The Brazos River Authority Waco Texas

Reallocation of Flood Storage – USACEPhase I of a feasibility study on the potential to increase water supply in USACE lakes was completed in FY2008 with three lakes identified as potential projects. The reallocation of existing flood storage space toconservation storage could potentially provide the Brazos basin with additional water supplies to meet the State WaterPlan.Salt Creek, Graham, Texas Floodplain ProjectThe Authority and the USACE continue the property acquisition phase of the Salt Creek, Graham,Texas, project. The objective of the project is to provide flood protection for residents of Graham thatlive within the 10-year floodplain near Salt Creek. To date, approximately 60 residential property tractshave been acquired by USACE and transferred to the Authority.San Gabriel Wastewater Master PlanThe San Gabriel Wastewater Master Plan is an effort to protect local water resources through thedevelopment of a regionalized sewerage system in the San Gabriel River watershed. In FY 2008, theAuthority worked closely with City of Georgetown to determine the cost for using existing infrastructureto provide regional benefits. The cost of developing a sewerage system over such a large watershed willbe in excess of $100 million over a 20-year time frame.Alternative Future Water Supply StrategiesThe development of a new water supply source can be a decades-long process. In October 2007, theAuthority initiated a study of the variety of future water supply strategies available, involving bothstewardship of current resources as well as infrastructure required to create new sources. The preliminaryreport completed in January 2008 found that conservation ranked highest among the projects identifiedin the report. As a result, the Authority has begun research into potential partnerships with our watersupply customers to encourage conservation.Strategic PlanAn update to the Authority’s Strategic Plan continued in FY 2008 to more closely align the practices andcore business of the Authority with the strategic direction set by the Board of Directors. The StrategicPlan is implemented through a project process and will assist in determining the direction the Authoritywill take in allocating its resources in order to meet the future needs of the basin.System Operations PermitIn the spring of 2003, the Authority initiated the System Operations Permit project with the goal ofmaximizing utilization of existing reservoir storage. If approved as submitted, the System OperationsPermit will add approximately 421,000 acre-feet to the Authority’s currently permitted available watersupply.During FY 2008, the Authority continued negotiations with interested parties including Texas Parks andWildlife Department, the Dow Chemical Company, Texas Municipal Power Agency (TMPA), TexasMunicipal Water District, the Cities of Lubbock, Bryan, and College Station, and Luminant (successorto TXU).xvii