SPI Insights

The Upper Trinity Regional Water District (UTRWD) will receive $413 million in state funding for the design and construction of the Lake Ralph Hall Reservoir.

On August 5, the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) approved a $398 million increase in multi-year board participation financing and amended a previous resolution to authorize a $15 million increase in deferred interest financing from the State Water Implementation Revenue Fund for UTRWD’s reservoir project.

Lake Ralph Hall is a proposed reservoir by the district in the Sulphur River Basin on the North Sulphur River in Fannin County. The proposed reservoir will provide a firm yield of approximately 35 million gallons per day (MGD) and up to an additional 19 MGD of indirect reuse.

Major project elements include constructing an earthen dam, intake and pump station, state highway bridge over the lake, relocation of various state and county roads, utility relocations, raw water transmission pipeline, balancing reservoir, stream and wetland mitigation plan improvements, administration support facilities, and temporary facilities to support construction.

Previous TWDB funding commitments for the project total $100.58 million, which allowed the UTRWD to finalize the permitting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and begin preliminary design of the dam/spillway, roads, bridge, utilities, pump station/outlet works, and raw water pipeline.

In addition, the district is using the previous funding to complete design and acquisition for the project. To date, the district has purchased approximately 13,000 acres. Design of the dam, spillways, and intake are currently under review at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

The design phase is scheduled for completion in December. Construction is set to start in February 2021 and conclude in June 2024.