Quick take
- The North Texas Municipal Water District board passed a resolution Oct. 22 saying it wants to look at surface water that is underused and affordable for its customers.
- In a news release posted Wednesday, Oct. 28, the district said Heartland Water Partners approached it about buying Millwood Lake water. Staff have held informal talks, but formal contract terms have not been discussed.
- The district said a deal could provide more than 100 million gallons a day. Where the water would be delivered still needs study, and the district said Bois d’Arc Lake may not be the final delivery point.
- Any transfer would first need review by the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and approval by the Arkansas General Assembly.
The plan to sell Millwood Lake water into Texas now has a possible buyer on record. The North Texas Municipal Water District says it is “open to exploring the feasibility” of buying the water through Heartland Water Partners, the company behind the project, according to a news release the district posted Wednesday, Oct. 28.
The district serves more than 2.4 million people and provides water to more than 70 communities across 2,200 square miles, the release says. The area is north of Dallas and Fort Worth, and the district’s 13 member cities include Plano, McKinney, Frisco, Garland and Mesquite, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
What the district did
The district’s board passed a resolution Oct. 22. It says the district “desires to entertain additional water supply opportunities focusing on surface water supplies where such supplies may be underutilized and available for use at a cost that is affordable for NTMWD customers.”
District staff have held informal talks with Heartland, but formal contract terms have not been discussed, the release says. The district said a deal could provide more than 100 million gallons of water a day.
“We are open to exploring the feasibility of this water purchase with the appropriate partners and will do so through a transparent and public process,” Executive Director and General Manager Jenna Covington said in the release. “Any future water purchase to be considered as part of these discussions must be beneficial for communities in both Texas and Arkansas.”
Where the water would go
Records reported earlier this week pointed to a pipeline to Bois d’Arc Lake. We covered that here. The district now says the delivery point still needs study and would be set during contract talks. Bois d’Arc Lake may not be the final point of delivery, the release says.
Heartland Water Partners CEO Kevin Lafferty told the Democrat-Gazette in a statement that if Heartland gets approval to move the water out of Arkansas, it intends to negotiate a supply agreement with the district.
What happens next
Texarkana, Arkansas, holds the rights to about 150 million gallons a day from Millwood Lake and uses about 7 million, the Democrat-Gazette reported. The city’s board voted Oct. 13 to let the Southwest Arkansas Water District apply to the state to send as much as 110 million gallons a day to Texas. We covered that vote here. Hope Water & Light has said it will not sell raw Millwood water to Texas. That story is here.
No water can move until the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission reviews an application and the Arkansas General Assembly approves the transfer. State Sen. Jimmy Hickey of Texarkana has opposed the deal, the Democrat-Gazette reported.