TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR -- The Sabine River Authority of Louisiana and its counterparts in Texas are inching closer to inking a deal to pump millions of gallons of water to the Dallas-Fort Worth region while dumping millions of greenbacks into each agency's bank accounts.
Just the thought of the revenue that could be coming to the SRA-Louisiana already has some officials grinning a little broader. "Our financial woes are about to be over," said an optimistic Chairman Ken Freeman.
"Water sales: it's our salvation," added Executive Director Jim Pratt:
The feasibility of piping Toledo Bend Reservoir water to the water-starved East Texas region has been the subject of a study the SRA-Texas commissioned in July. Though still not concluded, preliminary information gleaned from the engineering portion indicates, "it's pretty feasible," said Ann Galassi, SRA-Texas spokeswoman.
That glimmer of hope already has brought SRA officials from both sides of the lake to the table to begin broad discussions about what's ahead. Details could be on paper and a contract signed three to six months from now.
"It is a complicated process," Galassi conceded.
The SRA-Louisiana Board of Commissioners took action at its meeting last week to make sure any bumps along the way are smoothed out prior to in-depth contract talks. The board voted to seek an attorney general's opinion on the sale of water to Texas.
"Looking at the SRA-Louisiana statutes, it's not clear that we can sell water outside of the state," Pratt said. "We don't know what the intent was originally, but we don't want an administrative glitch to hold us up. We do feel that we have the authority to sell to any customer, though."
SRA-Texas initiated the pipeline idea as a means of getting water from north Toledo Bend to the upper Sabine River Basin in north central Texas, where the SRA-Texas already provides a water supply through two man-made reservoirs it manages, Lake Fork and Lake Tawakoni. Dallas-Fort Worth officials partnered in the feasibility study because of the dire need it has for an additional water supply, Galassi said.
Preliminary figures released last year put an approximate $1.5 billion price tag on the pipeline project that would provide Dallas with a 15-year water supply. Piping water from Toledo Bend Reservoir is considered a faster and more cost efficient way of getting potential drinking water to the metropolitan area than building another reservoir.
It's unknown how much water the Dallas project would require, but early discussions hint that at least 600,000 acre feet of water would need to be dedicated, with the total split between the two SRAs.
The compact under which both SRA boards operate designates equal allocations of Toledo Bend Reservoir water to each agency. With 1 million acre-feet each, neither agency comes close to utilizing its full potential.
An acre-foot of water compares to 1 acre of land covered by 1 foot of water, or 325,870 gallons. Toledo Bend holds more than 1.4 trillion gallons of water at pool level, which is 172 feet mean sea level. That equates to 4,476,051 acre-feet of water at that level.
Galassi estimates SRA-Texas has only 1 percent of its yield committed to customers. SRA-Louisiana has more commitments because it sells to such entities as the town of Many, city of Mansfield, DeSoto Waterworks No. 1, International Paper Company, Dolet Hills Power Plant, Ebarb Water System and South Toledo Bend Water System.
Power generation draws almost 1 million acre-feet of water during the five-month period of May to September, resulting in about $2.5 million in annual revenue for the SRA-Louisiana. By comparison, water sales only bring in about $870,000 annually.
That could double, triple or quadruple, depending on terms of a contract negotiated with SRA-Texas and Dallas should the pipeline become a reality. It's also likely Dallas would begin some type of payments to reserve the water as soon as the contract is signed, with payments ballooning once actual water is delivered. Figures of anywhere from $1.5 million to $10 million have been mentioned.
What to do with all of that money? It won't be squandered, Pratt said. Because of budget deficits in recent years, the SRA-Louisiana has dipped deep into its reserve accounts, which are in dire need of replenishing, he said.
Money needs to be put aside for the multi-million dollar costs associated with the upcoming relicensing of the reservoir. Beyond that, the SRA could start paying attention to fishery needs, pave roads leading into the heavily used lake or begin recreation or projects in DeSoto and Vernon parishes.
"For the last 10 years, we've only supported Sabine Parish through Cypress Bend, and that's it," Freeman said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to expand our efforts throughout the basin."
Restructuring debt and holding off on any new projects has helped the SRA-Louisiana improve its bottom line this year. A profit of $243,951 was reported in May, and by June 30 it's expected to grow to $728,047. The 2004-05 budget approved Thursday projects a $213,000 surplus.
"It looks good, but we need to be planning for the future, for 10 years down the road. What if we stub our toe? We need to get our reserves up," Pratt said.
He and Freeman also are confident that contract bargaining can include ways to get the SRA-Texas in line with the lake level issue. A Louisiana law requires the SRA-Louisiana to stop hydroelectric power generation once the lake reached 168 feet mean sea level. But SRA-Texas officials want to explore the ramifications more before committing to a change in the generating guide.
"This could accomplish our goal of getting off our dependency of hydroelectric power. One impacts the other. All of these issues could be resolved here," Pratt said.