The district has up to 57,214 acre feet of water from Lake Chapman to use per calendar year. It should be able to again get water from Lake Chapman after Jan. 1, 2007.

As of October, the district had used up its allotted amount of water for the year.

To ensure the district has enough water in 2007, the district will begin opening up waterways at Lake Chapman, which used to be called Lake Cooper, next month.

“During the latter part of October, we had utilized our allocation of water for the year from Lake Chapman. We currently have a dredging project that will begin in December. We'll dredge from the intake structure at Lake Chapman to gain access into deeper waters of Lake Chapman,” said water district public relations coordinator Denise Hickey.

The project is expected to be completed in March, Hickey said.

The NTMWD is on Stage 3 of its drought contingency plan as the lakes that supply water to the district have not had enough rainwater to pull the district out of a drought, Hickey said.

“The reason we're in a drought is due to weather because not enough water has fallen to replenish the Lake Chapman and Lake Lavon watersheds,” Hickey said.

The recent rains did not add water to Lake Lavon and Lake Chapman, which are low on water. However, those storms did add water to reservoirs and lakes that feed into the city of Dallas' water, such as Lake Ray Hubbard, Hickey said.

The city of Dallas also gets water from Lake Lewisville, Lake Grapevine and Lake Tawakoni, Hickey said.

The NTMWD is continuing to pull water from its other sources of water, such as Lake Lavon, Lake Texoma, and the Wilson Creek Wastewater plant, from which sewage is treated to become drinking water. The NTMWD is allowed to get up to 104,000 acre feet of water from Lake Lavon; up to 77,300 acre feet of water at Lake Texoma; and up to 53,767 acre feet of Wilson Creek reuse water, Hickey said.

The district does not get any water from Lake Ray Hubbard, which is just south of Lake Lavon and next to one of the district's customer cities, Rockwall. The only time the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which controls Lake Lavon, could allow any water to leave Lake Lavon is if the lake exceeded 492 feet, or has a flood pool, Hickey said. The water could then possibly flow into Lake Ray Hubbard's reservoirs, Hickey said. The last time any excess water, or floodwater, was released from Lake Lavon was April 2005, Hickey said.

The NTMWD is currently working on acquiring water from Lake Tawakoni in eastern Hunt County. The NTMWD has a contract with the Sabine River Authority to utilize some of the surplus water from Lake Tawakoni by building a 30-mile pipeline from Lake Tawakoni to Lake Lavon, Hickey said. The total amount of the project, which began in June, is $109 million. It also includes the building of a pump station at Lake Tawakoni.

The project should be completed in January 2008, Hickey said.

The NTMWD uses no tax dollars to fund its projects, Hickey said.