BOERNE – The Hill Country may have seen a respite from a lengthy dry spell due to recent rains, but future droughts have City Council seeking more piped-in water from a regional supplier.
The decision could also increase utility rates, though a review by city staff is needed before any additional costs are determined, city officials said.
With weather experts and local utilities staff alike predicting another parched winter and summer, Utilities Director Mike Mann encouraged the council to expand its Guadalupe- Blanco River Authority commitment by nearly 98 million gallons, or 300-acre feet.
An acre foot is equivalent to the amount of water covering 1 acre at a depth of 1 foot.
The expansion is set to cover the city’s demand on outside water from GBRA’s Western Canyon Project – a treatment plant pumping water to several municipalities out of Canyon Lake – when the local Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District imposes drought stages that limit the pumping of wells, including the city’s own.
“So, what you’re saying is because we’re doing this, and that’s our primary water source, we’re actually helping all the people in this area that have wells because we’re not taking as much from those wells,” Mayor Tim Handren said.
While Mann said the shift of reliance to GBRA’s supply will diminish the demand Boerne places on private wells, city staff has previously explained a portion of municipal water comes from publicly owned wells regulated by the Groundwater Conservation District.
This leaves those wells subject to “deduction based on CCGCD conservation stages,” according to Communications Director Chris Shadrock.
When asked if this increased acreage-foot purchase – of which the city is moving from 1,600-acre feet to 1,900-acre feet per year – will result in a water-rate hike for residents, city staff said a study will be conducted soon to determine whether a bump is needed.
However, the mayor’s comments indicate yet another utility-rate increase is imminent.
“My guess would be yes just because we know this water is more expensive,” Handren said.
Mann nodded in agreement to the mayor’s predictions, adding the water supplied by GBRA costs nearly twice that of other sources.
A utility rate uptick would mark a consistent trend of rate hikes for the city as water rates rose 3 percent last year.
City utility revenues exceeded $7 million in Fiscal Year 2018, $9 million in 2019 and $7 million in 2020. When previously asked why these profit margins aren’t reflected in lowered utility rates, which the Texas Municipal League’s revenue manual for cities suggests they should, former City Manager Jeff Thompson said the utility rates are intended to keep from raising property taxes by having heavy utility users fund more services.
During the meeting earlier this month, City Manager Ben Thatcher said city staff will be reviewing all rates and evaluating what the appropriate costs are.
“I just want to set the expectation that it’s not going to get any cheaper,” Handren said.
While little has changed in the council’s methodology in recent years for supplying water, a group of regional suppliers, conservationists and residents were charged with planning out the Boerne’s long-term water plans.
The Kendall County Water Committee is considering several concepts, including ones that have sparked controversy such as using a hundreds-ofmiles- long pipeline along the Interstate 35 corridor and changing legislation to allow the Edwards Aquifer water to flow into local pipes. Also on the ideas list are wastewater reuse and conservation incentives.
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