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City receives financing for wastewater expansion

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“This is a big day for the City of Dripping Springs,” Mayor Pro Tem Bill Foulds said. “We are incredibly grateful to the Texas Water Development Board for its support of our project..."

At its meeting on April 10, 2019, the TWBD unanimously approved $43 million in financing from its Clean Water State Revolving Fund for the planning, acquisition, design and construction of the City of Dripping Springs’ wastewater system expansion. The funding allows the City to move forward with its plans to prepare for future growth.

“This is a big day for the City of Dripping Springs,” Mayor Pro Tem Bill Foulds said. “We are incredibly grateful to the Texas Water Development Board for its support of our project. I think it is a testament to our plan and to the commitment we made to the citizens of Dripping Springs.  Our team left no stone unturned, and we vetted our expansion options in every way possible, from environmental and financial to community impact and long-term sustainability.  I believe what we are doing here in Dripping Springs will serve as a model for municipalities throughout the state.”

The approved plan includes a new distribution system to provide direct potable reuse (DPR), making the project eligible for $1 million in loan forgiveness as a green initiative per TWDB criteria. The City is also expected to save more than $4.4 million in costs as a result of the financing arrangement. In addition to applying all impact fees paid by new development for wastewater service, Dripping Springs has pledged a portion of tax revenue and wastewater revenues for repayment of the financing.  

“Dripping Springs has shown a great diversity of thought in this process,” TWDB Board Member Kathleen Jackson said. “It’s always good to see a focus on wastewater treatment in a growing community.  A lot of the time, when we talk about water supply, wastewater is an afterthought in the discussion. It's great to see such a culture of water conversation and reuse integrated into the Dripping Springs community.”

In its press release, the City said, “Dripping Springs remains focused on reuse and has signed contracts with various developments in the area to accept essentially all of the treated effluent that will be produced by the City’s wastewater facility. In January the City Council approved a Reuse Agreement with a golf course development in Driftwood that has brought the City’s commitment for reuse in excess of the new agreed-upon allowable maximum of 822,500 gallons per day. For context, the City now produces approximately 130,000 gallons per day; it is anticipated that the proposed expansion will accommodate the City for the next decade.”

 

Dripping Springs Century-News

P.O. Box 732
Dripping Springs, Texas 78620

Phone: (512) 858-4163
Fax: (512) 847-9054