‘It’s going to steal water’: Residents give input on proposed lake pipeline

Tommy Westmoreland, another Morgan’s Point Resort, described the proposal as stealing water from Bell County

“It’s really not good,” he said. “It’s going to steal water from the Temple and Belton area to supply Round Rock. I wrote them a whole page (of comments) expressing that, that I submitted over there.”

The Brazos River Authority said it is setting the stage for a water transport pipeline that would link Lake Belton to Stillhouse Hollow Lake in an effort to improve the reliability of regional water supplies. The agency said the proposed pipeline would not run continuously, but only during certain drought conditions.

No Bell County city has endorsed the plan either as some see the proposal as another way for Williamson County to take water that belongs to Bell County. Georgetown already controls the Chisholm Trail Special Utility District in southern Bell County.

“In the late 1990s, the Texas State Water Plan determined that areas in Bell and Williamson counties, especially along the (Interstate 35) corridor, could experience water supply shortages before the year 2050,” the Brazos River Authority said in a staff report.

However, recent growth trends from the past couple of years have indicated that shortages could come much sooner.

“The Belhouse Drought Preparedness Project is designed to delay the need for the development of additional new sources of water, including the building of new reservoirs, which could cost millions, if not billions of dollars, and may not be feasible,” the staff report said. “This pipeline between Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow Lake will improve water supply reliability and access for cities and businesses in Bell, Burnet, Coryell, Falls, Lampasas, Milam and Williamson counties.”

Brad Burnett, the regional water services manager for the central and lower portions of the Brazos River Authority, noted that one of the biggest misconceptions about the proposed project among Bell County residents is that all of the water in Stillhouse Hollow Lake is ultimately going to be funneled through an existing pipeline to Lake Georgetown.

On Wednesday, Lake Georgetown was 54.2% full — a 0.6% decrease since last week, according to data obtained from the Texas Water Development Board.

“We’ve got contracts in place that have been in place for 15-plus years — some much longer than that — so we’re not going to enter any new contracts as a result of this project,” he said. “But we’re at this point though where our customers are starting to use more water under their contracts.”

Georgetown is a large growing customer but it is not the only customer, Burnett said.

“Georgetown will only benefit from that pipeline that runs from Stillhouse Hollow Lake to Lake Georgetown … and that line runs more often than this (proposed) one will because Lake Georgetown is probably seven times smaller than Stillhouse Hollow Lake and 12 times smaller than Lake Belton,” Burnett said. “So it’s just a small reservoir, which means we’ll have to run that line more than this line from Lake Belton to Stillhouse Hollow Lake.”

Area residents began assembling at the Bell County Expo Center as early as 4:15 p.m. for the 5 p.m. meeting.

“We’re very happy to have everybody come out and give their opinion,” Brazos River Authority spokeswoman Judi Pierce said. “We’re only about 15% into the planning process so getting the public input at this point is exactly what we’re looking for. It’s an opportunity for people to learn as well as to give us their idea of how they feel about what we’re looking to do and currently do.

Burnett said the purpose of the meeting was to get community input. He said he would be happy to see the 10-year project start construction by 2025.

“We want people to know about it and we want to let them provide the concerns that they have before we get further down the road,” he said. “We still have a lot of engineering work to do and permitting work to do, and a lot of easements to acquire before construction can start.”

Residents, who were unable to attend the first public meeting, can submit comments in writing by email to belhouse@brazos.org.

“All comments will be included in the official project record and may be viewed on the Brazos River Authority website,” Pierce said.