A Route Study to Reduce Expenses and Reduce Groundwater Usage

North Harris County Regional Water Authority (the Authority) continues the implementation of its Groundwater Reduction Plan (GRP), which is to replace the use of groundwater by providing surface water (conversion) in the North Houston area. The Authority’s Project 37 represents a critical component of the Authority’s system to provide surface water to its customers in the northwest portion of its service area. The original plan for Project 37 included new transmission water lines as well as a repump station to serve the project area. The route study for Project 37 had several challenges, including: coordination with a third-party consultant for hydraulic modeling efforts, coordination with numerous Municipal Utility Districts and public agencies, identifying public and private utilities, limiting the impact to the public in fully developed neighborhoods, and evaluating ways to reduce cost. The final route for Project 37 consists of approximately 41 mi of water lines ranging in diameter from 42 in. to 12 in. and delivering surface water to 23 water receiving facilities. Through unique ideas and solutions, the final route also eliminated the need for the new repump station, eliminating the expenses on construction, operation, and maintenance of the station. Overall, the selected Project 37 route allows the Authority to reduce the amount of funding needed to construct Project 37, save money in operations and maintenance, and meet the GRP conversion goals.