Denton outlines 'one-water' plan; reuse and purchases could raise firm yield toward 55M gallons per day

Stephen Gate, general manager of Water Utilities and Street Operations, presented the first of a three-part water-resource planning brief to Denton City Council on April 1, framing long-term water management around a "one-water" approach that integrates rights, reuse, conservation and regional purchases.

Gate explained how Denton's surface-water rights are deployed and how treated wastewater reuse (a bed-and-banks permit tied to Pecan Creek Water Reclamation Facility) augments the city's effective supply. He said Denton’s full lake rights (above the 50% conservation pool threshold) total about 237.75 million gallons per day in combined allocations, but a key planning metric is the firm yield—the reliable amount available during drought conditions. Gate said Denton’s firm-yield baseline had been about 24.1 million gallons per day in 2021.

Staff outlined how a combination of reuse authorization and negotiated purchases could expand the firm yield. Gate noted the city currently reclaims up to 12,050,000 gallons per day under its bed-and-banks authority; there is a pending TCEQ amendment under review to add roughly 9,000,000 gallons per day to that reuse authorization. Separately, Gate said staff are negotiating for roughly 10,000,000 gallons per day of additional raw-water purchases from regional providers. "When you add reuse and negotiated purchases, our firm yield could grow from about 24.1 to roughly 55 million gallons per day," Gate said.

Conservation and drought contingencies: Gate underscored that conservation reduces consumption and delays the need for new supply. He summarized a turf-buyback pilot (22 residents applied; 15 completed initial inspections; 4 under construction) and said the city's winter baseline demand is roughly 18 million gallons per day while average summer demand approaches 40 million per day. Gate also recounted a 2024 operational constraint that triggered Stage 2 drought restrictions; he said the Stage 2 period produced an observed demand drop of about 5 million gallons per day.

Planning, master planning and impact fees: Gate described the mechanics of growth-based master planning—how land-use plans, per-capita demand assumptions (roughly 80–100 gallons per capita per day for planning) and master-plan horizons drive capital-improvement schedules and impact-fee calculations. He told council that Denton is evaluating aquifer-storage/recovery, additional reuse expansion, negotiated raw-water purchases, and conservation investments as a portfolio. Gate said those options will be weighted and returned to council with cost and timing analyses.

Regional coordination: Gate explained the city’s role with the Upper Trinity Regional Water District (the city is a founding member) and the Texas Water Development Board regional planning process. He said including portions of the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction in planning helps avoid small, discrete wastewater/discharge permits and private wells that could complicate regional water quality and supply.

Ending: Gate offered a follow-up schedule—staff will return with comparative cost analyses, feasibility studies on storage/reuse/purchases, and recommended impact-fee updates. The briefing did not include a council vote.

Provenance: The water planning presentation began with Gate’s introduction (topicintro) and finished after council Q&A about reuse options, turf-buyback and impact-fee coordination (topicfinish).