The City of Heath has reached an agreement with its neighbors and a regional water provider that increases the amount of water available to its residents by half a million gallons of water a day.
A state appeals court recently dismissed a lawsuit Heath filed three years ago against the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) and the cities of Rockwall and Forney after the parties reached an agreement effectively ending the dispute over water supplies.
“I’m pleased to announce that the lawsuit with NTMWD, Rockwall, and Forney is finally coming to a resolve after 14 months of negotiations—truly a major milestone for our city,” Heath Mayor Jeremiah McClure wrote on social media last week.
The City of Heath is not a member of the NTMWD and has to purchase water from the City of Rockwall, which is a member.
Under a new Memorandum of Understanding with Rockwall, Heath’s available water was increased from 6 million gallons to 6.5 million gallons per day, with an additional 500,000 gallons to be added next summer. The city said in a news release the contract “provides some much-needed relief in meeting the City of Heath’s growing water needs.”
The city of more than10,000 people has grown steadily each year, up from less than 7,000 in the 2010 census count.
Communities across North Texas are grappling with the issue of a growing demand on water supplies as the region’s population is expected to grow to 12 million people by 2050.
A spokesperson for the NTMWD praised the agreement, saying it “fits the needs of all concerned, including a critical focus on water conservation for our rapidly growing region.”
If the increase is sustainable, a total of 7 million gallons of water per day will be available to Heath starting in 2027.
“This should be fantastic news for the citizens in Heath, right?” said Tim McCallum, Mayor of Rockwall. “Of course, they've had pretty severe water restrictions and so this helps give them some relief and allows them some capacity for to manage their growth as well.”
As part of the agreement, Heath will install a water restrictor valve controlled by Rockwall. It will also continue to implement water usage restrictions, including a twice-per-week scheduled of water with an irrigation system.
“The increase in supply takes off some of the pressure we have been under to keep water use under the 90% threshold,” Heath City Manager Steven Alexander said in a news release. “Resolving the supply issue will take time, and as such, conservation will remain an important initiative in Heath, as it is throughout Texas and much of the country.”
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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