HDR Engineering held a public meeting last week at the Community Center to discuss water supply, wastewater and flood planning in Hays County, following the area’s rapid growth and evolving environmental challenges of recent years.
Approved by Hays County Commissioners Court in January, the purpose of the study by HDR was to update data from a previous study completed in 2011 and is part of a larger, ongoing effort by the Commissioners Court to manage rapid growth and enhance community infrastructure in the county.
The study’s immediacy is stark. It is based on the projection that Hays County will grow by 480 percent, extreme by any measure, from a county of 280,000 to almost 2 million people. While most of the growth is projected to take place along the I35 corridor, the allocation of water in the area, natural or otherwise, varies significantly.
On hand to introduce the meeting and answer questions was Commissioner Morgan Hammer.
The scope of the project and recent findings were presented by HDR Senior Client Manager, Darren Thompson and Water Resources Project Manager Kelsey Cayeros. Thursday's presentation is one of four meetings that will be held in each of the county precincts.
Forty-seven residents attended the session in Wimberley.
During the slide program, Thompson explained that the country “took a deep dive into different aspects within the county related to water, wastewater and flooding.” Explaining that the effort was an update but with a difference, he said, “We focused on the geography, the growth of the areas, but specific to utilities and cities.”
“Water supply planning,” he explained, “helps identify what is needed because it takes a minimum of 10 years to develop a water supply project.”
In regards to water supply, the study’s process included overviews of area water authorities and groundwater districts to explore how water could be moved around to supply other areas of the county.
Meetings were held with wholesale water providers for the purpose of learning what projects were in play to supply the water needed in the coming years. The localized planning included data from Wimberley Water Supply Corporation and Aqua Texas.
HDR planners asked both companies for data about their customer base — the type and number of customers they had and their respective usage patterns.
Then they turned their questions to the suppliers themselves: What is the amount of water you're producing on a day to day and yearly basis? What is your understanding of your groundwater permits and other supplies from which you draw?
Each company was asked how it planned to meet the needs of the future, when they projected their supply will dry up, and once that happens, how will they solve again? If the strategies they’ve planned include opportunities from other supplies, from conservation and from drought management, how much will it cost to carry that out?
Based on that and other data, HDR planners will build and cost out the complex implementation plans that will tie into regional plans for the purposes of funding.
While the study is in its early stage, final results are expected at the end of its 11-month timeline, due in late November or December.
Residents and officials, according to county leaders, will have opportunities along the way to learn about the study's findings until the final results are complete.
