Program Includes Two New Pipelines for Texoma Water, Additional Infrastructure to Leverage Existing Water Supplies

North Texas Municipal Water District’s 2026 capital improvement program includes funding for several water projects that will expand the District’s use of its existing water supplies from Lake Texoma by 2029.

These projects are part of the District’s “Texoma Two-Step” program, including two new, $605 million pipelines that will convey additional raw water from Lake Texoma to NTMWD’s Wylie and Leonard Water Treatment Plants. 

The program is part of the District’s efforts to meet fast-growing demand for water in the region, and the projects have been studied as part of NTMWD’s planning efforts over the past decade. 

The increased demand for water stems from continued growth in NTMWD’s service area, which covers some of the fastest-growing cities and counties in the state. Mature cities in the District’s service area continue to grow as destinations for corporate relocations, and many developers are increasing the density of housing and commercial spaces. In addition, many cities across the region that were once rural are experiencing extensive residential and commercial development.

“North Texas is home to a dynamic regional economy, and that’s driving the increasing demand for water,” said Jenna Covington, NTMWD Executive Director and General Manager. “We’ll have to build new infrastructure at a rapid pace to keep up with the growth and ensure the continued reliability of our essential services.”

NTMWD tracks water use in “water years,” which run from August to July. The District has seen record demand for water each of the past four years. From August 2024 to July 2025, water use across NTMWD’s service area reached 126.7 billion gallons, up from 126.2 billion gallons the previous water year. 

“The increased demand during a milder, wetter year signals just how fast we’re growing in North Texas,” Covington said. “It also illustrates why it’s important that we move forward as quickly as possible with projects like the Texoma Two-Step, which help us incrementally increase our water supplies for the region in the coming years.”

New Texoma Pipelines Serve as Program’s Centerpiece

Two new pipelines serve as the signature piece of the Texoma Two-Step program. The pipelines will allow NTMWD to further leverage existing water rights in Lake Texoma by blending additional Texoma water with water from Lavon Lake and Bois d’Arc Lake. The blending process is necessary due to water quality in Lake Texoma, where the water is high in “total dissolved solids”—namely, salt. 

“Blending Texoma water with our other water sources is the most cost-effective way for the District to exercise our Texoma water rights,” said Covington. “Our current plans call for us to continue to increase blending of Lake Texoma water with other water sources in the future, and we plan to make full use of our Texoma water rights over time.”

As part of the program, a new 84-inch pipeline will be constructed parallel to the District’s existing 72-inch Texoma pipeline (see map), running 27 miles from NMTWD’s Lake Texoma Pump Station to the Howe Balancing Reservoir, where NTMWD temporarily stores raw water from Texoma before it’s transported to the Wylie Water Treatment Plant. A portion of this pipeline will serve as shared infrastructure with the Greater Texoma Utility Authority and will provide water to the City of Sherman. 

“Our partnership with the Greater Texoma Utility Authority on this pipeline is a great example of how water projects can benefit multiple communities,” Covington said. “The water supplied from this pipeline to the City of Sherman will support ongoing growth and economic development in the Texoma region.”

A second 84-inch pipeline will be constructed connecting the existing Texoma pipeline, south of Howe, to the Leonard Water Treatment Plant, where water from Lake Texoma will be blended with water from Bois d’Arc Lake for the first time. The Leonard plant, which began operating in 2023, is already undergoing an expansion that will see its water treatment capacity increased from 86 million gallons per day (MGD) to a planned 152 MGD by 2028. At final buildout, the plant’s planned capacity is 280 MGD.

The new pipelines will add about 90 MGD of conveyance capacity during peak operations, helping NTMWD meet growing water demands in the coming years, especially in summer when water use is higher. The construction contracts for the pipelines are planned to be awarded in October, and construction is scheduled to start in late 2026.

Projects Leverage State Funding to Increase Water Supply

The Texoma Two-Step program will make use of the Texas Water Development Board’s State Water Implementation for Texas Fund, or SWIFT. SWIFT funding for these projects is estimated to save up to $75 million for NTMWD’s Member Cities and Customers, based on the District’s internal projections.

In addition to the new Texoma pipelines, the program also features an additional $250 million worth of improvements that will increase the water supply capacity for rapidly growing communities in the eastern portion of NTMWD’s service area, including Farmersville, Josephine, and Nevada, as well as areas served by Caddo Basin and Copeville Special Utility Districts. 

These improvements consist of the construction of a new, 48-inch treated water pipeline that will carry treated water from the Leonard Water Treatment Plant to Farmersville, scheduled for completion in 2028. In addition, the pump station at the Leonard Water Treatment Plant will also be expanded to increase pumping capacity. 

Another key benefit of the program is the increased resiliency of NTMWD’s overall regional water system. The Two-Step program will allow for increased water delivery from the Leonard Water Treatment Plant, freeing up additional maintenance windows at the District’s massive Wylie plant, which treats and distributes more than 75 percent of the water supplied by NTMWD.

Conservation, New Water Supplies Vital for Regional Economy

The Texoma Two-Step program is part of the District’s overall $1.7 billion capital improvement program for 2026, which includes more than $1.3 billion in new infrastructure and maintenance for NTMWD’s regional water system. In 2025, the District invested about $1.2 billion in essential infrastructure for the region. 

While the new infrastructure that’s part of the Texoma Two-Step will increase the use of the District’s existing water supplies, those supplies are being stretched to the limit by the ongoing economic expansion in the region. Continued water conservation efforts, combined with the rapid development of new water supplies, will be necessary to meet the growing demand for water in North Texas and across the state.

“It will take billions of dollars in infrastructure investments to keep up with the growth and economic development we’re seeing in the region,” Covington said. “Water conservation is our first and cheapest supply of water, but new water supplies will be needed soon to support the continued prosperity of the Texas economy.”