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	LAH Not Enough Water By Year 2028 By: James Clark $300 million just for the infrastructure (not including pumping costs) and it won’t be enough water. Even after spending roughly $300 million for Lake Alan Henry and related projects it potentially won’t be enough to meet Lubbock’s needs by the year 2028 by one official estimate. Companies that might want to help Lubbock develop the Canyon Lake system as a water source have until today to submit their qualifications. The city’s official invitation to those companies says, “North Fork water supply sources may be necessary between 2028 and 2034.” It also says, “Population growth and conservation efforts can significantly impact these dates. A 5% to 10% conservation effort could move the dates back by as much as 10 years.” “Well, I was in favor of pursuing the issue of the Canyon Lakes back in the 1960’s. That’s when they were first proposed,” says Councilman-elect Paul R. Beane. “You have to have percolation tests, you’ve got to do all of the drilling, the core testing, you’ve got applications to the EPA and you’ve got all of the environmental issues that are involved and that is a long term project and unfortunately, time is not on our side in this water issue.” In other words this won’t be cheap, it won’t be easy and it sure won’t be fast. It could take 20 years to convert the Canyon lakes into a water source. Assistant City Manager Tom Adams says Lake Alan Henry is roughly a six-month supply of water for the city. That’s not enough. Adams says, “So, we’re looking into the feasibility of reusing our wastewater and also capturing storm water that flows into the North Fork. And we can use those two as an additional supply of water.” He’s referring to the North Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River. And Adams says the city is looking at possibly building Lake Post. Local businessman Byron Cowling has an idea that he’d like introduce to the council. “Y’know the Dallas/Fort Worth area, what they have been doing is they have been going all around the cities building reservoirs and dams, connecting them, to make it a wagon wheel effect where they can draw the water back and forth,” says Cowling. The specific details of Cowling’s idea are a story unto themselves. So, look for a follow up tomorrow morning. Posted below is a portion of the background information for potential bidders. City of Lubbock Engineering Services for Canyon Lakes Water Reuse Project Request for Qualifications A. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The City of Lubbock is soliciting Statements of Qualifications and Preliminary Proposals from engineering firms for professional services to provide Engineering Services for the planning and construction of Southeast Water Reclamation Plant (SEWRP) stream discharge improvements and for stream water quality modeling in the North and South Forks of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River. For many years the City of Lubbock (City) used land application as an alternative to dispose of wastewater effluent. Wastewater effluent was not considered a valuable resource, but a product that required disposal. A logical alternative at the time was to use the water for farming purposes. This practice began in the 1930s when the City piped treated wastewater effluent to a local, privately-operated farm. In the late 1980s the City began purchasing and taking over the farming operations in order to improve land application practices, farming operations, and groundwater management. Currently, the City is permitted to land apply a portion of its treated wastewater effluent from the Southeast Water Reclamation Plant (SEWRP) to about 8,500 acres of City-owned land and approximately 1,100 acres of privately-owned land. The SEWRP currently provides secondary, but not tertiary, treatment. The Lubbock Land Application Site (LLAS), which is located east of the City, makes up about 5,100 of the City-owned acres. The long-term application of wastewater effluent on this site has resulted in a “mound” of groundwater under the LLAS (i.e., the water table of the underlying Ogallala Aquifer is higher under the LLAS than in the surrounding area). The City developed the Canyon Lake System over 20 years ago, and a part of this system within and near Lubbock is referred to as the Jim Bertram Lake System. The Jim Bertram Lake System is a series of small recreational lakes in Yellowhouse Canyon that follow the stream bed of the North Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River (North Fork). The City began pumping “excess” groundwater from the LLAS to the head of the Canyon Lake System in order to lower the mound of groundwater. This step has been taken to reduce nitrate levels in the groundwater and to reduce the susceptibility of further groundwater contamination by its close proximity to the surface. In the late 1980s the City also developed Lake Alan Henry on the South Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River (South Fork). Lake Alan Henry was developed in the canyon areas of the South Fork about 65 miles southeast of the City. This Lake was developed as part of a plan for future water supplies. The head of the South Fork is located approximately 20 to 30 miles south of the Hancock Land Application Site (HLAS), which is the second land application site owned and operated by the City. By the late 1990s the City initiated an effort to reduce the amount of treated wastewater effluent that was going to the land application sites. Up to 40% of the effluent began to be treated to a higher quality and discharged down stream of the Canyon Lake System. Currently the City recognizes that highly treated wastewater effluent is a valuable resource, and that land application disposal is not the best use of this water. The water may be beneficial to the canyon lakes in both the North Fork and the South Fork. B. