NEW WATERS The North Fort Bend and West Harris County Regional water authorities planned an over $1 billion Surface Water Supply Project to help cities satisfy the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District source water conversion requirements. The project has ve segments, three of which are near the Katy area.
and the surrounding region by 2027, per Esri geographic data. “Subsidence that we see at the land surface is pretty consistent [across the area],” Turco said. Potential e ects Turco said subsidence has contributed to ooding across the Houston area. “These [ ooding events] are in the same areas where we are seeing subsidence rates at 1 1/2 to 3 cen- timeters per year,” he said. Mace, with more than 30 years of water policy experience in Texas, said the doughy geological sub- layers of the Houston region and its at landscape contribute to subsidence. Damage to homes and buildings may occur along active faults—a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock—where di erential subsidence can occur, Mace said. “We have geologic variations, and we have these faults, where [land will] subside more on one side than the other,” he said. If ground pumping trends continue, faults near the Katy area, such as the Addicks fault line near the Barker reservoir in southeastern Katy, will likely become reactivated or increase in activity over time, Khan’s report concluded. Experts also warned excessive groundwater pumping will make ood mitigation more di cult in an area where it is already challenging. Excessively extracting water from beneath the earth causes the land’s surface to sink. Even inland cities are impacted by subsidence, which contrib- utes to changes in drainage patterns, ooding, fault movement, and damages to wells and pipelines, according to the HGSD. Alternative sources Katy’s land sunk a total of 7.2 inches from 2008-16 and another 4 inches from 2016-21, Khan’s report and HGSD data shows. However, local water authorities, such as the West Harris County Regional Water Authority and the North Fort Bend Water Authority, are monitoring groundwater usage and working to wean cities o it as the primary source for drinking water and utilities. To address subsidence, they are collaborating on a $1 billion surface water pipeline that will run from Lake Houston to North Fry Road near Grand
249
CHANGING TIDES 2010 The HGSD requires a
69
LAKE HOUSTON
SEGMENT B
30% reduction of groundwater usage from Harris and Galveston counties. 2016 The design of Surface Water Supply Project begins. 2020 The construction on Segment C of surface water pipeline begins in Katy. 2024 The construction on the Kinder Morgan segment of surface water pipeline begins in Katy.
SEGMENT C
99
SEGMENT A
45
290
610
KINDER MORGAN SEGMENT
10
6
CENTERPOINT SEGMENT
90
8
WESTPARK TOLLWAY
288
N
Parkway, under construction since 2020. At a July 28 special meeting, Katy City Council approved a resolution with the WHCRWA to receive 3.6 million gallons of potable water to three of the city’s water production facilities as soon as the sur- face water supply pipeline is completed—in late 2025 by the WHCRWA’s earliest estimate. The Surface Water Supply Project, jointly funded by the NFBWA and the WHCRWA, consists of large water transmission lines and two pump stations designed to convey surface water from the treatment plant at Lake Houston to entities and cities within their respective jurisdictions. The project’s purpose is to meet the HGSD’s groundwater reduction requirements for 2025 and beyond—to eventually only use groundwater for 20% of a city’s operations, according to the SWSP team. In 2013, the HGSD set requirements for all water suppliers in Harris and Galveston counties to reduce groundwater pumping based on the rate of sub- sidence in their area. The city of Katy must cut its groundwater usage 60% by 2025 and 80% by 2035, according to the HGSD’s regulatory plan. Construction on the Katy portion of the pipe- line—west of Beltway 8 to north Fry Road—began in 2020 and will be completed in late 2023, the SWSP team said. Kasper wrote in a July 28 memo the bene t of early conversion to surface water would be slowing
2025 The HGSD requires a 60% reduction of groundwater usage. This is the WHCRWA’s earliest expected delivery of the completed surface water pipeline.
2035 The HGSD requires a 80% reduction of groundwater usage.
SOURCES: WEST HARRIS COUNTY REGIONAL WATER AUTHORITY, HARRIS GALVESTON SUBSIDENCE DISTRICT COMMUNITY IMPACT
land subsidence in the areas near the city of Katy’s water wells, but the four wells in Waller County will need to remain operational at their full capacity. “Depending on the location of the development activity, it is possible that the city would need to construct a new water well in Waller County even if surface water supplies are available at the city’s facil- ities in Harris and Fort Bend counties,” Kasper said in the memo. Khan sent his report to Katy o cials to encourage an open dialogue about his research. “Finding out about subsidence now is good,” Khan said. “Once you know a problem, you take steps to cure the problem before it gets too late.”
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
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