Point and Hackberry still use only well water. Mr. Taylor said about half of Upper Trinity's member cities are primarily using groundwater and are beginning to transition to surface water. The other half are primarily using surface water, he said. He said Upper Trinity will extend water pipelines to rural cities like Ponder and Pilot Point within five years. The district's pipelines already have reached as far as Celina to the east and Justin to the west, he said. Upper Trinity's member cities have agreed to share the cost of extending pipelines and to build water treatment plants and other infrastructure, Mr. Taylor said. Tim Fisher, the city of Denton's assistant director of water utilities, said some local cities are undergoing the same change Denton had to make beginning in the 1950s when it secured water rights to what is now Lewisville Lake.

" The bulk of small towns are in the same position as Denton at one time," he said. "Our community got too big to be based on groundwater." The city plugged eight wells during the early to mid-1990s. It now has a contract to plug the remaining four. New infrastructure is the new trend. But it doesn't come cheap. Upper Trinity is proposing to spend as much as $200 million to build a new reservoir, Lake Ralph Hall, in Fannin County to serve as a future water supply for growing communities, mainly in northern Denton County.

But Flower Mound, the district's largest customer, wants to explore cheaper options. Mr. Taylor said a recent financial analysis showed that Upper Trinity's wholesale rates are expected to rise 3 to 4 percent over next 20 years. Flower Mound officials, however, believe it will be higher. " Some cities are finding wells attractive. It's their plan," said Mr. Fisher, of Denton. "Economics are a factor there. There is a tendency among small towns to think their wells are permanent and sustainable." But at the current rate of usage, that is not necessarily true, he said. " Levels are in a state of decline."

E-mail kkrause@dallasnews.com