PROJECT PARTNERS
Central Harris County Regional Water Authority
The Central Harris County Regional Water Authority (CHCRWA) is a conservation and reclamation district created by the Texas Legislature in 2005, to provide for the conservation, preservation, protection, recharge and prevention of waste of groundwater, to develop and implement a groundwater reduction plan, and to acquire and develop surface water and groundwater resources for the benefit of the people within its boundaries.
The CHCRWA serves an area primarily north of Beltway 8, south of FM 1960, west of Interstate 45 and east of Texas State Highway 249 with the underlying goal of fulfilling a mandate by the Houston Galveston Subsidence District to convert from groundwater wells to a surface-water supply.
City of Houston
We are proud of our drinking water product and services. As residents within the City of Houston community, we are committed to serve and protect the drinking water health of our customers.
The City of Houston drinking water system maintains a “Superior” rating, the highest rating for water quality issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Our customers should be confident that the drinking water quality protects their health and well-being. The City of Houston wastewater system has consistently been awarded Gold and Silver awards from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, in recognition of our ability to produce wastewater discharges in compliance with federal regulations that protect the public and the aquatic environment.
Our drinking water and wastewater utility serves approximately 2.2 million customers daily. Pipelines and physical facilities are geographically located throughout a four county service area, in excess of 600 square miles.
North Fort Bend Water Authority
The North Fort Bend Water Authority (NFBWA) was created to facilitate compliance with the Fort Bend Subsidence District’s groundwater reduction mandates by creating a viable single entity to acquire, develop and deliver a long term supply of potable surface water to water users within the water authority’s boundaries. The mandates are outlined in the Subsidence District’s 2003 Regulatory Plan, and are intended to wean the area off its dependence on groundwater in a phased reduction plan, to minimize the risk of future subsidence, and to enable the aquifers that serve the region to recharge.
In addition, Fort Bend County has monitored the water supply issue since the late 1980’s through the Fort Bend County Surface Water Supply Corporation. The Corporation completed a detailed study in 2002 which concluded that rapid population growth in Fort Bend County combined with the Subsidence District’s groundwater reduction requirements will likely cause water shortages in the County.
Working collaboratively with others in the region, Fort Bend County is trying to avoid the problems with subsidence and water supply that portions of Galveston and Harris Counties have suffered.
North Harris County Regional Water Authority
The North Harris County Regional Water Authority (NHCRWA) became the single entity empowered to negotiate for a secure, long-term, reliable, quality supply of wholesale drinking water for all the independent neighborhoods, municipal utility districts, small municipalities, and permitted well owners within its boundaries in January 2000.
NHCRWA serves the area essentially bounded by US 290 on the west, the Harris County line on the north (Spring Creek), FM 1960 and Bammel-North Houston on the south and the western shores of Lake Houston on the east. This area is comprised of 335 square miles and includes approximately 710,000 residents.
The NHCRWA’s primary assignment is to develop and implement a strategy for complying with the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District’s Regulatory Plan that requires a reduction in groundwater usage to no more than 20 percent of total water demand by the year 2035.
West Harris County Regional Water Authority
Residents in West Harris County have traditionally relied on groundwater pumped from individual wells by municipal utility districts or other water suppliers to supply all their water needs. Several years ago, however, the Harris Galveston Subsidence District (HGSD) mandated the phased reduction of our dependence on groundwater to preserve this critical natural resource.
The West Harris County Regional Water Authority was created by the Texas Legislature to manage an orderly transition from groundwater to surface water in compliance with the HGSD mandate. The Authority’s 2010 Capital Improvement Plan projects to bring surface water – purchased through a water supply contract with the City of Houston – to 48 water plants within 38 municipal utility districts to serve the West Harris County neighborhoods.