Georgetown, Texas (KXAN) – Georgetown is looking to sell parts of municipal water interest to manage growth and future costs.
Georgetown Water Certification and necessity (CCN) It currently serves an area of 400 square miles, providing water service to 74,000 customers. CCN gives the right tool and the exclusive responsibility to provide the service within a dedicated geographical area.
Of the 400 square miles, 40 % of water customers live outside the borders of Georgetown, including parts that serve Burnet and Bell provinces. Currently, the city is investing $ 414.9 million in water capital improvement projects that serve areas outside the borders of Georgetown and ETJ.
David Morgan, director of Georgetown City, said that the service of many lands caused “great pressure” for the city.
“We have little control over development outside the borders of our city, especially outside our ETJ,” Morgan said. “To better plan our system, and also to manage the increasing costs, we explore the sale of part of our water benefit.”
In the proposed sale, about 11,500 customers of 74000 will be transferred. Morgan said that those who have not been transferred most likely will not see changing their water bill.
“We don’t think the prices will increase quickly as we have seen recently, and we think we will have more stability in the long run,” Morgan said.
According to the data provided by the city, the population of the current service area in Georgetown is expected to grow more than 900,000. Data also shows that without sale, Georgetown will not have enough water to meet the expected demand, as it was a deficit in the year 98,611 acres. With the sale, Georgetown still has enough water for the expected demand, but this deficit is less than 29,957 acres.
“The truth is that the era of cheap water has ended. All this additional water is more expensive, even a lesser amount,” Morgan said.
The city contains an interactive map of the affected areas and more detailed information on this topic. This map is provided below, or you can access it here.
George Town will be transferred parts of CCN to neighboring cities first – such as Killeen, Salhado, Florence, Jarrell and Liberty Hill. They will have until September 30 to accept the offer.
Once an agreement will be made, you will need to be approved by voters in elections in May 2026. The Texas Public Utilities Committee will also need to agree to any transfer.