Day: June 6, 2022

By Brad Johnson
The Texan, June 6, 2022

The project now has a goal for completion of 2050, a change in the previous forecast due to population increases in the Dallas-Fort Worth area

In North Texas, a years-long political fight has raged over a proposed reservoir intended to supply the Dallas-Fort Worth area with life’s most basic element.

The 66,103-acre reservoir, one of several projects before the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), is expected to provide 451,500 acre-feet of water per year at a $4.4 billion cost to taxpayers — according to 2018 estimates. 

With rampant inflation driving up the cost of building anything, the price tag today is likely significantly higher.

Another 130,000 acres of land is needed for flood mitigation purposes in tandem with the reservoir itself.

Nearly 80 percent of the reservoir’s supplied water would be piped 150 miles to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to supplement its 7.6 million population. The state plans to have the reservoir operational by 2050. In total, about 30 percent of the reservoir’s water acreage would be available for municipal supply.

While the state oversees this and all other projects at an aerial level, each undertaking is led by local water districts which sponsor the project. They accumulate the funding for each project and take on any debt required. This reservoir’s sponsors are Tarrant Regional Water District and North Texas Municipal Water District.

The project’s Northeast Texas location — at the intersection of Red River, Titus, and Franklin Counties along the Sulphur River — is a source of controversy.

Read the full story on The Texan.