This year’s hot, dry summer has Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow more than 14 feet below flood levels. David Stone photo
BRA plans to increase amount of water pumped from Stillhouse to Lake Georgetown; water could flow from Lake Belton to Stillhouse within five years
DAVID STONE | OUR TOWN TEMPLE
Up to 20 billion gallons of water could be piped annually from Stillhouse Hollow to Lake Georgetown as early as 2027, and up to 9.8 billion gallons could be moved from Lake Belton to Stillhouse every year to help meet drought-related needs of Austin’s booming northern suburbs.
“As populations in the Georgetown area grow, there won’t be enough water for Brazos River Authority customers served by Lake Georgetown and Stillhouse,” said Brad Burnet, BRA’s regional manager for Stillhouse and Lake Belton. “Lake Georgetown is very small — Stillhouse is about six times larger than Georgetown, and Lake Belton is about 14 times larger. During dry times, there’s simply not enough water in Georgetown to meet the needs.”
According to the US Census Bureau, Georgetown is the fastest growing city in America and its population of 86,507 is expected to double in less than seven years.
The Brazos River Authority has been pumping water from Stillhouse Hollow to Lake Georgetown for years, but the potential amount of water being moved is about to increase, Burnet said.
“We first started pumping in 2006, and we added multiple pumps in 2011 and we’re getting ready to expand again in 2025 or 2026,” he said. “There will still be one pipeline, but there will be more pumps to move water.”
Currently, up to 46,000-acre-feet of water is being pumped as needed. An acre foot is 325,851 gallons of water. When the additional pumps go online, the pipe system will have the capacity to transfer about 61,000-acre-feet — 19.88 billion gallons — from Stillhouse to Georgetown annually.
The amount of water actually transferred from lake to lake is related directly to drought conditions.
“The pumps don’t run constantly,” Burnet said. “It all depends on the weather and how much natural runoff goes into Lake Georgetown. In 2016, the pumps didn’t run at all. But, in 2022, they ran most of the year.”
The water line between Stillhouse and Lake Belton — known as the Belhouse Drought Preparedness Project — is progressing and could begin moving water as early as 2027, Burnet said.
“We’ve completed some engineering work on Belhouse, and we’re working on a contract for permitting with the US Army Corps of Engineers,” he said. “We’re also doing some design work. Yes, 2027 is our target year for pumping.”
“The Belhouse program will pump water less frequently than the Stillhouse to Lake Georgetown system,” he said. “There could be times when we go years without pumping at all. But the line is needed to help supplement Lake Georgetown.”
“The project will be capable of moving water from Lake Belton to Stillhouse Hollow when needed,” he said. “The project will not run continuously and will only move water when it is necessary.”
“The Belhouse Drought Preparedness Project will improve water supply reliability, allowing the reservoirs to be operated as a system, improving drought preparedness,” he said.
Burnet said the water lines from Lake Belton to Stillhouse and from Stillhouse to Lake Georgetown will be one-way. In other words, water cannot be pumped in reverse to transfer water into Lake Belton.
According to Burnet, Lake Belton serves many water districts and municipalities. One of the largest customers is 439 Water Supply, which provides water to Killeen, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove and parts of Fort Cavazos. The lake also provides water to Bluebonnet Water Supply, Coryell Water Supply, Fort Gates, Gatesville, The Grove Water Supply and others.
Although Temple pulls its water from the Leon River below the Lake Belton dam, water must be released from the lake to meet the city’s water needs, Burnet said.
Stillhouse provides water to Central Texas Water Supply and the small water companies it supplies, Jarrell-Schwertner Water Supply, Kempner, Lampasas and Salado. And, billions of gallons of Stillhouse water ends up flowing from faucets in the Georgetown area as well.
According to Judi Pierce, a spokesperson for BRA, said the authority controls water usage in 11 lakes, rivers and creeks in the Brazos River watershed, including rivers such as the Leon, Lampasas, San Gabriel, Bosque, Navasota and smaller streams that feed into the Brazos River.
“We supply water for customers from Abilene to the coast,” she said.
Max Strickler, the US Corps of Engineers lead engineer for water management in the Fort Worth District, said that while the Corps owns the lakes, the water in the Brazos watershed is owned by the Brazos River Authority.
“We own the bowls, they own the water in this area,” he said. “The only time the Corps dictates a water release from a reservoir is during a flood.”
Bell County Judge David Blackburn said BRA contracts in place give water customers in the Georgetown area rights to water from Stillhouse.
