Council approves groundwater-transfer and cost-sharing agreement with Bella Vista Water District to enable development in overlap area

The council authorized the city to enter a groundwater-transfer and facilities cost-sharing agreement with Bella Vista Water District designed to remove water-supply as a development barrier in the network of overlapping service areas. Under the agreement Bella Vista can purchase a reservation in the groundwater system by paying a fixed reservation fee of $2,375 per acre-foot and reserving the right to access up to 1,000 acre-feet of groundwater in a given year. Staff said Bella Vista’s service area includes about 3,000 city customers within the city limits and that Bella Vista’s surface-water rights and well production have left the district vulnerable in drought years.

City staff and the district emphasized the agreement is intended to enable development in the overlap area by allowing Bella Vista to provide will-serve letters for new projects in city limits that otherwise could not secure reliable water. The agreement includes reporting requirements: Bella Vista must report annually on the amount of development served and the associated volume of water used. City and district staff said the agreement is a first step; they expect to work on implementation details and monitoring on an ongoing basis and emphasized the agreement reduces the immediate barrier that had stalled specific construction projects.

Council members asked whether the district could use the water elsewhere in its service area; staff said the district and city intend the allocation to support development in the overlap area and that implementation steps on the district side will include operational decisions and priority-setting. The council approved the agreement unanimously. Staff said the arrangement can be revisited and expanded as development proceeds.