City of Waco considers Brazos River as a backup water source

KWTX
By Alex Fulton
Published: Apr. 5, 2023 at 6:11 PM CST

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Currently, the city of Waco uses Lake Waco as its major water source, but as lake levels continue dropping from the drought the Brazos River could be the solution.

Officials say even with rain in recent months, the downpours aren’t making a big difference in getting Waco out of the drought.

”On days like today where things get a little bit drizzly, some people get excited about it,” Jessica Emmett Sellers, City of Waco Department of Water spokesperson, said. “We need a major rain event where we get lots of runoff.”

In fact, much of Central Texas is still trying to make up for the rain deficit it suffered last year.

In the last ten months drought conditions have been exceptional for most of the area at times to only moderate for some east of I-35. Most of Bell, McLennan and Coryell counties are now in the extreme drought category, meaning water restrictions are needed.

Ten out of the 16 counties in the region have active water restrictions, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

KWTX meteorologist Sean Bellafiore said the lack of those major rain events in spring or summer of last year has gotten area lake levels, including Lake Waco, as low as they are today.

“A year ago every single reservoir was 80% more or higher, but now most of them are below 70%,” he said.

Those low numbers are the reason why the City of Waco is now looking towards backup water sources like the Brazos River, which it has the rights to.

If the plan to use the river gets city council approval, the city would have to build new infrastructure to eventually use it as a water supply, a process they say wouldn’t be complete until October 2023.

“We have a whole team of water treatment experts that are going to look at what it’s going to take to get that water to get to the quality we expect it to,” Emmett Sellers said.

The Brazos River Authority said the city has had rights to use certain parts of the Brazos River since the 1920s.

“It would get us through the drought, but would not replace the lake by any means,” Emmett Sellers said.

Waco’s current water restrictions prevent people from watering between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. and limit people to certain days of the week based on their address. Homeowners of odd numbered addresses can only water on Tuesdays and Saturdays while homeowners of even numbered addresses can only water on Wednesdays and Sundays.

But the city said the restrictions could get stricter if conditions don’t improve.

“Maybe think about ways to plant that don’t take as much water or have some landscaping ideas that don’t take as much water,” Emmett Sellers said.

The city is also exploring other water sources owned by the city to be used in case of emergency.