Newark Mayor Crystal Caldwell was among the speakers at a July Wise County Mayors Coalition event in Decatur where group revealed its plans to form the West Fork Public Utility Agency. The PUA would allow cities and other districts to partner on regional water and wastewater infrastructure projects. It will before more their governing bodies later this month for approval. AUSTIN JACKSON | WCMESSENGER
City councils, commissioners and the boards of several utility districts will consider forming the West Fork Public Utility Agency (PUA) in October — a major step in a local effort to pursue regional water and wastewater projects for Wise County.
Participating entities have scheduled hearings in the coming weeks to approve concurrent ordinances establishing the agency, which would allow cities to partner on large-scale projects. Participants include Wise County, the cities of Alvord, Aurora, Boyd, Bridgeport, Decatur, Newark, New Fairview, Paradise and Rhome, along with the Walnut Creek Special Utility District, West Wise Special Utility District, Newark Municipal Utility District No. 1 and Rolling V Ranch Water Control and Improvement District No. 3.
Individual PUA information and hearing dates can be found in public notices published in this week and last week’s paper. The board will include one representative from each participating city, SUD and MUD, with two board members appointed by the county, Boyd Mayor Rodney Holmes said Wednesday.
The plan to form the PUA was initially announced at a Wise County Mayors Coalition (WCMC) event in July.
The proposed West Fork PUA would not be a taxing entity. It would have the authority to issue bonds for capital improvements, which would be repaid through sales.
The West Fork PUA mirrors the framework of the previously proposed Wise Regional Water District but avoids the requirement of legislative approval. The West Travis County Public Utility Agency, which services western Travis and northern Hays Counties, is one example of an existing PUA in Texas that owns and operates a water and wastewater system.
The West Fork PUA does not carry eminent domain authority. However, individual member cities do — an important distinction when considering the land acquisition requirements along a potential water pipeline.
“Like the WRWD proposal, the West Fork PUA would provide regional coordination regarding water supply and water/wastewater services for the area. Key differences are that the West Fork PUA will be created by the action of the local governmental entities rather than the legislature and will not provide solid waste services as proposed in the WRWD bill,” Lloyd Gosselink attorney Ty Embrey, who is representing the group of mayors in their regional water planning efforts, said in an email.
Embrey said the initial funding for the West Fork PUA will be determined by agreement of the participating entities.
During that event this summer, engineers, mayors and city staff discussed what may be viable through the regional approach — including the prospect of drawing from Eagle Mountain Lake to help meet the growing demand centered around the southeastern quadrant of the county.
While the WCMC and New Fairview continue working to connect Wise County to Upper Trinity Regional Water District’s (UTWD) system in Denton County, tapping into Eagle Mountain Lake — owned and operated by the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) — may be a viable option, too.
While drawing from the lake was previously considered a pipe dream, TRWD spokesperson Chad Lorance said this summer that the district was evaluating ways to help meet Wise County’s water needs “without negatively impacting Eagle Mountain Lake or compromising our water supply reliability to our existing raw water customers.”
Meanwhile, engineers have started forecasting demand and developing preliminary designs for the infrastructure needed to pump, transport, treat and deliver 5-6 million gallons per day of raw water from Eagle Mountain Lake to Wise County customers. Ryley Paroulek, an engineer with Westwood Professional Services, presented three potential intake locations on the eastern side of Eagle Mountain Lake, as well as a possible location on the shore for a raw water pump station.
A central driver for water demand are large developments outside of city limits that are served by special utility districts, and may soon rely on wells on a scale that may impact existing wells.
Paroulek said the inclusion of developers, through their individually formed utility districts, will be needed to handle the cost of not only purchasing a year’s worth of water as well as the debt service capacity of the infrastructure required to service it.
Sites are being evaluated for minimum depth, impact on existing property owners and proximity to a new water treatment plant. The treatment facility under this scenario would likely be constructed near Newark along Farm Road 718 — close to both the source and existing infrastructure connections.
Above are prospective intake locations on Eagle Mountain Lake that may be considered if the West Fork PUA is formed. The map of possibly feasible locations was presented at a Wise County Mayors Coalition event in July at the Decatur Conference Center. FILE | WCMESSENGER
Once treated, water may then be able to reach Boyd, Aurora and Rhome using a pipeline connection near Bobo Crossing (County Road 4668), where existing lines meet infrastructure operated by Walnut Creek Special Utility District (SUD). Paroulek said the WCMC group is exploring that point as a hub for distribution and possibly routing water back into Walnut Creek’s system.
The City of Newark and the PNB Capital developments located on the former Rolling V Ranch would have a delivery point much closer to the proposed treatment plant. Further expansions to the north would require a pipeline along U.S. 81/287.
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