Update: April 12, 2025:
Statement on Potential Lake O’ the Pines Water Purchase
Contrary to recent news reports, the North Texas Municipal Water District has not negotiated any new agreements for additional water supplies for our service area. A recent contract update with the Sabine River Authority serves as a continuation of a previous agreement, and does not provide any new water for our region.
While we’re not currently in active negotiations with the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District regarding a water purchase from Lake O’ the Pines, we continue to believe a future agreement for the sale of water could make sense for North Texas and Northeast Texas.
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Several New Water Management Strategies Needed to Meet Future Demand for Water in Rapidly Growing NTMWD Service Area
Region C water planners have designated the potential Lake O’ the Pines project as a recommended strategy for North Texas Municipal Water District in a draft plan approved at a public meeting on Feb. 24.
The project is one of several water management strategies recommended for NTMWD to meet the needs of our rapidly growing service area, which has recently added between 70,000 and 80,000 new residents a year. The region served by NTMWD is projected to nearly double in population by 2080, from 2.3 million people to 4.5 million.
NTMWD’s service area lies in Region C, one of the 16 planning regions in the state water planning process. Region C is an economic powerhouse that generates about one-third of the state’s gross domestic product. While it also includes 26 percent of the state’s population, it only accounts for about 10 percent of its overall water use.
Each region’s planning group includes around 20 members who represent a variety of sectors and interests, including water utilities and districts. The planning process occurs every five years and follows a “bottom-up” approach where the regional groups develop plans that the Texas Water Development Board compiles to create the final State Water Plan.
At NTMWD’s Feb. 27 board of directors meeting, during remarks about the Region C water planning process, General Manager and Executive Director Jenna Covington highlighted Lake O’ the Pines as part of NTMWD’s wholistic approach to planning for and meeting future water supply needs. Covington also serves as a member of the Region C planning group.
“No single water source will meet all the needs for North Texas,” Covington said. “To meet those needs, we’re focused on increasing water conservation and reuse, using innovative technology to better leverage existing water supplies, and building new connections to existing reservoirs with excess supplies, like Lake O’ the Pines.”
Lake O’ the Pines Important Project for North Texas
Region C’s designation of Lake O’ the Pines as a recommended water management strategy for NTMWD reflects a thorough analysis of a variety of factors, including the quantity of supply, the reliability of the supply, the impacts of the strategy on water quality and natural resources, and overall cost.
Using water from Lake O’ the Pines in NTMWD’s service area is not a new idea and has been listed as a potential strategy in the State Water Plan since 2007. According to Covington, the purchase and transport of water from Lake O’ the Pines is an important project that will play a key role in meeting North Texas’ water needs in the decades to come.
“Moving unused water from Lake O’ the Pines to North Texas is a prime example of a water project that would make better use of the state’s existing water resources,” Covington said. “Moving water from areas of abundance to areas where demand is high will help water providers keep up with the state’s booming population growth and support our dynamic economy.”
Water from Lake O' the Pines has been sold to industrial customers and others for many years. NTMWD is interested in buying water that formerly served industrial customers, plus excess water not needed by the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District and their member cities. NTMWD has recently been in active negotiations with NETMWD over a potential purchase or lease of water.
“As with any contract negotiation, there are limits to what we can share at this time,” Covington said. “Once a draft agreement is reached, the public will have the opportunity to review the details of the agreement and participate in open discussion before any partnership between the two water districts is approved. We are committed to transparency and fairness throughout this process.”
At the Feb. 27 board meeting, NTMWD Assistant General Manager Billy George discussed the potential water purchase during a presentation on the state water planning process. He said that if approved, it could provide a significant source of revenue for Northeast Texas Municipal Water District and, potentially, its member cities.
George also noted that NTMWD was open to working with environmental groups and regional stakeholders to ensure the continued health of the Cypress River Basin, including Caddo Lake, which sits downstream from Lake O’ the Pines.
Other Region C Water Management Strategies for NTMWD
In its initially prepared plan (IPP), the Region C group recommended 12 water management strategies for NTMWD. In addition to the potential Lake O’ the Pines project, those include conservation and new reuse projects, such as additional wetlands. Conservation and reuse efforts account for 45 percent of the recommended strategies to ensure Region C water providers can meet demands in North Texas by 2080.
NTMWD currently operates the largest manmade wetland in the United States, the East Fork Water Reuse project, and clean water that’s treated and released from NTMWD’s wastewater plants supplement water supplies in area reservoirs.
“Water conservation and reuse projects continue to serve as our ‘first’ supply of water moving forward,” Covington said. “Since 2000, NTMWD’s conservation efforts have seen a 20 percent reduction in water use per person in our service area. In addition, we operate one of the largest municipal indirect reuse programs in the state of Texas and will continue to look for innovative ways to reuse water within our service area.”
While the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir remains as a recommended strategy for NTMWD in Region C’s current IPP, the Region C planning group has moved back its planned operational date from 2050 to 2060.
“By making better use of excess water in existing reservoirs, we may be able to delay the need for new reservoirs, including the Marvin Nichols Reservoir,” Covington noted during the NTMWD board meeting.
Other alternative strategies listed for NTMWD include desalinating additional water from Lake Texoma, leveraging aquifer storage and recovery, or transporting water from Toledo Bend Reservoir. Planners consider alternative strategies to be less desirable than recommended strategies, and alternative strategies often carry a higher comparative cost.
Additional Information