Section 1 – Introduction

1.1 Sabine River Authority

The Sabine River Authority of Texas (SRA) was created by the Legislature in 1949 as an official agency of the State of Texas. SRA was created as conservation and reclamation district with responsibilities to control, store, preserve, and distribute the waters of the Sabine River and its tributary streams in the Texas portion of the Sabine River Basin (Basin). The Sabine River Authority, State of Louisiana (SRA-LA) was formed in 1950 by the Louisiana Legislature. Representatives from the two states ultimately developed the Sabine River Compact, which is responsible for the allocation of waters in the Basin between the two States. Representatives of the state legislatures and Congress approved the Sabine River Compact in 1953.

SRA includes five operational divisions and two technical divisions: the Gulf Coast Division, Iron Bridge Division, Toledo Bend Division, Lake Fork Division, Parks and Recreation Division, Environmental Services Division, and the Resource Management and Project Development Division. The area of responsibility of SRA consists of the total contributing watershed of the Sabine River within the State of Texas. It includes all or portions of 21 counties: Collin, Franklin, Gregg, Harrison, Hopkins, Hunt, Jasper, Kaufman, Newton, Orange, Panola, Rains, Rockwall, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood.

Figure 1 is a map of the Basin. The Sabine River has its headwaters in northwest Hunt County at an elevation of about 700 feet. The river flows eastward and is joined by the South Fork at the intersection of Hunt, Van Zandt, and Rains Counties within Lake Tawakoni. From Lake Tawakoni the river flows a distance of about 250 channel miles southeasterly to the boundary between Texas and Louisiana near the town of Logansport, Louisiana. The river then flows southward as the Texas-Louisiana boundary, emptying into Sabine Lake on the Gulf Coast. The total drainage area of the Basin is 9,756 square miles, with 7,426 square miles in Texas and 2,330 square miles in Louisiana.[1]

Figure 1 Base Map of Sabine River Basin

SRA is committed to providing adequate supplies of high quality water to municipal, industrial, agricultural and recreational users. Water conservation is an integral element of that commitment.

1.2 Purpose for Water Conservation

Holders of water rights of 1,000 acre-feet per year (ac-ft/yr) or more for municipal, industrial and other uses and 10,000 ac-ft/yr for irrigation are required to submit a water conservation plan (Title 30, Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Chapter 288). According to TAC Rule §288, conservation means “those practices, techniques, and technologies that will reduce the consumption of water, reduce the loss or waste of water, improve the efficiency in the use of water, or increase the recycling and reuse of water so that a water supply is made available for future or alternative uses.” The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is responsible for oversight of these plans. Requirements for water conservation plans for wholesale water suppliers include, as a minimum:

§ Description of wholesaler’s service area including information on population, customer data, water use data, water supply system, and wastewater system.

§ Specific, quantified five-year and ten-year targets for water savings including, where appropriate, target goals for municipal use in gallons per capita per day for the wholesaler's service area, maximum acceptable unaccounted-for water, and the basis for the development of these goals.

§ Description as to which practice(s) and/or device(s) will be utilized to measure and account for the amount of water diverted from the source(s) of supply.

§ A monitoring and record management program to determine water deliveries, sales, and losses.

§ A metering, leak detection, and repair program for the wholesaler’s water storage, delivery, and distribution system.

§ Every wholesale supply contract or contract renewal, including any contract extension, must include a requirement that each successive wholesale customer develop and implement a water conservation plan or conservation practices.

§ A reservoir systems operations plan which includes optimization of water supplies as one of the significant goals of the plan.

§ A means for implementation and enforcement.

§ And, documentation of coordination with the regional water planning groups for the service area of the wholesale water supplier in order to ensure consistency with the appropriate approved regional water plans.

In addition to the minimum requirements cited above, the TCEQ provides guidance on additional conservation strategies that may be selected by water wholesalers if they are necessary to achieve the plan’s stated water conservation goals. These optional conservation strategies can include:

§ Conservation-oriented water rates and water rate structures.

§ A program to assist customers in the development of conservation plans.

§ A program for reuse/recycling of wastewater/graywater.

§ Any other appropriate practice.

