The City of Heath has reached an agreement with its neighbors and a regional water provider that increases the amount of water available to its residents by half a million gallons of water a day.
A state appeals court recently dismissed a lawsuit Heath filed three years ago against the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) and the cities of Rockwall and Forney after the parties reached an agreement effectively ending the dispute over water supplies.
鈥淚鈥檓 pleased to announce that the lawsuit with NTMWD, Rockwall, and Forney is finally coming to a resolve after 14 months of negotiations鈥攖ruly a major milestone for our city,鈥� Heath Mayor Jeremiah McClure wrote on social media last week.
The City of Heath is not a member of the NTMWD and has to purchase water from the City of Rockwall, which is a member.
Under a new Memorandum of Understanding with Rockwall, Heath鈥檚 available water was increased from 6 million gallons to 6.5 million gallons per day, with an additional 500,000 gallons to be added next summer. The city said in a news release the contract 鈥減rovides some much-needed relief in meeting the City of Heath鈥檚 growing water needs.鈥�
The city of more than10,000 people has grown steadily each year, up from less than 7,000 in the 2010 census count.
Communities across North Texas are grappling with the issue of a growing demand on water supplies as the region鈥檚 population is expected to grow .
A spokesperson for the NTMWD praised the agreement, saying it 鈥渇its the needs of all concerned, including a critical focus on water conservation for our rapidly growing region.鈥�
If the increase is sustainable, a total of 7 million gallons of water per day will be available to Heath starting in 2027.
鈥淭his should be fantastic news for the citizens in Heath, right?鈥� said Tim McCallum, Mayor of Rockwall. 鈥淥f course, they've had pretty severe water restrictions and so this helps give them some relief and allows them some capacity for to manage their growth as well.鈥�
As part of the agreement, Heath will install a water restrictor valve controlled by Rockwall. It will also continue to implement water usage restrictions, including a twice-per-week scheduled of water with an irrigation system.
鈥淭he increase in supply takes off some of the pressure we have been under to keep water use under the 90% threshold,鈥� Heath City Manager Steven Alexander said in a news release. 鈥淩esolving the supply issue will take time, and as such, conservation will remain an important initiative in Heath, as it is throughout Texas and much of the country.鈥�
Priscilla Rice is 四虎影院鈥檚 communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
四虎影院 is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider . Thank you.
