It’s no secret that the expansion of areas in surrounding counties has seen a boom in recent years. For years, people have been moving further out of the city to seek a slower-paced life. Increased population means an increase in demand for housing and development to support growth, ultimately putting a strain on resources that have already been facing challenges such as water supply shortages.
One region that has seen exponential growth in recent years is Wise County, which has seen its population increase by 16% to 18% from April 2020 to early 2024, according to the Texas Demographic Center. With an already depleting groundwater supply toppled with new housing developments, residents near and around Wise County have been more than vocal regarding water resources.
Recent reports have focused on Walnut Creek Special Utility District, which serves Parker and Wise Counties, and its decision to join the newly formed West Fork Public Utility Agency, a nontaxing entity created to address water supply and infrastructure needs. Residents within the WCSUD service area have questions about what this will mean for their water service. Residents around Eagle Mountain Lake and its vicinity are asking where the water will come from and how the reservoir will be affected.
Zachary Huff, director of water resources engineering for Tarrant Regional Water District, spoke with The Azle News and Springtown Epigraph to dispel any rumors and break down WFPUA’s impact, should TWRD settle negotiations to become its surface water provider.
“That whole area, you know, especially going up to (Highways) 287 and 114, that whole area is really developing. I mean all of Wise County is developing very, very fast … the fast, easy solution is to drill wells and be pulling groundwater, but that's not sustainable,” Huff said.
He explained that studies conducted by the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District reveal how continued groundwater development in the area will leave many wells dry in the coming decades unless the region reduces its need for aquifers that are not able to sustain the pace of growth.
“If we continue to develop groundwater in that area then wells — and a lot of times the older wells (belonging) to people who have been here for a very long time have had their homesteads, their farms, ranches, those wells … many of the wells are going to be going dry in the coming decades if something's not done to get off of that because the groundwater is just not sustainable to support this growth in this area,” Huff said.
With a clear understanding of projected outcomes, WFPUA approached TRWD for help in converting to sustainable surface water, which will be sourced from Eagle Mountain Lake reservoir. This is where citizen concern arises. To provide context, Huff delves into the history of Eagle Mountain Lake and its linked reservoirs — Lake Bridgeport and Lake Worth.
Huff said in 1932 TRWD built both Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Bridgeport, nearly two decades after its predecessor, Lake Worth. He explained how the three reservoirs work “in a chain” — water released from Bridgeport goes into Eagle Mountain Lake which then flows down into Lake Worth, moving and managing water throughout. As demand grew so did the need to expand the system, leading to the development of Cedar Creek reservoir in the 1970s, followed by the Richland-Chambers reservoir in the 1980s — both located nearly 70 miles southeast of the metroplex on the Trinity River.
TRWD serves 2.5 million people across 11 counties with nearly 80% of the water supply coming from both Cedar Creek and Richland-Chambers. Again, the need for expansion grew.
“So back around 2010 we extended our pipeline and pump station system up to Eagle Mountain reservoir which allowed us to pump water all the way up from Cedar Creek and Richland-Chambers to the Eagle Mountain reservoir,” Huff said. “Eagle Mountain is a delivery hub just like it always has been since 1932. It's a water supply delivery hub and it continues to be that.”
Huff continued, saying Eagle Mountain Lake functions as a “terminal” reservoir because TRWD pumps water into it from other lakes and then uses it like a giant storage tank, holding water until it’s sent on to treatment plants and surrounding communities. In short, water routed through Eagle Mountain reservoir is not coming from the lake itself; rather, it’s coming from the two other reservoirs some 70 miles away.
“The thing I want to emphasize is that water that we would be serving to the West Fork PUA would physically come out of Eagle Mountain reservoir. But it's not originating from Eagle Mountain reservoir, it's just being passed through Eagle Mountain reservoir; it’s actually coming from Richland-Chambers, Cedar Creek and any other sources that we ever bring on,” Huff said.
Currently, WFPUA is in the planning stages with TRWD, working on a demand study report and preliminary designs for its review before TRWD decides on formally entering into a contract with them.
Once the report is complete, Huff said TRWD will evaluate it before sitting down with its major “big four” customers — the cities of Fort Worth, Arlington and Mansfield as well as the Trinity River Authority — as they would end up being financially tied as well. Should there be an agreement, a formal proposal will then be sent to the TRWD board of directors for approval.
Ultimately, if approved, the water would be pumped from its main supply reservoirs, using Eagle Mountain Lake as the delivery hub rather than drawing directly from its natural supply.