Wholesale water providers are also required by TAC Rule §288.22 to prepare and submit:

§ A drought management plan that includes an education and information program about the plan, notification procedures to identify the initiation and termination of the drought and the corresponding implementation and termination of the drought measures, trigger conditions signaling the start of any identified drought period, and drought water-use measures corresponding to each trigger condition.

1.3 Report Organization

INTRODUCTION presents background information on SRA, the purpose and goals for water conservation, and a description of the sections in this report.

SERVICE AREA AND SYSTEM EVALUATION evaluates SRA service area and supply system, including data on the Basin and out-of-Basin service area population and customers, water use, existing supply system, and historical and projected use.

CONSERVATION PRACTICES FOR A REGIONAL WHOLESALE SUPPLIER describes SRA’s compliance with the requirements of TAC Chapter 288.

§ Specific, quantified 5-year and 10-year targets for water savings.

§ Practices and devices used to measure and account for the amount of water diverted.

§ SRA’s monitoring and record management program for determining water deliveries, sales, and losses.

§ SRA’s leak detection and repair program.

§ SRA’s universal metering and meter repair and replacement program.

§ Description of conservation and drought contingency planning section in all new and renewed water sales contracts.

§ Description of reservoir systems operations plans that include optimization of water supplies as one of the significant goals.

§ SRA’s means of implementation and enforcement.

§ Documentation of coordination with Regional Water Planning Groups in SRA’s service area.

§ Other conservation measures

o Water conservation education and information programs.

o Technical assistance available from SRA in development of conservation plans.

o Recycling and reuse.

o Best management practices.

o SRA’s Community Assistance Program.

§ Review and update schedule.

DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN describes SRA’s compliance with the requirements of TAC Title 30, Chapter 288 and includes:

§ An education and information program about the plan.

§ Trigger conditions criteria for initiation and termination of drought conditions.

§ Notification procedures on initiation and termination of drought conditions and measures.

§ Drought water-use measures associated with each trigger condition.

§ Water allocation.

§ Enforcement, variances and severability.

§ Review and update schedule.

Section 2 – Service Area and System Evaluation

2.1 Water Supply and Wastewater System

SRA owns and operates four major projects in the Sabine Basin (Basin): the John W. Simmons Gulf Coast Canal System, Iron Bridge Dam and Reservoir (Lake Tawakoni), Lake Fork Dam and Reservoir, and Toledo Bend Dam and Reservoir. Water diverted from the John W. Simmons Gulf Coast Canal System is used for municipal, industrial, and irrigation purposes. The three reservoirs primarily serve as sources of water supply and provide recreational opportunities, although Toledo Bend, a joint project of SRA and SRA-LA, is also equipped to generate hydroelectric power with releases from the reservoir.

The Gulf Coast Division operates the John W. Simmons Gulf Coast Canal System that serves the Orange County area. The main canal is approximately 30 miles long and has over 45 miles of lateral canals that branch off to serve customers in the area. There are 12 diversions from the canal system with contract maximums totaling 72,009 acre-feet per year (ac-ft/yr) or 64.3 million gallons per day (mgd). The pump station, on an intake canal off of the Sabine River, has a design capacity of approximately 360 mgd and the conveyance capacity is 346,000 ac-ft/yr (309 mgd). The canal system supplies water to a municipality and several industries including petrochemical plants, a pulp and paper mill, a steel mill, and an electric generating station, and for irrigation. The Gulf Coast Division operates the SRA 1 Plant wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located in Orange County.

Toledo Bend Dam and Reservoir, managed by the Toledo Bend Division, lies on the state boundary of Texas and Louisiana. The reservoir yield of 2,086,600 ac-ft/yr (1,862.7 mgd) is shared equally between the two states. The storage capacity of the reservoir is 4,477,000 ac-ft. Six Texas diversions serve five municipal customers and one industrial customer with contracts totaling 20,279 ac-ft/yr (18.11 mgd). In addition to serving as a water supply source, Toledo Bend Dam provides hydroelectric power that represented a non-consumptive use of 3,356,570 ac-ft in 2007.

