What’s going on at The Texas Water Company’s (TWC) Triple Peak public water system on the south side of Canyon Lake?
Pipes that had been sitting for weeks near the cove at the end of Meckel Road were moved into the water Thursday with the help of a barge.
Canyon Lake residents who live close to Triple Peak speculated TWC was planning to double or triple the amount of water it pumps out of Canyon Lake, build a new in-ground connection vault where the intake pipes come to shore, and add a new electrical supply station to support the pump.
Today, TWC Communication Specialist Tasa Carson said none of this is true, and released a statement explaining what’s going on:
“Due to lake levels at historic lows, Texas Water Company is extending intake pipes 300 feet farther into Canyon Lake at our Triple Peak facility.
“While this extension will not increase the amount of water we draw from the lake, it is an important component to maintain the reliability of our current supply. This project has been approved by the State of Texas and the (U.S.) Army Corps of Engineers, underscoring its importance and compliance with regulatory standards.
“Furthermore, this project is focused on providing consistent service to our existing customers and is not associated with new developments. As stewards of our area’s most precious resource, we focus on its proper management to ensure long-term water availability.”
Annalisa Peace, executive director of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, an advocacy group, said most of Canyon Lake’s water supply is spoken for. TWC would have to apply to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) or the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority to take more than their allotted permit.
The company also could buy rights from other permit holders, she said.
A June 2022 Water Availability Report prepared by the then-Canyon Lake Water Service Company (CLWSC) and presented to Comal County Commissioners Court does include future plans for Triple Peak and Canyon Lake Shores water systems that are development-related.
“CLWSC’s facility master plan for the Bulverde area calls for a 12-inch pipeline parallel to SH 46 that will be interconnected to the Canyon Lake Shores public water system at River Crossing with the Triple Peak public water system at Smithson Valley High School.
“The timing of the construction of this pipeline will be driven by the needs of development in the area, proposed widening of SH 46 by the Texas Department of Transportation and CLWSC’s ability to acquire easements and the availability of funding.
“. . . A reasonable estimate is that this should be completed in either 2024 or 2025.”
About Triple Peak
According to the 2022 report, TWC operates 12 public water systems (PWS), five of which are located in Comal County.
The largest is Canyon Lake Shores, with 11,811 active connections, followed by the Triple Peak system, with 10,345 connections. Canyon Lake Shores and Triple Peak are both served by Trinity Aquifer groundwater and surface water from three water-surface treatment plants located adjacent to Canyon Lake.
Triple Peak’s and Canyon Lake Shores’ systems include over 98% of all customers. Individually, each qualifies as a large water system as defined by Comal County subdivision regulations.
While they are regulated as two separate PWS by TCEQ, the systems rely heavily on water from Canyon Lake.
TWC has 6,130-acre feet/year of untreated water under contract that it can draw directly from Canyon Lake at the three treatment plants, distributing the use of that water as needed by each system.
Raw water from Canyon Reservoir is pumped through three 900-gallons-per-minute pumps at Triple Peak, treated with chemicals, and injected with chlorine for final disinfection and storage prior to being pumped into the distribution system.
TWC is owned by the SJW Group, one of the largest investor-owned water and wastewater utilities in the United States. SJW Group is a Delaware-incorporated company with “executive officers based across its national footprint, including our COO in Texas,” Carson said.
Why is Comal County allowing all these new home and low income apartments to be built if we don’t have water? There needs to be a moratorium on new construction.