Proposal would lower water going into bayou
Published February 4, 2007
A proposal to lower the amount of water going into the Chocolate Bayou canal from the Brazos River has some rice farmers and activists up in arms.
Texas City-based Gulf Coast Water Authority is proposing to start taking 55,000 acre-feet of water per day from a diversion point three miles upstream on the Brazos River and reducing flow to Chocolate Bayou.
“We would be able to provide water to Pearland much cheaper,” said Robert Istre, general manager for the Gulf Coast Water Authority. It also would make rates cheaper for their other customers throughout Brazoria County because they would be operating more efficiently.
But losing water in Chocolate Bayou worries Danbury rice farmer Jack Garrett because it might mean less availability for water to a growing population in southern Brazoria County, he said.
“We want them to understand that we want adequate water here for future growth,” said Garrett. “There will definitely be a need for it. There’s no question.”
Some industrial companies, such as Dow Chemical Co. in Freeport, also are worried they might be losing flow to Chocolate Bayou, which the company uses for its operations.
“There’s potential this could reduce the amount of water entering Brazos River,” said Tracie Copeland, Dow spokeswoman.
If the flow is reduced, the “wedge” of salt water creeping in from the bay could reach one of the company’s reservoirs, rendering it unusable, she said.
“We’re worried with the lack of flow, the wedge will work its way up,” Copeland said.
There is a 210,000 acre-feet capacity with 155,000 acre-feet coming from the Brazos River and 55,000 acre-feet coming from the various bayous, Istre said. Of that, Pearland is taking 22,000 acre-feet while Galveston County is taking 13,000, he said.
“Most of this water is not leaving the county,” he said.
Not only that, but the water authority has an interest to make sure there is enough capacity in case there is population growth in the southern part of the county because that could mean potential customers, he said.
If residents or industrial companies are worried about how much water could be available, there is enough acre-feet capacity available, Istre said.
“We’re trying to be fair,” he said. “If they’ll come to us, we’ll be glad to entertain servicing them.”
Pearland recently negotiated a contract to receive an additional 10,000 acre-feet per day.
If the amendment, which currently is being considered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, does not pass it would mean that the 55,000 acre-feet conveyance would remain in Chocolate Bayou and the water authority would have to build pump stations and a pipeline to move the water to Pearland.
Currently, the water authority is evaluating withdrawing the amendment, Istre said. If that happens, water from the Chocolate Bayou canal will have to be pumped to water authority customers in Pearland and Galveston County, Istre said.
But the move would be more expensive than passing the amendment and it would create higher costs for its customers in Fort Bend, Galveston and Brazoria counties, he said.
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