The U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution on September 28 to accelerate the permitting process for the Lower Bois d’Arc Creek Reservoir, a major water infrastructure project for North Texas. The legislation, known as the Water Resources Development Act, mandates that the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issue a final construction permit no later than September 30, 2017. The bill is now pending a vote in the Senate.
The resolution was introduced in February by U.S. Representative Sam Johnson of Plano. It was co-sponsored by U.S. Representatives Pete Sessions of Dallas, John Ratcliffe of Heath, and Eddie Bernice Johnson of Waco. The measure aims to resolve long-standing regulatory hurdles that have delayed the project for years.
Planning for the reservoir has spanned more than a decade, with construction costs already exceeding $122 million. The project faced significant delays starting in 2008 when efforts to secure a Clean Water Act permit from the EPA stalled. According to Janet Rummel, a spokesperson for the North Texas Municipal Water District, federal agencies requested additional environmental studies using an assessment model that was not yet fully developed. Fulfilling these requests would have caused a one- to two-year delay and added an estimated $17 million to construction costs.
The district had originally planned to begin construction in 2015. If the required permit is received in 2018, the expected date for delivering water from the reservoir has been pushed back to 2022. The reservoir is located in Fannin County and is described as a critical component for the region’s long-term water supply. Dallas is about 31 miles east of Fort Worth.
Officials emphasize the urgency of the project due to rapid population growth. Tom Kula, executive director of the North Texas Municipal Water District, stated that the district serves 90 communities across ten counties. The number of people served is expected to more than double by 2070. Kula noted that water conservation alone will not be sufficient to support a population expected to double over the next 50 years.
