The Brazos River basin stretches over 42,000 square miles throughout the state of Texas. The river and its tributaries provide millions of gallons of water each year for cities, farms and others. The population of the state of Texas is expected to hit over 29 million in 2019. That’s a lot of people that need a lot of water.

According to the Texas Water Development Board, there won’t be enough water to meet the needs of our population, which is expected to grow by 70% by 2070. The Brazos River Authority works to protect, develop and manage the water resources of the Brazos River basin. But who is receiving this water? 

National Get to Know Your Customers Day is observed quarterly and this quarter, it falls on Oct. 17.

The BRA serves a variety of customers from different disciplines throughout diverse areas of the basin.   

In 2018, the BRA provided over 284,000 acre-feet of water to its customers. One acre-foot is the equivalent of 325,851 gallons of water. Municipal customers made up the majority of the water used, at 47%, followed by industrial customers, 44%; irrigation customers, 8%; and mining customers at 1%. 

Bell County Water Control & Improvement District No.1 is the largest of the BRA’s 62 municipal customers. The District provides water and wastewater services to over 300,000 people throughout the cities of Killeen, Harker Heights, Belton, Copperas Cove and others in Bell and Coryell counties. 

TXU/Luminant is the BRAs largest industrial customer, with over 62,000 acre-feet used in 2018. The organization provides energy for millions of customers throughout the Brazos basin. 

The BRA also supplies water to local farmers and ranchers throughout the basin. One of those customers is King Ranch Turfgrass, whose sod has been used in stadiums at colleges like Texas A&M and the University of Houston. The sod has also been used at the Dallas Cowboy’s practice facility. The BRA provides water for two of the company’s seven farms, in Brazos and Hood counties. 

Of all of the Brazos River Authority water customers, the top 10 in 2019 are: 
1.    NRG Energy
2.    TXU/Luminant
3.    Bell County WCID #1
4.    Gulf Coast Water Authority 
5.    City of Round Rock 
6.    City of Georgetown 
7.    City of Temple
8.    Dow Chemical Company 
9.    City of Cleburne
10.  Central Texas WSC 

To view more about how BRA and its customers use contracted water, click here.