The redrawing is part of an agreement that equally swaps 1.34 acres of land and corrects an issue created during the 2000 redrawing of the state boundaries that caused the Lake Texoma Raw Water Pump Station to straddle state lines.
It also ensures the availability of about 30 percent of the drinking water supply for more than 2 million people in North Texas, the Texas General Land Office announced Thursday.
The Red River Boundary Commission, aided by the land office’s surveying team, recently redrew the boundary line to guarantee the water source for years to come. Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham approved the agreement Oct. 22, and Oklahoma’s Contingency Review Board adopted it last week.
“As Texas Land Commissioner, it is my honor to work on behalf of all Texans and bring solutions to the table to benefit our great state. This redrawn boundary line will ensure that millions of north Texans’ water comes from a secure source in Texas,” Buckingham said in a news release Thursday. “I am proud of the GLO’s surveying team for playing such a significant role in settling this boundary issue by using their mapping skills and expertise. Surveying has been a vital part of the GLO since the establishment of this agency in 1836.”
As part of the agreement, the North Texas Municipal Water District will compensate Oklahoma $10 million to be earmarked for water projects intended to benefit the district’s interests in Lake Texoma and Red River watersheds.
“We’re pleased we’ve reached an agreement with our partners in Oklahoma ensuring continued use of our Lake Texoma pump station to provide water to our rapidly growing service area,” Jenna Covington, executive director and general manager of North Texas water district, said in a news release. “This agreement secures a vital water supply for the region, as Lake Texoma accounts for approximately 20 percent of NTMWD’s permitted water supplies that serve more than 2 million North Texans.”
Water district board member Marvin Fuller said ensuring North Texas’ booming population will continue to have sufficient water supplies is a top priority for the board and this agreement is a key part in the long-range water supply plan.
The water district plans to increase the use of its permitted Texoma water supply over the next decade and will build an additional pipeline from the lake to its Leonard Water Treatment Plant by 2030.
The new pipeline will allow the salty water from Lake Texoma to be blended with water from Bois d’Arc Lake in Fannin County, increasing available water supplies.
How did this happen?
The North Texas Municipal Water District has federal and state permits allowing it to draw water through the Texoma pump station, built in 1989 within the Texas border. Oklahoma has access to the same amount of water, and both states’ water rights are governed by the Red River Compact Commission.
During a redrawing of the state boundaries 24 years ago, the Texas-Oklahoma boundary was incorrectly redrawn, placing most of the pump station in Oklahoma.
It wasn’t until 2009, when the discovery of invasive zebra mussels in Lake Texoma brought water pumping to a halt, that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service alerted the water board that the pump station was partially inside Oklahoma.
“It was during this effort that the question of where the pump station was located (came up) because, if located in Oklahoma, operating the pump station could violate federal law prohibiting the interstate transport of zebra mussels,” the land office release said.
After it was determined the pump station was built inadvertently straddling state lines, a congressional exception allowed the board to once again pump water from Lake Texoma in 2014, and a pipeline extension was constructed to convey water directly into the district’s water treatment facilities in Wylie.
Texas Needs Water
The redrawing comes after Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller earlier this year called for Texas to become more self-relianton water.
“It’s time for Texans to roll up our sleeves and take charge of developing our own water-generation solutions across our great state,” Miller wrote in an editorial published on the Texas Department of Agriculture’s website in August. “The bottom line is this: Texans have the know-how, the technology, the grit, and the financing to secure our water future. But we must quit complaining, get off our tails, and act.”
North Texas’ thirst for water, especially in Dallas-Fort Worth and surrounding areas that are experiencing a population boom, has made headlines in recent weeks as regional officials look for solutions on where to obtain water.
The Marvin Nichols Reservoir has been included in state water plans as one alternative. The proposal for the 66,000-acre man-made lake has it being built in northeast Texas and pumping water more than 100 miles to North Texas.
Residents who would be displaced by the reservoir have fought the plan for decades and renewed their opposition in recent public meetings, including one that drew more than 200 people.
Some Texans have called for the state to consider double-dipping in Lake Texoma to meet water needs instead of building new reservoirs.
The Texas Water Development Board creates a state water plan every five years based on information from 16 regional water plans. The next one is set for 2027.
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