KYLE, Texas — This week, Kyle approved a 3-year contract to buy extra water from San Marcos.
Kyle city leaders approved the plan to buy the water for the third year in a row. City leaders say it's to keep up with Kyle's booming population in the middle of a drought.
“Our population has doubled in a short time," Councilmember Bear Heiser said. "In Hays County, we’re soon to be the biggest city in the county."
Heiser said Kyle is growing at an 8% rate a year, which means that many more people will need water.
A few years ago, Kyle purchased water permits from the Edwards Aquifer Authority. The city bought a smaller one, thinking it would have less growth. But San Marcos bought a much larger permit thinking it would have more growth.
“They're looking for cities like Kyle that need that water, and we will take that from them. That way they're not absorbing the cost of water they're not using,” Director of Water Utilities Mike Murphy said.
Right now, Kyle gets its water from three places: The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, the Barton Springs Aquifer and the Edwards Aquifer Authority. So, what's all that water for?
“What we're trying to do is have enough water to get through what we anticipate to be a pretty dry, hot summer as we're waiting for the Alliance Water to come on board,” Murphy said. "[It's] a new contract we have with ... the Alliance Regional Water Authority."
Kyle will start getting 1.7 million gallons of water a day starting in February 2025. That will make up 20% of the total water the city gets. Kyle is constructing the pipes and water tank to hold it all now.
“That's what makes this San Marcos water so critical to us, is that half a million gallons per day is going to give us a comfort level as we get into the summer,” Murphy said.
Just a small piece of the city's long-term water plan so it can keep growing.
“You don’t want to have all of your water resources in one spot. That’s just really good management on water utilities. Especially now with being in a severe drought for so long, everybody is trying to get that extra insurance of water," Murphy said.
According to Murphy, there are also other parts to Kyle's long-term water goals, with the city at Level 3 Water Restrictions. The city also plans to release a Water Master Plan next year that includes conservation efforts to be included in daily life, not just whenever there's a drought.
“Right now, the goal is to save 30% of our water consumption. I think we’ve met the goal, even exceeded that goal last year of 30%,” Murphy said.
City leaders say they're paying $23,000 a month for the next three years for the water in San Marcos.