Iron Bridge Dam and Lake Tawakoni are located in parts of Hunt, Rains, and Van Zandt Counties and are managed by the Iron Bridge Division of SRA. The reservoir has an as-built storage capacity of 927,440 ac-ft and a permitted yield of 238,100 ac-ft/yr (212.6 mgd). The City of Dallas, through its Dallas Water Utilities Division (DWU), maintains a contract with SRA for 80 percent of the yield of the project. Iron Bridge Division has 9 water supply contracts which allow diversion of up to 236,715 ac-ft/yr (211.33 mgd) from Lake Tawakoni. The Iron Bridge Division operates and maintains all facilities for the Iron Bridge Dam and Lake Tawakoni Reservoir and also operates both the Wind Point Park wastewater treatment system and the Lake Tawakoni State Park WWTP which serve areas near the reservoir.

Lake Fork Dam and Reservoir, operated by the Lake Fork Division of SRA, is located in Wood, Rains, and Hopkins Counties. The reservoir has an as-built storage capacity of 675,819 ac-ft and a permitted yield of 188,660 ac-ft/yr (168.4 mgd). DWU maintains a contract with SRA for about 70 percent of the yield of the project. Seven entities have eight Lake Fork Division contracts to divert up to 169,082 ac-ft/yr of water from Lake Fork Reservoir, with 35,262 ac-ft/yr of that total amount contracted for release to four downstream customers. The Lake Fork Division also operates the Lake Fork WWTP No. 1 which serves some areas near the reservoir.

SRA also maintains a Joint Use Permit for Lake Tawakoni and Lake Fork Reservoirs which allows SRA to sell water from one reservoir with the water actually being diverted from the other reservoir provided all appropriate permit conditions are met. SRA currently allows eleven entities with a total of sixteen contracts for 19,533 ac-ft/yr of water from Lake Fork Reservoir to divert their Lake Fork Reservoir water supplies from Lake Tawakoni Reservoir under this Joint Use Permit.

The total contracted diversion amounts from Lake Tawakoni and Lake Fork Reservoir identified above do not include diversions under a contract referred to as the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) Interim Water Contract. The Interim Water Contract allows NTMWD to use water reserved for SRA wholesale customers (other than Dallas) but not currently needed. The NTMWD Interim Water Contract is subordinate to pre-existing SRA wholesale customers’ contracts and the subordinate status of the NTMWD Interim Water Contract is taken into account in applying the Drought Contingency Plan. The annual amount of interim water available to NTMWD under the NTMWD Interim Water Contract is determined prior to each calendar year based upon the estimated amount of water which is expected to be unused during the coming year by the existing wholesale customers who have contracted for long-term future supplies beyond their current actual required usage.

2.2 SRA Service Area Population, Historical and Projected Use

Twenty-one counties lie entirely or partially within the Basin, but the population and area currently served by SRA is not easily defined since many SRA-supplied entities receive water from multiple sources and distribute water to multiple customers. For the purposes of this Plan, SRA’s service area is defined as the Texas portion of the Basin plus entities outside the geographic Basin that use SRA raw water—City of Dallas, City of Commerce, NTMWD, and City of Rose City. In some sections of this report, especially those dealing with water use estimates, only the population and service area of current SRA raw water customers is used, excluding regions of the Basin that do not contract for water from SRA projects.

SRA’s service area, determined using a Geographic Information System (GIS), is 11,201 square miles. This area includes the Texas portion of the Basin as well as the service area of current customers outside the geographic Basin. The service area population, determined using 2000 Census GIS data, is 2,212,201 with 501,729 of that population being in-Basin. The current population served for water supply is 2,368,772 (Appendix B - Sources and Method for Calculation of Current and Projected Population). Population served for wastewater is negligible and confined to four small wastewater treatment systems. Figure 2 is a map of the SRA service area.

Figure 2 Map of SRA Service Area

Figure 3 shows SRA’s service area population projected through 2060 based on TWDB-approved 2000-2060 population projections for water user groups in each of the 16 planning regions.[2] This figure shows a near doubling of SRA’s service area population by 2060.

Figure 3 Projected SRA Service Area Population 2010-2060

Table 1 shows the projected population for SRA’s water customers for each decade until 2060.