“It is my understanding that current contracts afford the customers to our south the rights to the water,” Blackburn said. It is also my understanding that no current system water rights holder will be impacted by a pipeline connecting Lake Belton and Stillhouse.”
“But, with growth and development occurring in Bell County, I think it would be wise for Bell County water purveyors to explore strategies that will better ensure that our water needs in the future are met,” Blackburn added. “Aquifer Storage and Recovery is but one example of a strategy that should continue to be explored in order to better ensure that the water needs of Bell County are met in the years to come.”
Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) is the process of injecting water into the ground for storage and later recovering that water for use. One common use of ASR is for management of peak demand and raw water supply in public drinking water systems.
A coalition has been formed to study the needs and possible locations for ASR facilities in Bell County. That coalition includes Bell County, the cities of Temple and Rogers, the Brazos River Authority, Bell County Water Control Improvement District No. 1, Central Texas Water Supply Corporation, Fort Hood and the Underground Water Conservation District.
Soaring population, continued drought likely will impact Texas’ dwindling water supplies
DAVID STONE | OUR TOWN TEMPLE
Massive increases in population and continued drought could add stress to a thinning Texas water supply and force exploration of alternate sources of creating and storing drinking water.
According to the US Census Bureau, Texas’ population hit 30 million last year and is expected to top 54 million by 2050 as newcomers continue to flock into the state. Texas, Arizona and Florida lead the nation in population growth, and Bell County is smack-dab in the middle of a booming Central Texas.
In 2010, the Census Bureau reported that Bell County had a population of 310,235. That number soared to 370,647 by 2020, and just three years later an additional 18,000 residents call Bell County home.
Charley Ayers, director of industry and educational partnerships for Workforce Solutions of Central Texas, said there are 55,000 more people in Bell, Lampasas and Coryell counties than there were just five years ago. Even more staggering: “We’re expecting another 58,000 people to move into the three-county area in the next five years,” he said.
Higher population numbers mean an increased need in drinking water, more showers and baths, more clothes to wash, more lawns to water and more cars to wash. In short — more people means more demand for Texas’ dwindling water supplies.
While population growth has indeed had a detrimental effect on available water, experts say the bigger culprit has been ongoing drought associated with climate change.
According to Jay Banner, director of the University of Texas Environmental Science Institute, the number of 100-degree days in Central Texas could triple by the end of the century.
“Texas is known for extreme weather,” Banner said. “We have extreme rains, extreme drought and extreme heat, and a warming climate is going to increase those extremes.”
Banner said increased levels of greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide in the lower atmosphere because of human activities such as burning fossil fuels for energy are causing the change.
“We could see a future of megadroughts — droughts that are at least 10 years in length,” he said. “Some western US states have been in drought since 2000. In Central Texas, summers like the one we have now are becoming more common.”
“One of the models we use to forecast drought is a count of days with high temperatures of at least 100 degrees. Over the past 10 years, Central Texas has averaged 40 100-degree days every year. But, unless we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we are going to see up to 80 additional 100-degree days a year by the end of the century. That could mean 120 days of triple-digit heat — about a third of our year.”
“Right now, the heat is expected in June, July, August and early September,” Banner said. “Where will the additional 80 days fit in? We could very well see 100-degree temperatures from April through October.”
Banner pointed out that people already struggle to pay summer electricity bills, and costs associated with running air conditioning will increase because of the extended heat.
“The cost of paying bills isn’t the only thing that will be affected,” he said. “There is going to be a significant increase in heat-related illnesses and quality of life will be curtailed because people won’t be going outside as often.”
Banner said the state and Texas counties and cities are preparing for the future to ensure a safe and secure water supply.
“As a state, we are exploring alternative sources of water such as desalination,” he said. “That’s where salt is removed from sea water. A water storage option being considered is Aquifer Storage & Recovery, the process of injecting water into the ground for storage and later recovering that water for use.
According to County Judge David Blackburn and Temple City Manager Brynn Myers, a coalition has been formed to study the needs and possible locations for ASR facilities in Bell County. The coalition consists of Bell County, the cities of Temple and Rogers, the Brazos River Authority, the Bell County Water Control Improvement
District No. 1, the Central Texas Water Supply Corporation, Fort Cavazos and the Clearwater Underground Water Conservation District.
The coalition has identified 14 sites in the county suitable for an ASR facility, including locations on Fort Cavazos and in Temple, near Oscar, near Holland, at Patterson Crossing and at several locations near Rogers.
According to 2022 Texas State Water Plan numbers for Bell County, water needs are expected to increase from 1.22 billion gallons per year to 10.3 billion gallons by 2070.