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The City contracted with HDR to model flow quantities. The City contracted with Black and Veatch to model discharge alternatives as part of the SEWRP improvement project. The water flows in the North Fork could include both natural and developed water flows. The source of developed water includes: (1) treated wastewater originating from the Canadian River Municipal Water District Lake Meredith and Roberts County ground water projects, (2) storm flows from playa lakes through the City’s developing storm water system; and (3) groundwater from the City’s Lubbock Land Application Site (LLAS). Return flows from North and South Fork Projects will also be available. For the first part of this RFQ, the City is seeking services to model water quality for environmental and reuse purposes. The modeling work will need to consider the potential volumes and quality from each source. The water modeling efforts mentioned previously will assist and provide a basis of information for water quality modeling effort. The City is considering at least three alternatives for the storage and diversion of water that can be included in the models. These include: (1) Post Reservoir on the North Fork about 7 miles east of the City of Post, (2) Lake Alan Henry on the South Fork about 65 miles southeast of Lubbock, and (3) Canyon Lake #7 on the North Fork just southeast of Lubbock. Environmental flow requirements are anticipated for most storage and diversion projects. Flows from all of the combined sources could generate a yield of 20,000 to 30,000+ acre-feet of water annually even with environmental flows. The quality of that water as well as general recommendations for treatment are required as part of this study. The City Council established the Lubbock Water Advisory Commission in July of 2003 in order to advise and make recommendations on water supply needs and water service operations. The Water Commission has been instrumental in helping develop long range water supply plans for the City. In 2007, the Water Commission and the City Council approved a Strategic Water Supply Plan that identified water supply alternatives. One of their recommendations is that the water supply from Lake Alan Henry on the South Fork needs to be supplemented, and the planned projects for the storage and diversion of water in the North Fork provide an opportunity to accomplish this. North Fork water supply sources may be necessary between 2028 and 2034. Planning for and developing reservoirs can take 20 to 30 years, so the time to begin planning efforts is now. Population growth and conservation efforts can significantly impact these dates. A 5% to 10% conservation effort could move the dates back by as much as 10 years. It is the intent of the City to move forward with appropriate planning efforts now to prepare to make use of this valuable water supply source. Preliminary Engineering Plans for improvements to the SEWRP were completed in August 2005 by Black and Veatch Corporation and Parkhill, Smith and Cooper, Inc. that would significantly improve wastewater effluent and increase the ability of the City to discharge treated effluent into the North Fork. Final design plans are nearing completion and the City is preparing to begin SEWRP improvements early in 2008. As part of the engineering services, Black and Veatch is developing stream models in conjunction with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to identify discharge locations, volumes and water quality requirements. With the completion of the improvements by 2010 or 2011, and with the finalization of a permit for the discharge of treated effluent, the City plans on beginning discharge at a second location in the North Fork adjacent to the SEWRP. The existing discharge location is down stream of Buffalo Springs and Ransom Canyon and then just upstream of where FM 400 crosses the North Fork. The City of Lubbock has divided improvements to the SEWRP into three phases. Phase I is currently under construction. Phase II and III are in the planning stages. Phase I • Discontinue use of Plant #2 • Improve plant headworks. • Upgrade Plant #4 to stream discharge and nutrient removal level of treatment. • Upgrade Plant #3 to stream discharge level of treatment. Phase II • Replace and upgrade solids handling facilities. Phase III • Upgrade Plant #3 to nutrient removal level of treatment. As part of that project, the City will be processing a permit amendment for the discharge of wastewater at the SEWRP. The City will also be processing a renewal of its TPDES permit soon thereafter. With the completion of the improvements and with the amendment of the TPDES permit, the City will be ready to begin discharge at the SEWRP. For the first part of this RFQ, the City is seeking services to plan, design and oversee construction of effluent discharge facilities at the SEWRP. Story Posted: Wed Jun 11 06:30:00 CDT 2008 Created: Wed Jun 11 04:54:14 CDT 2008 BACK TO HOME/NEWS Top Story • Lubbock tax bill going up Lubbock News & Lbk County • Tech fans face parking challenges • Seat belts required in school buses • Apartment fire injures one Weather • Thursday Forecast Business • AM Business Notebook Around Texas • Cornyn Comments On Obama's Iraq War Remarks • Fire Warning For Hunters As Dove Season Kicks Off • Boy Dies Of Rare Infection From Water • Austin Headlines • Dallas Headlines • Houston Headlines • San Antonio Headlines Swap Shop • Swap Shop Update This Day In History • Today Marks Formal End Of World War Two • Today In History Birthdays • Today's Birthdays Entertainment • Tonight's TV Off Beat News Of The Day • Middle School Student Arrested Over Facebook Threats Health Beat • New North American Lutheran Church Launched • New Study Doesn't Bode Well For Abbott Diet Drug Religion Today • New North American Lutheran Church Launched • Al-Qaeda Leader Calls For Killing Christians Sports • Sports Shorts

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