Kyle’s partnership with Alliance Water
As the demand for water in Central Texas increases with a booming population, the City of Kyle has partnered with Alliance Water to plan for and provide long-term water solutions.
Current Updates:
June 2024:
This month, crews will be conducting environmental surveys, tunnel boring, and clearing sites to begin staging materials, as shown in the image. Upcoming work will include continued staging and preparation for pipe installation.
The red line shown on the map indicates where the pipeline was installed last month. Please use caution while driving and watch out for crews in the area!
May 2024:
In its mission to provide Kyle and the other partner cities with safe and reliable water, Alliance Water continues to make progress in developing a new water supply to Kyle.
Alliance Water began construction on the final pipeline, Segment C, of the Carrizo-Wilcox Water Project in May of 2024. At over 20 miles in length, Segment C marks the final segment of the Alliance Water transmission system to begin construction and is anticipated to be completed in Fall 2025.
As pipeline construction progresses, community members may notice several construction activities, including site clearing, staging of pipe and materials, trenching and movement of other large support equipment.
The pipeline will be tunneled under roadways, allowing for all major roadways to remain open. Recognizing the impact and visibility of this project on our City of Kyle community, construction updates will be posted here. Currently crews are working on pipeline construction in the Bunton Creek subdivision.
Once completed, the Carrizo-Wilcox Water Project’s transmission system will showcase the collaborative efforts of Alliance Water, the Canyon Regional Water Authority, and the cities of Kyle, Buda and San Marcos, providing over 6 million gallons of water daily with more water to come in future phases.
About Alliance Water
Alliance Water (formerly the Hays Caldwell Public Utility Agency/HCPUA) is a Regional Water Authority formed in January 2007. Its purpose is to resolve the long-term water needs of its sponsor participants including the City of Kyle, Buda, San Marcos, and the Canyon Region Water Authority. This collaboration allows entities to work in tandem to improve the economies of scale on water (or wastewater) projects that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive.
ARWA is a political subdivision of the State of Texas created through the passage of Senate Bill 1198 in the 85th Texas Legislature. A water authority can develop water supplies, transport water, and/or develop wastewater treatment facilities.
Goals of Alliance Water
The mission of Alliance Water is to provide long-term, sustainable water solutions. Working with our partners, Alliance Water strives to be stewards of the environment, provide transparent and responsible operations, and deliver clean, reliable water.
The goals of Alliance Water are to
- Share resources to extend current supplies of partners
- Manage future needs by supplementing the current supplies of Alliance Water Participants with groundwater from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer
- Develop a cost-efficient project for drinking water treatment and delivery to all members
- Actively participate with groundwater conservation districts to manage the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer
- To be open and transparent with our partners as well as the general public and to be a good member of the communities that we serve
Why does Kyle need more water?
The growth, both residential and commercial, in our city means we must prepare our infrastructure and water supply for future demand. Our current water resources would not be enough to sustain the demand for water into the future.
Becoming part of Alliance Water was a decision that resulted in part from a long-term water supply study in 2005. By teaming up with other cities and entities who also need to secure future water supplies, we’re part of a unique regional approach that would be cost-prohibitive alone.
Since 2006, Alliance Water achieved milestones including leasing about 17,000 acre-feet of water rights in Caldwell and Gonzales Counties. Those leases, which took roughly 2.5 years to negotiate, involved agreements with nearly 80 different landowners. The result was that Alliance Water received a permit from the Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District in 2012 for the right to produce and transport 10,300 acre-feet per year.
Due to the cost of the Alliance Water improvements to produce & transport the water, the partners implemented a water-sharing plan for existing water supplies in order to defer construction of the project until water is needed by the aggregate of the partners. The City of Buda entered into an interim agreement with the City of Kyle and also the City of San Marcos through the Alliance Water to provide Buda with up to 1,000,000 gallons per day of water through the existing Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) pipeline. Once the water from Alliance Water comes online, that water would revert back to Kyle.
Will this lead to an increase in water rates?
To date, the Alliance Regional Water Authority has issued a total of $84.8 million in long-term debt for the City of Kyle's share of capital costs to design and construct all required infrastructure improvements to deliver water to the City. The City of Kyle has retained the services of a rate consultant to conduct a comprehensive water and wastewater cost of service and rate design study for the City's water and wastewater utility systems. This study is presently underway, and it is anticipated that the cost of service study will be completed and results presented to the City Council in August-September 2024 timeframe.
Want to learn more?
Visit the Alliance Water website at www.alliancewater.org to learn more about their efforts to bring safe and reliable water to Central Texas.
