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Denton officials say water master plan needs $1.12 billion in investment after growth shifted to city edge
Summary
City staff told the council an update to the 2018 Water Master Plan shifts needed treatment and conveyance investments to the city perimeter, raising the 25‑year capital estimate from $248 million to $1.12 billion and prompting a faster adoption schedule.
Denton City water officials told the City Council on Sept. 16 that growth patterns since the city’s 2018 water master plan have shifted from infill toward the perimeter and that change — combined with inflation and higher labor costs — increases projected capital needs for the next 25 years to roughly $1.12 billion.
Stephen Gay, water utilities and street operations general manager, said the 2018 plan projected higher growth in the city core and lower growth at the edge; the opposite trend is occurring now, particularly south of U.S. 380 and west of I‑35 and around new developments to the south. That has raised demand for treatment and conveyance facilities where infrastructure is limited, Gay said.
City staff said the 2018 master plan identified $248 million in capital investments across the planning window. The draft update the city presented to council increases that estimate to $1,120,000,000. Gay said material costs have more than doubled since 2018 and labor costs have risen sharply, with COVID‑era supply and labor effects also contributing. He said the update reflects new observations of demand and a revised distribution of where growth is occurring.
The presentation compared observed population growth to the 2018 projections in three service areas: Service Area 1A (65% below projections), Service Area 1B (185% above projections) and Service Area 2 (14% above projections), and it showed the most intense near‑term capital needs concentrated in areas with little existing water infrastructure.
Gay described master plans as living documents and said the water master plan informs the city’s impact fee studies and five‑, ten‑ and 25‑year capital improvement planning. He told council staff expects to present the update to the Public Utilities Board on Sept. 29 and return the plan to City Council for adoption on Sept. 30.
Council members asked about tools the city could use to influence development patterns rather than only reacting more frequently. A representative from District 2 urged staff to present options — incentives, impact fees or other levers — that could help steer development to leverage existing infrastructure. Gay said the city has tightened coordination with Development Services to track emerging development patterns and plans to revisit master plans more frequently.
Gay and staff also described the data sources used to forecast growth, including meter data, planned developments, the comprehensive plan, and population projections from the North Central Texas Council of Governments. The presentation noted the city’s Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) defines areas the city must serve.
Next steps listed by staff were a Public Utilities Board briefing Sept. 29 and seeking council adoption Sept. 30. No formal council vote was taken during the Sept. 16 work session; staff sought direction and shared the adoption timeline.
Ending: The update shifts the focus of near‑term investment to areas the city is already seeing develop fastest. City staff framed the draft plan as a tool to update impact fees and capital planning in light of observed growth and rising construction costs.
