Ennis staff warn water and sewer systems are strained by rapid growth; $1.02 billion replacement price-tag cited

City Manager Andrea Vishna Behringer told residents at a January town hall that Ennis's water and wastewater systems are under strain after years of rapid growth and that staff are working on studies, design changes and funding strategies to close the gap.

"We have to have a properly functioning water and wastewater system," Behringer said, introducing presentations from the public works team. She said the session's aim was to explain system condition, planned projects and funding options and to take residents' questions.

Public works director Douglas Taylor presented a high-level inventory of major components and offered a staff cost estimate for a theoretical, full-system replacement. Taylor said intake pumps, treatment facilities, distribution piping, lift stations and storage together add up to an estimated total on the order of $1.0185 billion to replace the system as-is.

"If we add all those up... estimated to replace our entire water and wastewater infrastructure," Taylor said, underscoring that the figure is a rough, system-wide estimate rather than a single, financed project.

Why it matters: Behringer and utility staff said Ennis's growth has outpaced the planning assumptions used in past master plans. The city's estimated 2024 population (24,753) and multi-year development pipeline have increased demand on a treatment-plant system that staff said is permitted at 9.1 million gallons per day (MGD) but that, because of filter-type and operating constraints, can reliably sustain roughly 7 MGD on active runs.

Capacity and studies: Staff said they are conducting a regional water-capacity study, led by regional water partners, that will evaluate raw-water availability and include 10-, 25- and 50-year projections. On the wastewater side the city has completed a permit increase and is conducting a sewer-capacity study and hydraulic modeling intended to produce a wastewater master plan and a capital-improvement program (CIP) by early 2027.

Operational toll and public behavior: A recurring operational theme was the damage caused by wipes and grease in the collection system. Bruce, a wastewater presenter, showed examples removed from screens and said non-degrading wet wipes and grease tear screens and can snap pump shafts. He described a case in which recently upgraded lift-station pumps suffered shaft failures and required roughly $60,000 in repairs.

"Wipes clog pipes. No matter how often it says it's flushable, they're horrendous for the system," Behringer told the audience, and staff said they will emphasize public education in newsletters and outreach.

Projects and funding: Staff listed dozens of known problem locations and dozens of ongoing or planned projects, some in design and several paused. A previously allocated $15 million set aside for a water-treatment-plant upgrade remains reserved, officials said, but the project is on hold pending redesign after findings that the original design might not deliver the required net capacity and raised compliance and constructibility issues.

Officials described typical funding paths: many state and federal programs operate as loans, sometimes with subsidized interest, and the Texas Water Development Board commonly acts as a pass-through for federal assistance. Staff said the city is tracking grants and loan windows and working with engineers and regional partners to apply where appropriate. The city also said it is undertaking a utility-rate study and building an asset-management system to prioritize work and smooth future rate adjustments.

What the city will not do immediately: Staff emphasized the system is not broken today and said fully replacing everything at once would be financially untenable for the city and residents. Instead, officials described a phased approach: studies and modeling to target high-impact projects, applying for subsidized loans and grants, and incremental upgrades to critical lift stations, mains and plant processes.

Next steps and outreach: Staff said they will continue the regional capacity study, finish the wastewater hydraulic model and master plan, pursue funding opportunities, finalize design work where appropriate and increase public education about what should not be flushed. At the end of the meeting staff invited residents to meet individually with public-works staff and published contact points for follow-up.

The meeting included a lengthy question-and-answer period in which staff answered questions about meter practices, impact fees (which staff said require an updated comprehensive plan), developer responsibilities, and whether treated effluent can return to the lake and to the local power plant (staff said it already does, and that a return line to Bardwell Lake would extend water-right credits). The city will post a recording and the presentation materials on its website.