BUDA — At its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 7, Buda City Council unanimously approved to adopt the City of Buda Water Master Plan. In 2022, Buda City Council authorized a professional services agreement with K. Friese and Associates (KFA) to prepare a water master plan for the 20-year period of 2023 through 2043. The purpose of the project, as stated in agenda documents, is: • To serve as the tool the city will use to communicate its water needs, programs and projects to residents and commercial customers. • To identify capital improvement projects (CIP) to effectively serve unprecedented growth, while also maintaining and improving existing infrastructure. Prior to this update, the most recent water model update was conducted by KFA in 2017. As a part of the proposed plan, KFA evaluated the current system and water supplies. According to the presentation by Director of Development Services Angela Kennedy, the city currently has three sources of water, including the groundwater supply permitted by Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District wells and surface water from Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and the Alliance Regional Water Authority. The city has 2.56 million gallons per day (MGD) available, with a pumping capacity of 5.68 MGD. Kennedy pointed out that the city of Buda is not the only water provider in the city limits and within the ETJ. When looking at growth, KFA limited the growth and potential future services projections to not conflict with other suppliers. Within the service area, the current population is 15,108. The plan accounts for growth of the population to a total of 33,140, with nearly 11,000 water connections, in 2043. The plan also lays out the water demand on average per day and the max day demand. Currently, the average day demand is 1.5 MGD and is expected to increase to 3.2 MGD in 2043. The max day demand in 2024 is 3.0 MGD and the plan allots for that number to increase up to 6.3 MGD by 2043. Based on these numbers, the model shows that the contracted supply and the pumping capacity “easily meet” the average day demand and the max day demand throughout the 20-year prediction, even in Stage 4 drought conditions. In addition to the expected demand, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) imposes regulations on the infrastructure, requiring a pumping capacity of 0.6 gallons per minute per connection. In 2028, 2033 and 2043, the city’s infrastructure is not expected to meet the TCEQ regulations. Therefore, the plan recommends the city seeks an Alternative Capacity Requirement (ACR) for 2028 and 2033 and then increase the pumping capacity for the 2043 timeline through CIPs. “The city has sought [the ACR] in the past with TCEQ and it has been granted,” Kennedy said. In order to meet the TCEQ requirements in 2043, KFA suggests purchasing additional groundwater wells and fortifying current pump stations to increase pumping capacity. To identify necessary CIPs, the consultant team met with the Buda Fire Department to discuss the fire flow assumptions made in the model. Based on the modeling, eight current year projects were recommended to meet fire flow demands, as well as adding a new connection to loop the water system for “redundancy purposes.” The estimated cost of the CIPs for the current year is $8.76 million. For 2028, there were seven CIPs recommended based on growth, totaling $26.72 million. The 2033 and 2043 timelines proposed four projects each, for a cost of $11.39 million and $27.73 million, respectively. The total project list cost is expected to be approximately $74.2 million. Recognizing that there is a lot of concern in the community about water supply, council member Matt Smith said, “For the folks at home and in the audience, as you hear us talk about this, know that we are being intentional in what we are doing for the future … we are well positioned right now for future water demand.” Echoing Smith’s sentiments, Mayor Lee Urbanovsky took the opportunity to reassure community members of the city’s water position. “We have a diversified water supply and we have a plan that doesn’t meet our demand up to 2043, as of what we can see peering into the future,” Urbanovsky concluded. The proposed master plan was unanimously approved by council. Buda City Council will meet again on Tuesday, May 21.
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