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City manager: legislature spared zone’s financing tools; aquifer storage, reclaimed water plan advances
Summary
Temple city staff reported the Legislature did not pass measures that would have restricted municipal bonding or certain economic-development incentives, and described progress on an aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) plan and related legislation that would allow reuse of purified reclaimed water for injection and later recovery.
Temple — At the May 28 Temple Reinvestment Zone No. 1 meeting the city manager provided a legislative and water-resources update, reporting wins in Austin and detailing local plans to expand water supply using aquifer storage and recovery and reclaimed water.
The city manager said House Bill 15, which the city described as a proposal to impose an arbitrary cap on municipal debt-service management, was held in committee and did not advance. The manager also said there is no pending legislation that would curtail use of Chapter 380 economic development agreements or Chapter 312 tax abatement agreements, both tools the city uses to attract investment.
Staff reported a separate change in state law to permit certain voluntary annexations where adjacency is separated only by a railroad line; sponsors described the change as resolving a non-contiguity issue that previously blocked some annexations.
On water resources, staff described an aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) strategy and related legislation that would authorize the city to inject both treated surface water and purified reclaimed water into the aquifer for later recovery. The city has drilled an initial well in Synergy Park designed for both production and injection, staff said, and is designing a multi-well system to store and recover water to shave peak-day demands.
City staff said ASR plus the ability to inject purified reclaimed water could add roughly 10–15% to the city’s existing water rights portfolio. In the meeting staff provided plant capacity figures: roughly 30 million gallons per day in the conventional (older) treatment plant and about 22 million gallons per day in the membrane plant, for a combined treatment capacity the presenters described as approximately 52 million gallons per day.
The city manager described the ASR bill (identified in the meeting as Senate Bill 2885) as having received unanimous committee and floor support in both chambers after a last-minute amendment was attached to a different House vehicle; the amended bill passed the House and the city expected the matter to go to the governor. Staff said the bill was not controversial in committee and had bipartisan support, including endorsements from groups such as the Sierra Club.
Board members and staff discussed the ASR system as a way to diversify supply beyond surface water and to reduce exposure to drought-driven restrictions. Staff emphasized that reclaimed water use for ASR required a change in state law; that change was pursued this session and was advanced by the legislature into the final steps of the process, staff said.
The city manager also briefed the board on other legislative items: staff reported success in preserving the city’s ability to retain advocacy resources and consultants and said several high-risk bills were held or died because of timing and committee procedures.
Staff said next steps include securing permits and reserving small parcels for additional ASR wells, coordinating with regional water partners and finalizing the legal and technical framework to use reclaimed water for storage and recovery.