Table 1 Projected Population for SRA's Water Customers 2010-2060

Decade	2010	2020	2030	2040	2050	2060
In-Basin Water Customer Pop.	169,848	185,840	203,588	226,535	268,672	331,672
Out-of-Basin Water Customer Pop.	2,799,918	3,344,797	3,739,825	4,118,749	4,549,402	5,113,154
Total Water Customers Pop.	2,969,766	3,530,637	3,943,413	4,345,284	4,818,074	5,444,826
Source: 2006 TWDB-approved projections

The population projections are from the 2006 Regions C, D, and I Regional Water Plans created by TWDB. As a river authority and regional wholesale water provider, SRA depends on the TWDB for official population data for state surface water consumers.

Table 2 lists SRA’s wholesale customers, the contracted amount of water for each, and the amount of water delivered in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. Note that since water availability varies significantly from the upper Basin (Lake Tawakoni/Lake Fork) to the lower Basin (Toledo Bend/Gulf Coast Division), each division is summarized separately and then totaled.

Table 2 Wholesale Customers, Contracted Amount, and Amount Delivered FY-2008

Contractor Name	Contracted Amount (ac-ft)	FY-2008 Amount of Water Delivered (ac-ft)
Gulf Coast Division
A. Schulman	224	-0-
Chevron Phillips	2,240	1,075
City of Rose City	479	78
E.I. DuPont	24,643	15,165
Entergy	4,481	2,957
Firestone Polymers	737	1,859
Gerdau Ameristeel	1,120	650
Honeywell	1,120	638
Cottonwood Energy	13,442	3,349
Irrigation	NA	448
Lanxess	1,120	3,293
Misc.	NA	11
Temple Inland	22,403	17,584
Gulf Coast Division Totals	72,009	47,107
Toledo Bend Division
Beechwood WSC	190	0
City of Hemphill	1,841	669
City of Huxley	280	216
El Camino Water System	18	16
Pendleton Utilities Corp.	28	58
Tenaska	17,922	3,389
Toledo Bend Division Totals	20,279	4,348
Lake Fork Division
Able Springs WSC*	1,120	258
Bright Star Salem SUD	840	-0-
Cash SUD*	4,124	-0-
City of Dallas	131,860	-0-
City of Edgewood*	840	3
City of Emory*	2,016	-0-
City of Greenville*	4,481	-0-
City of Henderson	5,041	963
City of Kilgore	6,721	2,240
City of Longview	20,000	2,811
City of Point*	224	-0-
City of Quitman	1,120	336
Combined Consumers SUD*	2,240	717
Eastman Chemical	3,500	-0-
Lone Oak Land Development*	384	146
Mac Bee SUD*	2,240	582
South Tawakoni WSC*	1,680	358
Tawakoni Plant Farm Ltd.*	184	157
Lake Fork Division Totals	188,615	8,571
Iron Bridge Division
Cash SUD	1,679	1,266
City of Dallas	190,480	76,294
City of Emory**	1,212	851
City of Greenville	21,283	5,142
City of Point	224	168
City of West Tawakoni	1,120	268
City of Wills Point	2,240	258
Commerce Water District	8,396	1,355
NTMWD	10,081	2,285
Iron Bridge Division Totals	236,715	87,887
Total All Division	517,618	147,913

*Indicates Lake Fork Division contract but water is diverted from Lake Tawakoni under Joint Use Water Right
** Includes Community Water Company (to Emory).

The total contracted amounts from the Iron Bridge Division and Lake Fork Division identified above do not include the up to 40,000 ac-ft/yr of water contracted to NTMWD under the “Interim” contract as described in Section 2.1.

Table 3 lists the total amount of water diverted for the previous five calendar years for all consumptive uses. The 2007 total in Table 3 is the total amount of raw water provided under all wholesale contracts for the most recent year.

Table 3 Total Amount of Water Diverted for Consumptive Uses Calendar Years 2003-2007

Year	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Jan	13,310	5,584	17,786	17,608	7,893
Feb	6,074	4,829	12,282	24,414	5,114
Mar	6,086	5,973	14,499	20,610	12,053
Apr	5,767	5,626	17,677	20,670	16,947
May	10,253	5,850	25,950	17,021	11,325
Jun	19,304	23,580	29,195	24,025	14,995
Jul	20,018	25,596	29,557	24,713	18,296
Aug	20,103	10,689	29,239	24,997	23,914
Sep	9,998	21,942	20,937