TEXAS CITY – The Gulf Coast Water Authority (GCWA), the main provider of wholesale water to municipalities and industry in Galveston County, is in the process of securing additional long-term stored reservoir water contracts to provide a reliable water supply to meet customer needs during future droughts.
These contracts with the Brazos River Authority (BRA) give the GCWA access to more water stored in the 11 BRA reservoirs located across Texas in the 906-mile-long Brazos River Basin. The GCWA, a special water district created by the Texas Legislature in 1965, delivers water to communities, industry and agriculture in Galveston, Brazoria and Fort Bend counties. In Galveston County alone, GCWA serves 13 communities and the Texas City industrial complex.
GCWA General Manager Ivan Langford said, “Our aim is to guarantee water to these entities when the Brazos River, our daily water source, runs too low. After the last drought in the Brazos River Basin in 2015, it became apparent that we needed additional long-term stored water contracts to meet future customer needs.” The GCWA board approved the 2019 fiscal year $72 million budget, which includes the annual cost of these contracts, capital improvements, operational expenses and cost increases for GCWA customers, at its June 21 meeting. In 2019, the cost for the long-term contracts will be about $7 million dollars.
“The annual cost for these long-term stored water contracts is our single largest expense, and growing,” Langford said. “Like home insurance, we pay to guarantee that this stored water is there when we need it.” Langford and his staff met with representatives of its municipal, water district and industrial customers in Galveston County on June 18 to review the 2019 budget, including the cost increases and capital projects. Cost adjustments, effective Sept. 1, will vary depending on each entity’s water consumption and the GCWA infrastructure it uses.
GCWA maintains an extensive delivery system that includes three river pump stations on the Brazos River, 315 miles of canals, 2 reservoirs totaling 12,0000 acre feet, and 35 miles of pipelines to deliver 200 million gallons per day to its customers. GCWA also operates a 57.6 million-gallon-a-day water treatment plant that provides drinking water for most of Galveston County.
With current drought conditions in the Brazos River Basin, which runs across Texas to the Gulf Coast, the Gulf Coast Water Authority (GCWA) is urging commercial and residential water consumers to conserve water during these dry summer months. Water users are encouraged to water lawns no more than twice a week and adjust sprinklers to prevent water from running into streets.
“These simple steps alone can reduce water demand in Galveston County by an estimated 20 percent,” Langford said. Read more about the GCWA and water conservation
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