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Poll Shows Offers Residents Views on Water Issues

November 5, 2009

The Houston Chronicle ran an article about the poll results from a recently conducted poll in Montgomery County. The San Jacinto River Authority conducted the poll of Montgomery County residents to find out what they knew about current water supplies; the importance of future water supplies to them; and their views on water fees.  Montgomery County, one of the fastest growing counties in the nation, is on pace to exceed the availability of groundwater supplies and is in need of new surface water supplies.  The poll shows that a very high percentage of Montgomery County residents are unaware that groundwater is used as the county’s only current water supply, and a majority also believe the primary purpose of Lake Conroe to be recreation. 

The San Jacinto River Authority is proposing a plan that would pipe surface water supplies from Lake Conroe to highly populated areas such as Conroe and The Woodlands, while allowing rural areas of the county to remain on existing groundwater supplies.  Jace Houston, of the San Jacinto River Authority, stated that the river authority’s plan was the cheapest option of the plans studied.  The overall plan, which would be implemented in phases to meet needs through 2045, would cost a total of $2.5 billion, a cost which would be passed onto consumers through an estimated $20 a month increase in residents’ water bills. The plan does not account for aggressive conservation, which has the potential to reduce the need for additional water through wastewater reuse and decreased use of water by residents.

For the full article in the Houston Chronicle, see

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2009_4807787