The Brazos River Authority Board of Directors has begun the process of deciding the future of BRA-owned property across the basin after staff completed a lengthy assessment based on quantitative criteria to determine the highest and best use of each asset.
At its bimonthly meeting Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, the Board heard about the first set of properties.
GM/CEO David Collinsworth said this is just the beginning. Over the next few years, staff will present more properties before the Board for consideration. Staff created a matrix to produce a scientific-based score for each property to better understand the value of the property to the BRA and the risk of not owning that property to the BRA.
The goal is to get the Board’s approval on how the BRA should handle different properties. This will help staff make decisions when people ask to buy BRA land, said Blake Kettler, BRA’s executive projects portfolio manager.
As part of the evaluation of properties, the assessment reviewed operational necessity, property access, easements, encumbrances, flooding considerations, water quality considerations, species considerations, recreation, current/future development, and mineral rights, Kettler said.
Property evaluation began at Possum Kingdom Lake, which has a majority of BRA-retained properties totaling about 12,000 acres on 386 different tracts. The first tracks under review are on the northern reaches of the reservoir, range from 100 acres to 336 acres, and were purchased between 1938 and 1939 for construction of the lake, Kettler said.
Based upon the findings of the evaluation process and scoring matrix, the recommendation for tracts PK0383, PK0261, PK0374, PK0302, and PK0318 is to retain based on the properties preserving and protecting the natural resources in this area, as they provide a beneficial natural barrier for water quality protection benefits, streambank stabilization, erosion control, and wildlife habitat. These properties may also be utilized for potential future conservation opportunities to support the Brazos River Authority’s mission and strategic goals.
All of these properties are located in areas that flood, are important for wildlife, and contain wetlands, said Tiffany Malzahn, BRA chief environmental officer.
“The base soil properties are not wonderful for septic tanks along that stretch of the river, which means should anyone want to develop, whether it’s a single house or multiple homes, you’d have to do quite a bit of extensive engineering to get that to a place where those soils are suitable or we risk having water quality impacts like we’ve seen around Lake Granbury and areas where we have high concentration of septic tanks on poor soils,”
Although the properties were evaluated internally based on quantitative criteria, the Board of Directors will ultimately drive policy and will determine the highest and best use based on policy considerations such as environmental stewardship, endangered species, mitigation banking opportunities, operational necessity, future growth, preservation of properties, safety/security, and floodplain considerations.
Also, during the meeting, the Board approved an agreement for no more than $750,000 with Municipal Valve & Equipment Company to provide gates, actuators, and other ancillary component parts to carry out a flow control gate replacement project at Morris Sheppard Dam.
The project includes acquiring replacement slide gates for the nine roller gates, three low flow gates, and 21 actuators for the inlet, outlet, and low flow gates, said Troy Weatherhead, Possum Kingdom Lake’s Reservoir Manager.
All 21 inlet, outlet, and low flow gates that are utilized to operate Morris Sheppard Dam have motor-driven actuators that are obsolete, making it difficult to obtain replacement parts when needed. In addition, the nine inlet gates and three low flow gates are of a roller gate design and are susceptible to malfunction due to tight tolerances and to the adverse effects of zebra mussels should they arrive in Possum Kingdom Lake, Weatherhead said.
Also, during the meeting, the Board approved making up to 53,683 acre-feet of Interruptible Water available in calendar year 2025.
Interruptible Water is water available in storage that was not used in previous years. The term for these contracts is one year, and the amount of water made available is established annually. This represents about 3% of the water that is currently in Brazos River Authority storage in the eleven reservoirs, said Aaron Abel, BRA Water Services Manager.
There was ample rainfall in the spring and through recent rainfall events to make the Interruptible Water available, Abel said.
For a complete list of Board actions from the meeting, go here. Or watch the full Board meeting here.
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Still have questions? Email us at information@brazos.org.